The Games Black Girls Play illustrates how black musical styles are incorporated into the earliest games African American girls learn—how, in effect, these games contain the DNA of black music. Drawing on interviews, recordings of handclapping games and cheers, and her own observation and memories of gameplaying, Kyra D. Gaunt argues that black girls' games are connected to long traditions of African and African American musicmaking, and that they teach vital musical and social lessons that are carried into adulthood. In this celebration of playground poetry and childhood choreography, she uncovers the surprisingly rich contributions of girls' play to black popular culture.

Hip hop and composition may seem unrelated, but the connection isn’t hard to make: Hip hop and rap rely on a complex of narrative practices that have clear ties to some of the best American essay writing. The Hip Hop Reader brings together work by important writers about this cultural phenomenon and provides lively selections that represent a variety of styles and interests.

Derrick Thompson chronicles 30 years of hip-hop; exploring his 30 year relationship with hip-hop music and hip-hop culture. He candidly writes of the elements and trends that have contributed to his love and disdain of hip-hop. The Influenza of Hip-Hop identifies the good, the bad, and the ugly with hip-hop. It also recognizes that for 20 years the true vitality of hip-hop music and culture has been affected and infected by virulent forces, and must avert before succumbing to its scourge. As a cultural critic, Derrick raises questions tantamount to the severity of problems that exist with hip-hop music and culture. And like a hip-hop shaman, Derrick proffers comprehensive remedies to reverse the curse and course of hip-hop for the next three decades. As a concerned citizen (ACC), Derrick makes an earnest plea to all hip-hop artists, to the record companies and radio stations, and to the hip-hop nation, to re-examine our love and or displeasure with hip-hop, so that collectively, we can breathe new life back into hip-hop music and culture; serving as the homogenous and cooperative cure to redeem hip-hop to a new elevated consciousness in America and the world.

In this book of life lessons culled from hip-hop culture, author Felicia Pride examines a wide range of hip-hop songs and artists, interpreting life through their lenses. Growing up with hip-hop, Pride has come to realize the way it shaped how she thinks, writes, and reacts, making her the person she is today. By incorporating her own experiences and reflections with the rapper's message, she focuses on the positive, motivational influence hip-hop has on its audience. With each life lesson aptly titled after a hip-hop song, such as Kanye West's "Jesus Walks" or GangStarr's "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow," The Message explores spirituality, success, love, business, and more through hip-hop. Pride infuses these essential truths with examples from rappers' lives and music, providing positive reflections on hip-hop culture. For example, she tells you how to study how those with staying power, such as Missy Elliott and Russell Simmons, handle their business and how to incorporate similar tactics into your own life: be creative, diversify, handle your business. The Message shares the wisdom that Pride has learned from hip-hop, creating what is essentially a soundtrack to the hip-hopper's life.

Completely updated and radically expanded, the new Rough guide to Hip-Hop is the definitive guide to every aspect of the music, tracing its story from its origins in the 1970s as New York's urban folk music all the way to hip-hop's current dominance as the world's best-selling genre. Extensive biographies cover hip-hop's entire spectrum, from the millionaire players to the underground freestylers, from gangster rappers to conscious rhymers, all alongside hundreds of illustrations by top hip-hop photographers. Pioneers like Run DMC and Public Enemy, as well as global superstars of today such as Eminem and Jay Z, are all covered in detail; and each entry concludes with recommendations of the best of their recordings on CD. All the best MCs, DJs, B-Boys and graffiti-writers are here, but there are also extensive sidebars that go beyond the music to the lifestyle, describing hip-hop's fashions, films, feuds and fads.