Examines hip-hop's past, present, and future in a collection of essays, interviews, and discussions The author of the award-winning Can't Stop, Won't Stop assembles the most innovative and provocative voices in hip-hop to assess the future of the most important cultural movement of our time Introduction Hip-Hop Arts: Our Expanding Universe Jeff Chang ix PART ONE ROOTS: PERSPECTIVES ON HIP-HOP HISTORY 3 1 Dreams of a Final Theory Harry Allen 7 2 Nommo Anthony "Amde" Hamilton 10 3 (Yet Another) Letter to a Young Poet Marc Bamuthi Joseph 11 4 Physical Graffiti: The History of Hip-Hop Dance Jorge "POPMASTER FABEL" Pabon 18 5 The Art of Battling: An Interview with Zulu King Alien Ness Joe Schloss 27 6 Got Next: A Roundtable on Identity and Aesthetics after Multiculturalism Greg Tate, Vijay Prashad, Mark Anthony Neal, and Brian Cross 33 PART TWO FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: BEYOND THE FOUR ELEMENTS 55 7 The Pure Movement and the Crooked Line: An Interview with Rennie Harris Jeff Chang 59 8 Found in Translation: The Emergence of Hip-Hop Theatre Eisa Davis 70 9 From the Dope Spot to Broadway: A Roundtable on Hip-Hop Theatre, Dance, and Performance Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Kamilah Forbes, Traci Bartlow, and Javier Reyes 78 10 On Lit Hop Adam Mansbach 92 11 Who Shot Ya: A History of Hip-Hop Photography Bill Adler 102 12 Words and Images: A Roundtable on Hip-Hop Design Cey Adams, Brent Rollins, and Sacha Jenkins 117 13 Between the Studio and the Street: Hip-Hop in the Postmillennial Visual Arts A Roundtable Curated by Lydia Yee, with Nadine Robinson, Samford Biggers, Luis Gispert, and Jackie Salloum 133 14 The City in Public versus Private: Through a Scanner Darkly Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky 149 PART THREE THE REAL: IDENTITY IN FLUX 161 15 Trapped in between the Lines: The Aesthetics of Hip-Hop Journalism Oliver Wang 165 16 L-vis Is a Pioneer; or, Legacy: The VH1 Special Kevin Coval 175 17 Burn Rubber on Plastic Bubbles: "Gangsta Limpin'" and the Art of Dave Funkenklein Retreaded by Dave Tompkins 178 18 Black Talk and Hot Sex: Why "Street Lit" Is Literature Danyel Smith 188 19 It's All One A Conversation between Juba Kalamka and Tim'm West 198 20 Homothugdragsterism Jo Barraquiel Tan 209 21 how I found my inner DJ robert karimi 219 22 A Brand-New Feminism A Conversation between Joan Morgan and Mark Anthony Neal 233 PART FOUR WORLDWIDE: HIP-HOP ARTS BEYOND BORDERS 247 23 brooklyn Suheir Hammad 249 24 Falling for Bob Marley Staceyann Chin 252 25 Inventos Hip-Hop: An Interview with Eli Jacobs-Fauntauzzi Jeff Chang 255 26 Cape Flats Alchemy: Hip-Hop Arts in South Africa Shaheen Ariefdien and Nazli Abrahams 262 27 AfroBlue: Incanting Yoruba Gods in Hip-Hop's Isms Raquel Cepeda 271 28 Native Tongues: Hip-Hop's Global Indigenous Movement A Roundtable Curated by Cristina Ver with Darryl "DLT" Thompson, Litefoot, Grant Leigh Saunders, Mohammed Yunus Rafiq, and JAAS 278 PART FIVE NEXT ELEMENTS: HIP-HOP ARTS AND FUTURE AESTHETICS 293 29 Untitled Walidah Imarisha 297 30 Theatres Crossing the Divide: A Baby Boomer's Defense of Hip-Hop Aesthetics Roberta Uno 300 31 Put Your Camera Where My Eyes Can See: Hip-Hop Video, Film, and Documentary A Roundtable Curated by Eric K. Arnold, with Rachel Raimist, Kevin Epps, and Michael Wanguhu 306 32 Codes and the B-Boy's Stigmata: An Interview with DOZE Jeff Chang 321 33 Revolution: An Interview with Brett Cook-Dizney Jeff Chang 331 34 Scarcity and Exploitation: The Myth and Reality of the Struggling Hip-Hop Artist Rha Goddess 340 35 Toward a Hip-Hop Aesthetic: A Manifesto for the Hip-Hop Arts Movement Danny Hoch 349 Acknowledgments 365 Index 367