24 Bars to Kill

<p> The most clearly identifiable and popular form of Japanese hip-hop ghetto or gangsta music has much in common with its corresponding American subgenres including its portrayal of life on the margins confrontational style and aspirational rags-to-riches narratives. Contrary to depictions of an ethnically and economically homogeneous Japan gangsta J-hop gives voice to the suffering deprivation and social exclusion experienced by many modern Japanese. <em>24 Bars to Kill</em> offers a fascinating ethnographic account of this music as well as the subculture around it showing how gangsta hip-hop arises from widespread dissatisfaction and malaise.</p>