Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture

Rap music and hip hop culture have not been the subject of much serious scholarship, and a broad-based historical account is needed as the form grows more complicated in both music and style and as more and more of the old-school practitioners disappear from the scene or become victims of the twin scourges of the inner city, violent crime and cocaine. I pay particular attention to rap's prehistory and early history; its structure and culture; its genres and personalities; gender relations; and the impact of rap's commercialization.