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The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters
How hip hop shapes our conversations about race -- and how race influences our consideration of hip hop
Hip hop is a distinctive form of black art in America-from Tupac to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick Lamar, hip hop has long given voice to the African American experience. As scholar and cultural critic Tricia Rose argues, hip hop, in fact, has become one of the primary ways we talk about race in the United States.
But hip hop is in crisis. For years, the most commercially successful hip hop has become increasingly saturated with caricatures of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and hos. This both represents and feeds a problem in black American culture. Or does it? In The Hip-Hop Wars , Rose explores the most crucial issues underlying the polarized claims on each side of the Does hip hop cause violence, or merely reflect a violent ghetto culture? Is hip hop sexist, or are its detractors simply anti-sex? Does the portrayal of black culture in hip hop undermine black advancement?
A potent exploration of a divisive and important subject, The Hip Hop Wars concludes with a call for the regalvanization of the progressive and creative heart of hip hop. What Rose calls for is not a sanitized vision of the form, but one that more accurately reflects a much richer space of culture, politics, anger, and yes, sex, than the current ubiquitous images in sound and video currently provide.
Hip hop is a distinctive form of black art in America-from Tupac to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick Lamar, hip hop has long given voice to the African American experience. As scholar and cultural critic Tricia Rose argues, hip hop, in fact, has become one of the primary ways we talk about race in the United States.
But hip hop is in crisis. For years, the most commercially successful hip hop has become increasingly saturated with caricatures of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and hos. This both represents and feeds a problem in black American culture. Or does it? In The Hip-Hop Wars , Rose explores the most crucial issues underlying the polarized claims on each side of the Does hip hop cause violence, or merely reflect a violent ghetto culture? Is hip hop sexist, or are its detractors simply anti-sex? Does the portrayal of black culture in hip hop undermine black advancement?
A potent exploration of a divisive and important subject, The Hip Hop Wars concludes with a call for the regalvanization of the progressive and creative heart of hip hop. What Rose calls for is not a sanitized vision of the form, but one that more accurately reflects a much richer space of culture, politics, anger, and yes, sex, than the current ubiquitous images in sound and video currently provide.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
99 people are currently reading
2230 people want to read
About the author
Tricia Rose
8 books73 followersShe graduated from Yale University where she received a BA in Sociology and then received her Ph.D. from Brown University in the field of American Studies. She has taught at NYU, University of California at Santa Cruz and is now a Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University.
Professor Rose is most well-known for her ground-breaking book on the emergence of hip hop culture. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, published in 1994 by Wesleyan Press, has since become a classic. It is considered a foundational text for the study of hip hop, one that has defined what has eventually become a serious field of study. Black Noise won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1995 and was also considered one of the top 25 books of 1995 by the Village Voice. In 1999, Black Issues in Higher Education listed Black Noise one of its "Top Books of the Twentieth Century."
Professor Rose is most well-known for her ground-breaking book on the emergence of hip hop culture. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, published in 1994 by Wesleyan Press, has since become a classic. It is considered a foundational text for the study of hip hop, one that has defined what has eventually become a serious field of study. Black Noise won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1995 and was also considered one of the top 25 books of 1995 by the Village Voice. In 1999, Black Issues in Higher Education listed Black Noise one of its "Top Books of the Twentieth Century."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
June 4, 2009
The most important thing i took away from this book is media literacy. I learned to perceive the difference between art and autobiography in rap. Rose also helps you identify the intent behind attacks on hip-hop, how to recognize critism made on behalf of black youth and criticism made solely to pathologize black youth.
I also watched the documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes that Rose references. It's really good. The film reveals the way rappers try to emulate the dominant white masculinity this country was founded on, masculinity that is predatory and exploitative. It blew my mind the connection made between George Bush and 50 Cent both being thugs.
This book and film will help you to be more critical of what you consume and endorse and fill your life with.
I also watched the documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes that Rose references. It's really good. The film reveals the way rappers try to emulate the dominant white masculinity this country was founded on, masculinity that is predatory and exploitative. It blew my mind the connection made between George Bush and 50 Cent both being thugs.
This book and film will help you to be more critical of what you consume and endorse and fill your life with.
December 3, 2018
Wow! Don’t let the title fool you. This is not a mere glimpse into hip hop culture. This is a history lesson that looks way back, this is an in-depth study of the lovers and haters of hip hop, this is an economics lesson and a lesson on sexism, racism and homophobia and how we all continue to perpetuate this hate. This has so much packed into one book you’ll come out the other end with an intelligent understanding of hip hop and all its implications, both good and bad. You can also find the author online delivering talks of this subject. Fascinating.
February 9, 2009
This is a much needed book and Tricia Rose was absolutely the best person to write it. I think it very appropriate that one of the first academic books on hip hop was written by the same woman who now challenges hip hop’s negative influences in a very accessible and intelligent and fair way. Rose doesn’t blame. She represents the arguments as they stand and then challenges each side to do better for themselves and for their communities. She represents both sides of each debate by historicizing hip hop and its capitalistic influences. I recommend the book to those who know a lot and to those who know very little about hip hop. Rose’s expertise speaks to both subject positions incredibly well. The book isn’t bogged down by citations and is a great read for students who need an overview of hip hop and its 21st century representations. As a hip hop critic, she gives me ammunition for the haters and she holds me accountable for being a defender of hip hop’s exploitative practices.
August 5, 2019
“Hip Hop is not dead, but it is gravely ill. The beauty and life force of hip hop have been squeezed out, wrung nearly dry by the compounding factors of commercialism, distorted racial and sexual fantasy, oppression, and alienation. It has been a sad thing to witness.”
