Hip Hop Culture

This work is a revealing chronicle of Hip Hop culture from its beginnings three decades ago to the present with an analysis of its influence on people and popular culture in the United States and around the world.From Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five''s The Message to Jay-Z Diddy and 50 Cent Hip Hop Culture is the first comprehensive reference work to focus on one of the most influential cultural phenomena of our time. Scholarly and streetwise backed by statistics documents and research it recounts three decades of Hip Hop''s evolution highlighting its defining events recordings personalities movements and ideas as well as society''s response.How did an inner-city subculture all but dismissed in the early 1980s become the ruler of the world''s airwaves and iPods? Who are the players who moved Hip Hop from the record bins to the pinnacles of entertainment business and fashion? Who are the founders innovators legends and major players? Authoritative and authentic Hip Hop Culture provides a wealth of information and insights for students educators and anyone interested in the ways pop culture reflects and shapes our lives.