Synopses & Reviews
The bestselling commentator, hailed for his frank and fearless arguments on race, imparts a scathing look at the hypocrisy of hip-hopand why its popularity proves that black America must overhaul its politics. One of the most outspoken voices in Americas cultural dialogues, John McWhorter can always be counted on to provide provocative viewpoints steeped in scholarly savvy. Now he turns his formidable intellect to the topic of hip-hop music and culture, smashing the claims that hip-hop is politically valuable because it delivers the only real portrayal of black society.
In this measured, impassioned work, McWhorter delves into the rhythms of hip-hop, analyzing its content and celebrating its artistry and craftsmanship. But at the same time he points out that hip-hop is, at its core, simply music, and takes issue with those who celebrate hip-hop as the beginning of a new civil rights program and inflate the lyrics with a kind of radical chic. In a power vacuum, this often offensive and destructive music has become a leading voice of black America, and McWhorter stridently calls for a renewed sense of purpose and pride in black communities.
Joining the ranks of Russell Simmons and others who have called for a deeper investigation of hip-hops role in black culture, McWhorters All About the Beat is a spectacular polemic that takes the debate in a seismically new direction.
Review
Praise for Winning the Race "Splendid. . . . McWhorter has a keen eye for the foibles of social scientists."
The Wall Street Journal
"A provocative challenge to conventional wisdom."
USA Today
Review
This is a remarkable book because, in its way, it celebrates hip-hop even as it argues against its political significance. McWhorter separates the powerful elements of the music itself from the often mindless political pretensions that surround it. He does what only the best cultural critics can do: he parses and clarifies to show the way beyond the dead-ends that art forms inevitably come to. He wants hip-hop to align with logic and reason. He wants it to grow.
Shelby Steele, author of The Content of Our Character
John McWhorter is one of the few of whom it can be said, He thinks for himself and goes his own way. In All About the Beat he takes on all of the exaggerated claims for hip-hop as something more than a long-running and lucrative trend. With absolute clarity, he proves them not to be the claims of airheads but airholesempty openings in the wall of American popular culture. This book is a short but sharp and substantial rebuttal of the academic hustlers, lightweight rabble-rousers, and camp followers who do not know the difference between smoke and fire. For the good of us all, John McWhorter does.
Stanley Crouch, author of Considering Genius and The Artificial White Man
Praise for Winning the Race
Splendid. . . . McWhorter has a keen eye for the foibles of social scientists.
The Wall Street Journal
A provocative challenge to conventional wisdom.
USA Today
Synopsis
The bestselling commentator, hailed for his frank and fearless arguments on race, imparts a scathing look at the hypocrisy of hip-hop--and why its popularity proves that black America must overhaul its politics.
About the Author
John McWhorters acclaimed books include the New York Times bestseller Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America; Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Why We Should, Like, Care (Gotham, 2003); and, most recently, Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in Black America (Gotham, 2006). He is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor to The New Republic, and has appeared widely in broadcast media, including Dateline NBC, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Fresh Air.