Rose’s survey on the current state of the hip hop industry is a dazzling display of contemporary cultural probing and criticism. The Hip Hop Wars dissects the music industry, particularly the sphere of hip hop music, and puts it through a methodical and impassioned analysis from the inside out. Two-thirds of this work uses the framework of Critics vs. Defenders, exploring each side of the arguments presented, which allowed for an extremely dynamic and diverse examination of the subject. Simultaneously, Part Two: Progressive Futures offered solutions to the “problem” that hip hop and the African American diaspora, as the community and identity surrounding it, are confronted with. The format itself was refreshing, as it endeavored to offer as comprehensive a view of the industry’s landscape as possible, while also offering solutions to the problems, rather than simply proselytizing to the masses from a perch on a soap box. No, this was a down-to-earth work in that way, in that the author was clearly writing from the concerned standpoint of one entrenched in the soul of the very wounded creature that they seek to heal, rather than from an outsider’s view, hovering above the culture and taking stilled snapshots from their safe locale outside of the battle field, away from the dangers of getting their own hands dirty.
Rose reaches into the heart of the new technologies and music markets that now shape and affect this music, as well as the gaping mouth of the corporate Goliath poised to gobble up this once-expressive art form like the Cookie Monster. She examines the who, what, when, where, and, most importantly, the why of the disintegration of this form of artful story-telling and the complicit-ness of the artists and its consumers in the demise of their own culture, their own music, their own outlet and venue of true personal expression. Neither rappers, nor music moguls nor radio stations are spared in this introspective and insightful survey. Unemployment, the drug trade, and even affordable housing and white consumption, feminism, sexism (all the isms, really), even Shaft and Foxy Brown’s roles in the foundation, intent and culture of hip hop music are examined and explained to create an entire picture of the hip hop music industry and its players.
While I loved The Hip Hop Wars and the passion and thorough research with which Rose displayed her arguments, there were times where she managed to nearly push me off the bandwagon—well, maybe not off, but to the edge. Some of her arguments seemed a bit overwrought and exaggerative, and there are several places in my notes—believe me, this one was highlighted and marked up like schoolwork—where I wrote that I thought she was overdoing it a bit.
However, her overall argument really grabbed me, educated me and entertained me. I felt that I came away with something that I didn’t have before, when I finished the last page and closed the book, and that is what reading is all about; that is what a good argument should do. I would absolutely read this one again and suggest it to anyone considering giving it a whirl. This one proved why we can’t just sit by and watch an art form crumble, watch a culture be commercialized, packaged and sold with such deformities that it no longer represents the subject that it depicts at all—all for the sake of capitalism and mass exploitation:
“The term ‘street’ became a euphemism for a monsoon of profanity, gratuitous violence, female and male hyper-promiscuity, the most vulgar materialism, and the total suppression of social consciousness.”
That is not what black culture is about, though it is the way that it is portrayed on the radio and in pop culture. The Hip Hop Wars brought to the forefront where it all went wrong, and how we can take it back again. True hip hop is not gentrified or yuppified; it isn’t Barbie-doll packaged and ready for shipping, complete with a thong and gold teeth. It isn’t the minstrel show that it’s become today, and Tricia Rose helps us to both remember and explore that. 4 ½ stars ****
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Art + Deco Agency Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Art + Deco Publishing Agency
Rose’s survey on the current state of the hip hop industry is a dazzling display of contemporary cultural probing and criticism. The Hip Hop Wars dissects the music industry, particularly the sphere of hip hop music, and puts it through a methodical and impassioned analysis from the inside out. Two-thirds of this work uses the framework of Critics vs. Defenders, exploring each side of the arguments presented, which allowed for an extremely dynamic and diverse examination of the subject. Simultaneously, Part Two: Progressive Futures offered solutions to the “problem” that hip hop and the African American diaspora, as the community and identity surrounding it, are confronted with. The format itself was refreshing, as it endeavored to offer as comprehensive a view of the industry’s landscape as possible, while also offering solutions to the problems, rather than simply proselytizing to the masses from a perch on a soap box. No, this was a down-to-earth work in that way, in that the author was clearly writing from the concerned standpoint of one entrenched in the soul of the very wounded creature that they seek to heal, rather than from an outsider’s view, hovering above the culture and taking stilled snapshots from their safe locale outside of the battle field, away from the dangers of getting their own hands dirty.
Rose reaches into the heart of the new technologies and music markets that now shape and affect this music, as well as the gaping mouth of the corporate Goliath poised to gobble up this once-expressive art form like the Cookie Monster. She examines the who, what, when, where, and, most importantly, the why of the disintegration of this form of artful story-telling and the complicit-ness of the artists and its consumers in the demise of their own culture, their own music, their own outlet and venue of true personal expression. Neither rappers, nor music moguls nor radio stations are spared in this introspective and insightful survey. Unemployment, the drug trade, and even affordable housing and white consumption, feminism, sexism (all the isms, really), even Shaft and Foxy Brown’s roles in the foundation, intent and culture of hip hop music are examined and explained to create an entire picture of the hip hop music industry and its players.
While I loved The Hip Hop Wars and the passion and thorough research with which Rose displayed her arguments, there were times where she managed to nearly push me off the bandwagon—well, maybe not off, but to the edge. Some of her arguments seemed a bit overwrought and exaggerative, and there are several places in my notes—believe me, this one was highlighted and marked up like schoolwork—where I wrote that I thought she was overdoing it a bit.
However, her overall argument really grabbed me, educated me and entertained me. I felt that I came away with something that I didn’t have before, when I finished the last page and closed the book, and that is what reading is all about; that is what a good argument should do. I would absolutely read this one again and suggest it to anyone considering giving it a whirl. This one proved why we can’t just sit by and watch an art form crumble, watch a culture be commercialized, packaged and sold with such deformities that it no longer represents the subject that it depicts at all—all for the sake of capitalism and mass exploitation:
“The term ‘street’ became a euphemism for a monsoon of profanity, gratuitous violence, female and male hyper-promiscuity, the most vulgar materialism, and the total suppression of social consciousness.”
