No, OK, calm down - it's very unusual (in fact it's the first time) that I talk about anything longer than a set of lyrics. But let's be real - just because most of us would rather watch the Star Wars marathon going on FX than pick up a book, it doesn't mean ALL of us are flying away with Harrison Ford in a Millennium Falcon.
Which brings me to Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America.
The brief history and influence of hip hop as told by Bakari Kitwana explores the source of hip hop magazine, The Source, takes a look at the controversy routinely surrounding the career white-boy-rapper phenomenon Eminem and how record labels find out what Cds we pull from the shelves and downloads we click on Itunes.
There's even a little foreshadowing tidbit on a certain Black Senator's influence in Illinois, and his appeal to a white demographic (take a guess...it rhymes Barack Obama). And for a book published in 2005, Kitwana presents the reader with an accurate look at who voted for whom even in the 2008 elections.
You'll like this book even if hip hop only relatively grabs your attention. Though the question of why white kids love hip hop doesn't have a straight answer, Kitwana gives the reader something to consider the next time you come across a tiny white girl blasting Get Rich or Die Tryin' from her Honda.
By the way: shout out to the new followers (Hey, embebe!).
