From Nelson George, supervising producer and writer of the hit Netflix series, "The Get Down,  Hip Hop America is the definitive account of the society-altering collision between black youth culture and the mass media. Clear-headed and objective... an immensely readable survey of rap and its wide cultural impact. ("Philadelphia Inquirer") Nelson George, supervising producer and writer for the Netflix series "The Get Down," is an award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction. He has written for Playboy , Billboard , Esquire , the Village Voice , Essence , and many other national magazines, as well as writing and producing television programs and feature films. Table of Contents   Title Page Dedication Copyright Page Introduction   chapter 1 - post-soul chapter 2 - hip hop wasn’t just another date chapter 3 - gangsters—real and unreal chapter 4 - the “i” of me chapter 5 - black owned? chapter 8 - the permanent business chapter 7 - sample this chapter 8 - where my eyes can see chapter 9 - new jack swing to ghetto glamour chapter 10 - national music chapter 11 - the sound of philadelphia—dunking chapter 12 - capitalist tool chapter 13 - too live chapter 14 - skills to pay the bills chapter 15 - funk the world chapter 16 - “da joint!” and beyond chapter 17 - we ain’t goin’ nowhere: twenty-first-century bling   sources / further reading Acknowledgements index FOR MORE WORKS BY NELSON GEORGE, LOOK FOR THE FOR THE BEST IN PAPERBACKS, LOOK FOR THE PENGUIN BOOKS HIP HOP AMERICA   Nelson George is the author of ten nonfiction books on African-American culture and of four novels. He has received two ASCAP-Deems Taylor Awards, a Grammy, and two American Book Awards from the Before Columbus Foundation for Hip Hop America and Elevating the Game. Hip Hop America and The Death of Rhythm & Blues were also finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He has written for national magazines, including Playboy, Billboard, Esquire, Spin, Essence, and The Village Voice, and has written and produced several television programs as well as two feature films. His new film Everyday People recently premiered on HBO. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he still lives. for my family PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, II Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa   Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England   First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin, 1998 Published in Penguin Books 1999 This edition published 2005     Copyright © Nelson George, 1998 All rights reserved   George, Nelson. Hip hop America / by Nelson George. p. cm. Includes bibliographic references (p. ) and index eISBN : 978-1-101-00730-3 1. Rap (music)_History and criticism. 2. Hip-hop_United States. 3. Popular culture_United States. 4. Music and society_United States. I. Title. ML3531.G46 1998 782.421649_dc21 98-23414       The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. introduction WE WOULD LIKE TO LIVE AS WE ONCE LIVED, BUT HISTORY WILI NOT PERMIT IT.   —PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY NOVEMBER 1963         IN THE ’30s, ON ANY BALMY SUMMER EVENING THROUGHOUT THE rural South, the evening’s entertainment—boxing—would usually begin with a battle royal. This regal name hardly describes the nature of the event. A gang of “colored” youngsters—ranging from adolescent to college age—gathered in a boxing ring for a blindfolded, no-holds-barred brawl. There were no weapons except fists, but the physical damage that ensued in the frenzy was monumental. The last man standing won a nominal prize that hardly compensated for the broken teeth and fractured bones resulting from these gang bangs. To the (white) audiences who witnessed these battles royal, it was an appetizer for an entire night of manly action. Ernest Hemingway, that definer of all things American and masculine, used to organize battles royal for box