That is not what black culture is about, though it is the way that it is portrayed on the radio and in pop culture. The Hip Hop Wars brought to the forefront where it all went wrong, and how we can take it back again. True hip hop is not gentrified or yuppified; it isn’t Barbie-doll packaged and ready for shipping, complete with a thong and gold teeth. It isn’t the minstrel show that it’s become today, and Tricia Rose helps us to both remember and explore that. 4 ½ stars ****
FOLLOW ME HERE:
Art + Deco Agency Book Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Art + Deco Publishing Agency
February 14, 2025
I’m only giving 2.5 stars but only because it was such an academic read and the bigger problem was just that it’s quite dated at this point. Still I thought it a good hard look at how race dynamics and systemic racism / cultural bias work together to explain how and why misogyny and glorification of crime - in so much of the most popular hip hop and rap (particularly in the years leading up to 2008 publication). It gave well reasoned criticism to the commonly held (but wrong / incomplete) forces that propel(ed) this trend.
Love to read an essay by the author on where she sees things now, going on 20 years later, where some but not all of the forces have changed (ie radio play politics and a powerful record labels).
I think some forces have evened out some, but others are still fully at play)
Love to read an essay by the author on where she sees things now, going on 20 years later, where some but not all of the forces have changed (ie radio play politics and a powerful record labels).
I think some forces have evened out some, but others are still fully at play)
Read
December 3, 2013AMEN CORNER
Moya Bailey
Review of The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters
By Tricia Rose
Basic Civitas
And let the Church say, “Amen!” It’s unusual to begin a book review with a black church call and- response staple, but Tricia Rose’s timely mediation in The Hip Hop Wars had me testifying as I read. Her critique of the state of hip hop and her challenge to the contrived conversations that have developed around it are long overdue.
A professor of Africana studies at Brown University, Rose grew up in the 1970s in the Bronx, where hip hop
was born. Her connection to the art form blossomed there, leading to her critically acclaimed 1994 survey of the genre, Black Noise. Hip-hop’s rising popularity prompted commercial interests to take note, transforming its images into easily digestible caricatures and stereotypes of black people as thugs, pimps and hos. Before long, it had become an ideological whipping boy for the right, a scapegoat for the supposed decline in American morality. Rose expresses grave concern that the public sees hip-hop as a stand-in for black people, black youth in particular.
Apologists for hip-hop argue that rappers are simply telling the truth and exposing the realities of urban life as they live them. American society deserves indictment for its institutionalized sexism, racism and homophobia, but Rose argues that while structural oppression informs the music, it does not absolve hip hop of its own misogyny and gratuitous violence. Then she goes beyond this obvious debate, condemning the corporate profit-seekers who exploit hip-hop culture and calling for accountability from those who make the music, from rappers to industry execs. She leaves no stone unturned, even examining the influential rapper Jay-Z (who often gets a pass from hip-hop academics) alongside more notorious rap artists. She also brings attention to listeners’ activism, describing an incident at Spelman College where the rapper Nelly canceled a philanthropic visit to avoid a discussion with feminist students about sexist images in his rap videos and lyrics (full disclosure: I was among the protest organizers).
Helpfully, Rose includes a section on organizations and individuals who are working to create a new face for hip-hop and provides resources for readers who want to be part of the solution. For those unfamiliar with the hip-hop debate, this is an excellent introduction—and a way to get your game up.
---
MOYA BAILEY is a graduate student in women’s studies at Emory University. Her research is focused on health care disparities in marginalized groups, and she is also committed to issues of representation in media.
Moya Bailey
Review of The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters
By Tricia Rose
Basic Civitas
And let the Church say, “Amen!” It’s unusual to begin a book review with a black church call and- response staple, but Tricia Rose’s timely mediation in The Hip Hop Wars had me testifying as I read. Her critique of the state of hip hop and her challenge to the contrived conversations that have developed around it are long overdue.
A professor of Africana studies at Brown University, Rose grew up in the 1970s in the Bronx, where hip hop
was born. Her connection to the art form blossomed there, leading to her critically acclaimed 1994 survey of the genre, Black Noise. Hip-hop’s rising popularity prompted commercial interests to take note, transforming its images into easily digestible caricatures and stereotypes of black people as thugs, pimps and hos. Before long, it had become an ideological whipping boy for the right, a scapegoat for the supposed decline in American morality. Rose expresses grave concern that the public sees hip-hop as a stand-in for black people, black youth in particular.
Apologists for hip-hop argue that rappers are simply telling the truth and exposing the realities of urban life as they live them. American society deserves indictment for its institutionalized sexism, racism and homophobia, but Rose argues that while structural oppression informs the music, it does not absolve hip hop of its own misogyny and gratuitous violence. Then she goes beyond this obvious debate, condemning the corporate profit-seekers who exploit hip-hop culture and calling for accountability from those who make the music, from rappers to industry execs. She leaves no stone unturned, even examining the influential rapper Jay-Z (who often gets a pass from hip-hop academics) alongside more notorious rap artists. She also brings attention to listeners’ activism, describing an incident at Spelman College where the rapper Nelly canceled a philanthropic visit to avoid a discussion with feminist students about sexist images in his rap videos and lyrics (full disclosure: I was among the protest organizers).
Helpfully, Rose includes a section on organizations and individuals who are working to create a new face for hip-hop and provides resources for readers who want to be part of the solution. For those unfamiliar with the hip-hop debate, this is an excellent introduction—and a way to get your game up.
---
MOYA BAILEY is a graduate student in women’s studies at Emory University. Her research is focused on health care disparities in marginalized groups, and she is also committed to issues of representation in media.
