Man, John McWhorter really doesn't know much about rap. But then, I guess that was never the point. Fairly few folks will buy his book to learn more about hip-hop. Rather, people who already don't like hip-hop, but for whom that distaste is more cranky mental gesture than articulated critique, will buy it so they can adopt McWhorter's argument. It's a sort of "How to Be a Cranky Hater" manual more than anything. But for folks who are into hip-hop, I can't recommend Jeff Chang's Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
highly enough. And if you're just looking to listen to some good hip hop, I've been really enjoying Modill's highly enough. And if you're just looking to listen to some good hip hop, I've been really enjoying Modill's Midnight Green
and Little Brother's and Little Brother's The Listening
. .
