TRICIA ROSE is a professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and author of numerous articles on black culture, rap music, and contemporary popular culture.
"Necessary reading for pundits, professors, and politicians, but
most of all, for those who love hip-hop's rhymes and
reasons."--Michael Dyson, Village Voice Rock 'n' Roll Quarterly
"Rose presents in Black Noise a fiercely intelligent analysis of
the most misunderstood and misrepresented cultural and artistic
practice in America today . . . It has something to teach all
students of popular culture; for readers fascinated or confounded
by rap, Rose's arguments are pursuasive and eloquent."--San
Francisco Review of Books
"Black Noise is a treasure trove of information on the early days
of hip-hop in the South Bronx. Rap fans will marvel at the
illustrations of 1979-vintage handbills for Grandmaster Flash and
Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation."--Rolling Stone
"Necessary reading for pundits, professors, and politicians, but
most of all, for those who love hip-hop's rhymes and
reasons."--Michael Dyson, Village Voice Rock 'n' Roll Quarterly
"Exactly the kind of down-and-dirty research linking life and art
that most pop culture study lacks . . . Too few journalists (never
mind professors) have examined such issues as the impact of
insurance costs at arena on the progress of hip hop performance.
Rose's greatest strength is something that's still shockingly rare
among academics: a firm grounding in reality."--Vibe
"No more loose-headed talk about rap and hip hop! From now on, all
discussion starts here with Black Noise, a crucial book about a
culture that has also become a new kind of social movement. In her
shrewd focus on both the details and the big picture, Rose moves us
miles further down the road in our thinking about the politics of
popular culture."--Andrew Ross
"Necessary reading for pundits, professors, and politicians, but
most of all, for those who love hip-hop's rhymes and
reasons."--Michael Dyson, Village Voice Rock 'n' Roll
Quarterly
"Rose presents in Black Noise a fiercely intelligent
analysis of the most misunderstood and misrepresented cultural and
artistic practice in America today . . . It has something to teach
all students of popular culture; for readers fascinated or
confounded by rap, Rose's arguments are pursuasive and
eloquent."--San Francisco Review of Books
"Black Noise is a treasure trove of information on the early
days of hip-hop in the South Bronx. Rap fans will marvel at the
illustrations of 1979-vintage handbills for Grandmaster Flash and
Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation."--Rolling Stone
"Necessary reading for pundits, professors, and politicians, but
most of all, for those who love hip-hop's rhymes and
reasons."--Michael Dyson, Village Voice Rock 'n' Roll
Quarterly
"Exactly the kind of down-and-dirty research linking life and art
that most pop culture study lacks . . . Too few journalists (never
mind professors) have examined such issues as the impact of
insurance costs at arena on the progress of hip hop performance.
Rose's greatest strength is something that's still shockingly rare
among academics: a firm grounding in reality."--Vibe
This ethnographic study is the first detailed exploration of rap music within its social, cultural, and artistic contexts. Rose (history/Africana studies, NYU) carefully analyzes each defining element of the genre. For example, her study of the cultural and technological implications of sampling-a pillar of rap-is both impressive and unprecedented. Further, Rose's hermeneutics extend beyond the music itself to such corollary expressions of hiphop style as rap music videos and breakdancing. Rose constructs a solid bridge between hiphop and academe: she explains the former in the language of the latter and does so splendidly. However, even the most powerful words cannot recreate music. Since academicians may be unfamiliar with the works discussed, an accompanying CD or cassette would have been helpful. While Brian Cross's less-rigorous It's Not About a Salary (LJ 2/15/94) remains a better choice for public libraries, Black Noise belongs on the shelves of almost every academic collection.-Bill Piekarski, Southwestern Coll. Lib., Chula Vista, Cal.
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