May 7, 2010
Tricia Rose does a great job identifying and explicating the various arguments pro-/anti-hip hop, exposing the unspoken tenets of all the arguments. Finally, bringing the whole exposition together for an examination of the commonalities that exist among each side of the fracas, and the latent realities subconsciously at work among these opinions of hip hop.
Rose's work is well-written, a bit academic for the hip hop audience, but really gets into its paces late in the text when the pro-/anti- arguments have been hashed out and we get to the "where we are" and "might be going" issues in the culture.
More than anything, I appreciated Rose's repeated attempts to highlight how black culture writ large gets conflated with a music that is popular at least in part by hyper-inflated corporate marketing decisions based on profits, and not exclusively by conscious choosing of those who are a part of the culture. In describing the structural consolidation of the media industry, the decisions to promote "gangster" rap and marginalize all other hip hop as "conscious", she exposes a lose-lose dichotomy that favors the prurient/titillating over all other forms labeled "difficult" (slavery throwback) or adversarial.
Rose is able to show how audiences are re-fed historically persistent stereotypes of blacks as indolent, violent, predatory, and sexually promiscuous. The recycling of old stereotypes being exacerbated by the majority rap purchasing market of whites who, lacking actual experiences with black folks, come to believe, or at the very least, embrace/project the gangster ethos on black culture writ large. Rose also acknowledges that the origins of hip hop had many white participants which had to directly interact with black communities collectively to experience the culture which had a mutually reflective effect on it's participants. While modern day consumption of rap music by most is done in abstentia (via videos, internet, etc.) from the populations it purports to represent, thereby allowing for a reification of all of the stigmatized expectations of blacks going back to slavery which are promoted in so much popular music.
I suppose unless you really care about hip hop, you likely wouldn't bother to read this book...But, if you have an "opinion" about hip hop and today's youths, you would be wise to review this text before shooting off you mouth about what "rap" and "rappers" are doing to this country and black youth...because as with everything, it is much more complicated than it seems at face value!
Rose's work is well-written, a bit academic for the hip hop audience, but really gets into its paces late in the text when the pro-/anti- arguments have been hashed out and we get to the "where we are" and "might be going" issues in the culture.
More than anything, I appreciated Rose's repeated attempts to highlight how black culture writ large gets conflated with a music that is popular at least in part by hyper-inflated corporate marketing decisions based on profits, and not exclusively by conscious choosing of those who are a part of the culture. In describing the structural consolidation of the media industry, the decisions to promote "gangster" rap and marginalize all other hip hop as "conscious", she exposes a lose-lose dichotomy that favors the prurient/titillating over all other forms labeled "difficult" (slavery throwback) or adversarial.
Rose is able to show how audiences are re-fed historically persistent stereotypes of blacks as indolent, violent, predatory, and sexually promiscuous. The recycling of old stereotypes being exacerbated by the majority rap purchasing market of whites who, lacking actual experiences with black folks, come to believe, or at the very least, embrace/project the gangster ethos on black culture writ large. Rose also acknowledges that the origins of hip hop had many white participants which had to directly interact with black communities collectively to experience the culture which had a mutually reflective effect on it's participants. While modern day consumption of rap music by most is done in abstentia (via videos, internet, etc.) from the populations it purports to represent, thereby allowing for a reification of all of the stigmatized expectations of blacks going back to slavery which are promoted in so much popular music.
I suppose unless you really care about hip hop, you likely wouldn't bother to read this book...But, if you have an "opinion" about hip hop and today's youths, you would be wise to review this text before shooting off you mouth about what "rap" and "rappers" are doing to this country and black youth...because as with everything, it is much more complicated than it seems at face value!
October 25, 2018
“They know that reminding mainstream America about black suffering and its direct relationship to hundreds of years of racialized oppression - not least in its present-day form - is a buzz kill, especially for many white fans. Images of black suffering that implicate society don’t sell records to those who want a ghetto version of Disneyland.”
➖➖➖
This book should be required reading for all fans of hip hop, especially white fans who are hip hop’s biggest consumers. It explores the deeply commercialized aspect of hip hop since the 90s and how much of the storytelling in hip hop is tied to the desire to sell more records, primarily to white consumers who view listening to hip hop as their opportunity to “experience and understand black culture” without having any idea about the long history behind it. In short, this is really fantastic and informative writing from Tricia Rose.
➖➖➖
This book should be required reading for all fans of hip hop, especially white fans who are hip hop’s biggest consumers. It explores the deeply commercialized aspect of hip hop since the 90s and how much of the storytelling in hip hop is tied to the desire to sell more records, primarily to white consumers who view listening to hip hop as their opportunity to “experience and understand black culture” without having any idea about the long history behind it. In short, this is really fantastic and informative writing from Tricia Rose.
June 14, 2010
Very basic look at both sides of the issues surrounding hip-hop, those who respect it, and those who find its substance offensive. It was an easy read, but did not hold my interest till the end. I actually did not finish. Decent read if you want to revisit some of the basic issues surrounding hip-hop, and have extra time on your hands. Tricia Rose is a very excellent and opinionated speaker, which is what I expected from this book. I do feel she help back, and stuck with very obvious observational writing.
July 3, 2011
A must read for lovers of hip hop and of humanity. Even though it is a little heavy on the academic jargon, the overall clarity of the Rose's exceptional critique of the "hip hop wars" remains intact.
May 18, 2022
I was hesitant to start this at first. I have loved hip-hop as a genre and art form for most of my life. I’ve always been aware of the negative aspects of hip-hop and I used to justify my support of ultimately negative aspects of the black experience with many arguments present in this book. I love albums like Cuban Linx and The Infamous, which paint vivid pictures of inner-city life and its harshness and I knew a lot of what was rapped about wasn’t ultimately good, but it was just part of the genre, or so I thought. This book and the analyses within it reminded me that you have to be able to critique the things you love, and I don’t just mean point out the negatives. If you really care about something, you have to critique it from a place of love and have the desire to see it improve. It’s with this mindset that Tricia Rose wrote this fantastic book, and I’m so glad she did.
Within these pages you’ll find several analyses of arguments both for and against hip-hop, and specifically whether or not it’s harmful to the black community, and American society as a whole. The context here is very important because hip-hop is American made, it is a product of, and maker of, American culture and the way we all live our lives. Despite what some detractors may claim, hip-hop is one of the most “American Made” art forms out there, for better and worse.
She also links the more commercial and business side of the industry to the effects the music has on kids and youth culture as a whole. Those sections were very insightful, as I had no real knowledge on how commercialized and capitalistic hip-hop had become. There’s a considerable amount of time dedicated to explaining how big media companies shape what goes on radios and tv, and thus what is constantly rotating through the minds of kids, and then try to hide behind the rappers that make the music and claim they are just harmless companies, making money off of things they had no input in.
Another angle to keep in mind is that it isn’t enough to just denounce commercial artists like Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, etc and champion artists like Talib Kweli, Mos Def or Common. As easy as that would be it ultimately isn’t transformational and generates no good. What’s more impactful is to understand how and why they make the music they do, critique it when necessary, and offer alternatives that uplift the community.
There’s so much here that I will revisit and reflect on as hip-hop remains part of my identity in many ways. I love it deeply and I have to be able acknowledge what’s wrong and help make things right.
Within these pages you’ll find several analyses of arguments both for and against hip-hop, and specifically whether or not it’s harmful to the black community, and American society as a whole. The context here is very important because hip-hop is American made, it is a product of, and maker of, American culture and the way we all live our lives. Despite what some detractors may claim, hip-hop is one of the most “American Made” art forms out there, for better and worse.
She also links the more commercial and business side of the industry to the effects the music has on kids and youth culture as a whole. Those sections were very insightful, as I had no real knowledge on how commercialized and capitalistic hip-hop had become. There’s a considerable amount of time dedicated to explaining how big media companies shape what goes on radios and tv, and thus what is constantly rotating through the minds of kids, and then try to hide behind the rappers that make the music and claim they are just harmless companies, making money off of things they had no input in.
Another angle to keep in mind is that it isn’t enough to just denounce commercial artists like Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, etc and champion artists like Talib Kweli, Mos Def or Common. As easy as that would be it ultimately isn’t transformational and generates no good. What’s more impactful is to understand how and why they make the music they do, critique it when necessary, and offer alternatives that uplift the community.
There’s so much here that I will revisit and reflect on as hip-hop remains part of my identity in many ways. I love it deeply and I have to be able acknowledge what’s wrong and help make things right.
July 14, 2020
When we talk about hip hop we are advancing a framework for defining black youth, and in particular black youth in poverty, thus when we talk about hip hop we are talking about black youth living in poverty.
Rose puts forward five arguments against hip hop and five arguments in defence of hip hop and works through the issues.
At the heart of her argument is the question of how do we engage with aspects of Hip Hop that do need to be addressed in a way that separates the issue from an anti-black racist approach that ascribes a genetically encoded dysfunction on to black youth (basic scientific racism).
From the chapter entitled Hip Hop Demeans Women:
The challenge is how to “develop and promote a serious, progressive attack on sexism in hip hop without patriarchal, conservative religious, or anti-black youth politics as its guide.” (P131)
It’s well written and firmly reasoned managing to be both readable and rigorous in approach.
Over the last few years I’ve produced a number of albums for underground rappers (full disclosure I am a middle aged white guy) and in being present during conversations in the studio it has become increasingly clear to me that much of the underground’s approach to gangster rap is often about trauma and processing that trauma. A question I think about regularly is how to approach black trauma being consumed as entertainment by white audiences; what does it mean when white hip hop fans only support “street shit”, and how does the veneer of keeping it real divert from a continued exploitation of black experience by white audiences and businesses?
Rose puts forward five arguments against hip hop and five arguments in defence of hip hop and works through the issues.
At the heart of her argument is the question of how do we engage with aspects of Hip Hop that do need to be addressed in a way that separates the issue from an anti-black racist approach that ascribes a genetically encoded dysfunction on to black youth (basic scientific racism).
From the chapter entitled Hip Hop Demeans Women:
The challenge is how to “develop and promote a serious, progressive attack on sexism in hip hop without patriarchal, conservative religious, or anti-black youth politics as its guide.” (P131)
It’s well written and firmly reasoned managing to be both readable and rigorous in approach.
Over the last few years I’ve produced a number of albums for underground rappers (full disclosure I am a middle aged white guy) and in being present during conversations in the studio it has become increasingly clear to me that much of the underground’s approach to gangster rap is often about trauma and processing that trauma. A question I think about regularly is how to approach black trauma being consumed as entertainment by white audiences; what does it mean when white hip hop fans only support “street shit”, and how does the veneer of keeping it real divert from a continued exploitation of black experience by white audiences and businesses?
September 7, 2020
If you love hip hop, sociology and/or our youth, I’d recommend this read. Tricia Rose provides a stimulating and well-researched analysis on the commercialization of hip hop and the debate between hip hop critics and defenders (and those in between who love the culture enough to provide thoughtful and progressive critique). To hip hop critics, she exposes the capitalist and “white gaze” influence on today’s hip hop, tackles the denial of the systemic racism and violence that exists as a larger social responsibility, and explains the perception of Black culture as inferior and a threat.
To hip hop defenders, I nah ah lie she challenged me quite a bit, and I felt defensive a lot. Nonetheless, it’s important to read her in context - in terms of the whole book and that this was written in 2008 - and even though I have many questions still, I appreciate her holding me accountable. My favourite parts of the book is when she discusses how the industry depicts Black women. I did a research paper on this topic before against the advice of my white male professor🙄 (but I was selected to present at an honors conference, and he was proud of my work after 😴), and I think it’s an important conversation if we are going to move the culture forward. I also thought her six guiding principles for progressive creativity in hip hop was powerful and on point. Just also wanna say big up women of color in scholarship like Professor Rose, researching and speaking on issues to move the culture forward.
To hip hop defenders, I nah ah lie she challenged me quite a bit, and I felt defensive a lot. Nonetheless, it’s important to read her in context - in terms of the whole book and that this was written in 2008 - and even though I have many questions still, I appreciate her holding me accountable. My favourite parts of the book is when she discusses how the industry depicts Black women. I did a research paper on this topic before against the advice of my white male professor🙄 (but I was selected to present at an honors conference, and he was proud of my work after 😴), and I think it’s an important conversation if we are going to move the culture forward. I also thought her six guiding principles for progressive creativity in hip hop was powerful and on point. Just also wanna say big up women of color in scholarship like Professor Rose, researching and speaking on issues to move the culture forward.
Currently reading
September 30, 20221. In this book, so far the author is talking about how hip hop reflects black dysfunctional ghetto culture. Tricia Rose talks about how this genre of music can influence or promote a dysfunctional back culture and how hip hop is the main outlet for the "underclassman" of the urban culture of dysfunction. This idea of the dysfunctional is influenced by three pillars: violence, sexual deviance, and illiteracy.
2. I have been reading in class and every night before I go to bed. I mostly read longer when I am at home because there are no distractions and I am focused when I am in my room. In class, I do read but it is harder for me to focus because of all the people.
3. I would recommend this book to my classmates because of how the author perceives hip hop being the prime reason for how race is in the United States. This book is about race and culture in America and how it relates back to music. Tricia Rose discusses the different views of hip hop within present-day society and how negativity is the problem. She uses the argument of whether hip-hop causes violence or a depiction of violence that is in the ghetto. She also uses the argument that hip is to be sexist or an anti-sexist movement that is toward women specifically and how hip hop is humiliating the African American people which causes less success for people advancing.
2. I have been reading in class and every night before I go to bed. I mostly read longer when I am at home because there are no distractions and I am focused when I am in my room. In class, I do read but it is harder for me to focus because of all the people.
3. I would recommend this book to my classmates because of how the author perceives hip hop being the prime reason for how race is in the United States. This book is about race and culture in America and how it relates back to music. Tricia Rose discusses the different views of hip hop within present-day society and how negativity is the problem. She uses the argument of whether hip-hop causes violence or a depiction of violence that is in the ghetto. She also uses the argument that hip is to be sexist or an anti-sexist movement that is toward women specifically and how hip hop is humiliating the African American people which causes less success for people advancing.
January 30, 2025
Wow, this is not at all the book that I wanted to read, but man was is it good. As a long time white suburban rap nerd, I've been interested in reading about Hip Hop history and Rap culture for a while now, and in a lot of ways I suppose you can call 2008 (the year this book was published) "history" at this point. But this text is much less about Hip Hop culture and more about the socio-economic and political ecosystem that allows for and actually very much encourages the constant and increasingly negative images of black and urban youth in the media under the guise of "realness" and loyalty to the "culture".
I really enjoyed Tricia Rose's perspective and her ability to pretty clearly explain a very complex and messy societal issue. It made me think about music and media and in fact all art a lot differently, especially how much we take the corporate manipulation of that art for granted sometimes. I'm already looking for her previous book "Black Noise", which also comes highly recommended.
I really enjoyed Tricia Rose's perspective and her ability to pretty clearly explain a very complex and messy societal issue. It made me think about music and media and in fact all art a lot differently, especially how much we take the corporate manipulation of that art for granted sometimes. I'm already looking for her previous book "Black Noise", which also comes highly recommended.
January 1, 2022
This sociological book is ot nesseesary about Hip Hop Kulture, but focuses more on rap music and its significant in society. It is very insightful on the problems of rap, such as race, misogyny and where the narratives of (underground) rapper's lives and words are built from. The book offers balance In this direction and offers the for and against viewpoints in a social context.
The book lacked mention of other elements of Hip Hop Kulture such as Graffiti Art and Breakin'. Maybe the book is improperly titled for this reason. 'The Rap Wars' would be more befitting to explain to the reader what goes on here. Nonetheless, a very important sociological study and one worthy of mention and relative acclaim.
The book lacked mention of other elements of Hip Hop Kulture such as Graffiti Art and Breakin'. Maybe the book is improperly titled for this reason. 'The Rap Wars' would be more befitting to explain to the reader what goes on here. Nonetheless, a very important sociological study and one worthy of mention and relative acclaim.
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November 8, 2019Tricia Rose in Hip Hop wars describes the hate, and love hip hop gets in an in depth and unbiased manner. Hip hop has a had bad rep from the start, and many people find its racial slurs and sexism offensive, while others see hip hop as an art and a way to express your emotions and social injustice problem. I love how bold rose is with her writing, there is no boundaries in this book. Everything is put on the table in complete unbiased and honesty. although, the one thing that t me in Hip HOP Wars was the fact that Rose is telling you about hip hops controversy. In my opinion this book would have been better if it was being shown in a non-fiction story.
September 25, 2025
Most people i know should read this, i guess. I'm not a fair judge reading it 20 years after publication and already being a bit of a nerd about hip-hop and politics. I didn't find it hugely illuminating
Stops short of offering big solutions, but I guess that's what separates politics and sociology. I like the stories of women going out clubbing as a group, then leaving the dancefloor deserted when a misogynistic song comes on
Its lack of bite belies the dearth of resistance politics in the decade this was published. Does a fantastic job of highlighting the problem of its time and how it was arrived at, though
Stops short of offering big solutions, but I guess that's what separates politics and sociology. I like the stories of women going out clubbing as a group, then leaving the dancefloor deserted when a misogynistic song comes on
Its lack of bite belies the dearth of resistance politics in the decade this was published. Does a fantastic job of highlighting the problem of its time and how it was arrived at, though
July 18, 2021
I am so glad I read this book! Rose goes into so many corners of hip hop that tend to get ignored in the large and small discussions on the culture. It is completely changing how I discuss hip hop! Especially in my dissertation.
August 28, 2022
As a lifelong hip-hop fan it was wonderful to read a book that engaged with the difficult conversations around the genre and the criticism it tends to receive. Especially since it mostly covers the time period I was most invested in as a fan (90's and 2000s.)
October 16, 2017
Out of my comfort zone, non fiction read.
June 10, 2020
Reaches far beyond Hip Hop and illuminates the cultural influence born out of race and class issues.
October 29, 2022
Very readable and not at all bad but quite dated by now in its discussion of ‘contemporary’ hip hop trends.
October 17, 2023
This book really made me think about criticizing something I love without giving in to bad faith criticisms.
It's a tough line to walk and the author really made me think about it.
It's a tough line to walk and the author really made me think about it.
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November 20, 2015Haneif Clouden
Period 4/5
Nov,15
My independent reading book –The Hip Hop Wars
My book the Hip Hop Wars is really based on facts.First,the book is basically taking on how the hip hop industry been for the past dozen years. Second,the book The Hip Hop Wars is basically telling the Hip hop causes for violence ,How the Hip Hop industry reflects on African American culture ,in most of all how Hip Hop is destroying African American values today in the industry !.
Last, my view from reading the Hip Hops wars ,the author is basically trying to bring to attention how Hip Hop have just changed in general,for many reason.the rap industry have died since rappers like Ana's,Tupac , B.I.G ,any many more ,and this is a war with Hip Hop !
Thing that I like ,and dislike about the book .I don't have nothing , I dislike about the book The hip hop wars ,but I have many reasons I like the book. First,something I really like about the book the Hip Hop Wars is basically how is telling real life situations,and telling me real life facts,p!when I'm reading this book the Hip Hop Wars,I can paint a picture in my head of, what's going on in the industry,and what was going on. Also I really like the book the Hip Hop Wars, because I like to rap , and I can relate to the book. This put a picture in my head of what's going on in the industry ,and make me wonder if I want to be in the music business or not. Last, I like the book the Hip Hop Wars , because is mainly based on young talented African Americans.The book express and inform you mainly on young talented African Americans coming up through the years.
Overall the book The Hip Hop wars is informing readers on different things. First the book The Hip Hop Wars are informing readers on African American gangs banging and talent.Second the book the Hip Hop wars is informing readers on how the industry was,and based on sex.the sex standards with Women.last, the book the Hip Hop wars is basically informing you on a lot of negativity from the Hip Hop culture,and how it changed in general! Overall you will have to read this book the Hip Hop Wars to understand.
Period 4/5
Nov,15
My independent reading book –The Hip Hop Wars
My book the Hip Hop Wars is really based on facts.First,the book is basically taking on how the hip hop industry been for the past dozen years. Second,the book The Hip Hop Wars is basically telling the Hip hop causes for violence ,How the Hip Hop industry reflects on African American culture ,in most of all how Hip Hop is destroying African American values today in the industry !.
Last, my view from reading the Hip Hops wars ,the author is basically trying to bring to attention how Hip Hop have just changed in general,for many reason.the rap industry have died since rappers like Ana's,Tupac , B.I.G ,any many more ,and this is a war with Hip Hop !
Thing that I like ,and dislike about the book .I don't have nothing , I dislike about the book The hip hop wars ,but I have many reasons I like the book. First,something I really like about the book the Hip Hop Wars is basically how is telling real life situations,and telling me real life facts,p!when I'm reading this book the Hip Hop Wars,I can paint a picture in my head of, what's going on in the industry,and what was going on. Also I really like the book the Hip Hop Wars, because I like to rap , and I can relate to the book. This put a picture in my head of what's going on in the industry ,and make me wonder if I want to be in the music business or not. Last, I like the book the Hip Hop Wars , because is mainly based on young talented African Americans.The book express and inform you mainly on young talented African Americans coming up through the years.
Overall the book The Hip Hop wars is informing readers on different things. First the book The Hip Hop Wars are informing readers on African American gangs banging and talent.Second the book the Hip Hop wars is informing readers on how the industry was,and based on sex.the sex standards with Women.last, the book the Hip Hop wars is basically informing you on a lot of negativity from the Hip Hop culture,and how it changed in general! Overall you will have to read this book the Hip Hop Wars to understand.
September 24, 2012
A cogent if not particularly original summary of the (fairly pathetic) state of public discussion of hip-hop by someone who's been active in the discussion since the publication of her much more academic book, Black Noise. Rose identifies and discusses ten of the assertions about hip hop which recur, sometimes as attacks, sometimes as defenses. She's particularly, and properly, concerned with the predominance of demeaning images of women, but is careful not to fall into the traps of blaming them entirely on the artists or justifying them as reflections of "reality." She's at her best and most convincing when she hammers home the point that the images don't just happen, that they're the result of pressure from corporations pandering to the desires of white listeners who now (to a much greater degree than in the early days of hip hop) consume images of black life without any contact with black people or communities. To say the least, this makes their defense of the "reality" of the images problematic. Rose repeatedly reminds us of the need to understand even the parts of those images which do reflect aspects of reality in poor black neighborhoods in relation to much larger structural problems. While Rose is explicit about her decision to oversimplify the categories of "commercial," "conscious" and "underground" hip hop, I would have liked more extended and nuanced descriptions of the music itself.
The Hip Hop Wars isn't a bad place to start if you're entering into the debates around hip hop culture for the first time, but it doesn't do a lot to move towards a more useful progressive response to the problems. She's prone to using the imperative mode and rhetorical questions without providing much detail on just *how* to get the thinks we must or should do done.
The Hip Hop Wars isn't a bad place to start if you're entering into the debates around hip hop culture for the first time, but it doesn't do a lot to move towards a more useful progressive response to the problems. She's prone to using the imperative mode and rhetorical questions without providing much detail on just *how* to get the thinks we must or should do done.
January 23, 2011
When he was first ousted as President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide gave a talk at the University of Florida, which I was fortunate enough to hear. In response to a question about whether the best economic model were capitalist or communist, he told a story about a girl who had gone swimming in a lake. "Is the water warm or cool?" the girl's mother asked. "It's beautiful," she replied. (His implication that we need to find a third way mirrors King's.)
As with her first book, Tricia Rose produces the exact book we need about hip-hop, exactly when we need it. By deconstructing the polarized positions of the hip-hop wars (especially the "holy trinity of commercial hip-hop", as she calls it -- the hustler, pimp and ho), Rose leads us to a third path and demonstrates -- with a critical, transformational love for hip-hop -- why we must walk it.
This is no rigid screed, but neither is it a milquetoast plea for moderation. THHW insists on enlightened approaches to the crucial issues facing this art form which means so much to us. Half of the time I found myself nodding enthusiastically in agreement, thinking (and once exclaiming aloud): "Yes, exactly! That's what I've been saying!" And the other half I was shaking my head with something close to awe, thinking: "Wow, she's so right."
I really can't say enough about this book. It's the perfect antidote to the tired go-nowhere back-and-forth of the last ten years.
As with her first book, Tricia Rose produces the exact book we need about hip-hop, exactly when we need it. By deconstructing the polarized positions of the hip-hop wars (especially the "holy trinity of commercial hip-hop", as she calls it -- the hustler, pimp and ho), Rose leads us to a third path and demonstrates -- with a critical, transformational love for hip-hop -- why we must walk it.
This is no rigid screed, but neither is it a milquetoast plea for moderation. THHW insists on enlightened approaches to the crucial issues facing this art form which means so much to us. Half of the time I found myself nodding enthusiastically in agreement, thinking (and once exclaiming aloud): "Yes, exactly! That's what I've been saying!" And the other half I was shaking my head with something close to awe, thinking: "Wow, she's so right."
I really can't say enough about this book. It's the perfect antidote to the tired go-nowhere back-and-forth of the last ten years.
January 15, 2011
It was a book that I needed to read for a class I am taking next semester. Overall the book was beautiful in overviewing the depletion of quality Hip-Hop. The call to action in the book is an important one that demands response from the general community. While I enjoyed the book, I didn't enjoy the fact based style and presentation of repetitive information. I understand that is simply the format and an aspect of the genre, but I felt as though I was reading a text book of information. I would recommend this to any aspiring music artists. The moral of not "selling-out" is one that is applicable to all careers and interests. We live in a world and time where we are forced to decide between success and money or morality and happiness. This book focuses on the black community and the impact of Hip Hop, but the much broader message is one to be valued.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2012
The format of this text is brilliant. Rose claims that hip-hop is in crisis, but also emphasizes that criticisms of hip-hop often rely on racist and sexist logic. Meanwhile, supporters of hip-hop often blindly defend its consistently anti-woman, violent content. So she spends the first half of the book analyzing the top arguments against hip-hop and the second half analyzing the arguments in defense of it in order to encourage listeners to remain critical of the media they consume without writing off entire genres or artists entirely. Basically, she doesn't let anyone off the hook, but she lays out a groundwork for ways we can address the glaring problems in hip-hop without dismissing such a powerful creative genre altogether.
In short, a must-read for anyone passionate about hip-hop but uneasy about the problematic ideals it all too often glorifies.
In short, a must-read for anyone passionate about hip-hop but uneasy about the problematic ideals it all too often glorifies.
February 4, 2012
Tricia Rose begins, The Hip Hop Wars with the sentence, “HIP HOP IS IN A TERRIBLE CRISIS”…
Rose gives a thirteen chapter analysis on “Hip Hop Critics” and “Hip Hop Defenders.” The opening argument explores the criticism that Hip Hop glorifies violence. Tricia uncovers the inferences born in the mid-1990s by N.W.A, who released a “dedication” to the LA Police Department titled, “*uck the Police.” In contrast a Hip Hop heavy hitter states:
“I honestly feel it’s a lot more important things [to worry about], if you want to fix America, you have to start at George Bush and work your way down– you can’t start at hip hop and work your way up.”
-T.I., in an MTV interview, www.MTV.com, April 23, 2007
T.I. and other “Hip Hop Defenders” suggest there are more important things to discuss other than the sexism or violence in some rap music.
What do you think?
Rose gives a thirteen chapter analysis on “Hip Hop Critics” and “Hip Hop Defenders.” The opening argument explores the criticism that Hip Hop glorifies violence. Tricia uncovers the inferences born in the mid-1990s by N.W.A, who released a “dedication” to the LA Police Department titled, “*uck the Police.” In contrast a Hip Hop heavy hitter states:
“I honestly feel it’s a lot more important things [to worry about], if you want to fix America, you have to start at George Bush and work your way down– you can’t start at hip hop and work your way up.”
-T.I., in an MTV interview, www.MTV.com, April 23, 2007
T.I. and other “Hip Hop Defenders” suggest there are more important things to discuss other than the sexism or violence in some rap music.
What do you think?
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