Check out Hip Hop World , the new book that has Hip Hop generationers across seven continents talking! Hip Hop World is a broad-based study on globalization, Hip Hop and youth culture that asks and answers many tough questions we should all be thinking about in this new rap reality.
Did “Hipster Rap” (R.I.P.) ever stand a chance given the diminished attention spans of its Millennial inventors? Why is it that the most buzz worthy emcee’s (Drake, K’naan) come from Canada, a place better known for Rock n’ Roll and ice hockey? Will the witch hunt by lazy journalists to find the Gay Rapper ever end? Is it the 10th anniversary of Rap’s death, but we’re in denial? Are Islam and Rap compatible? Was the Notorious B.I.G (and most of Hip Hop’s founding fathers) more Yardie than you think? Who are the new school raptivists around the globe and what drives them? Why are beat boxing and b-boying/b-girling more popular outside of America? Why does Hip Hop flourish in Aboriginal and Native American communities? Should we continue to be looking to 20-year-old rappers for answers to complex world problems? Can some rappers still be grimey and thugged out when they make $50,000 per show? Is there a reason Asian b-boys have larger prominence in the breaking scene? Is Asher Roth part of another failed Post-Eminem Great White Hope cash grab? What do legendary African American jokesters like Dolemite and Blowfly have to do with Hip Hop? Included are essays on the use of the N-word in Rap music, and theories on why the record label system might already be done, like the 2009/10 New Jersey Nets!
Dalton taps into his own powers of pop culture prognostication to predict the future of the genre and the direction of the youth culture that spawned it, as Hip Hop spreads its tentacles to the furthest reaches of humanity. Hip Hop World features frank interviews with The Cool Kids’ Mikey Rocks, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, turntable maestro DJ Qbert, UK beat box master Killa Kela, Sudanese raptivist Emmanuel Jal, White privilege critic/author Adam Mansbach, Cuban poetess Telmary, Native American photographer Ernie Paniccioli, sampling maverick Girl Talk and many more.
Purchase Hip Hop World is available now at www.amazon.com
About the Author:
Dalton Higgins is a National Magazine award-winner and one of the world’s foremost experts on Hip Hop and youth culture. Hip Hop World is his third book. As a print journalist, Dalton’s writing has appeared in Vibe, The Source and Urb. An expert on a number of pop culture topics ranging from fatherhood activism to global diasporic Black culture, Dalton has provided insight on Barack Obama’s election on national television and CBC Radio One. Behind the camera, he has produced film and radio documentaries on items ranging from barbershop culture to human beatboxers, and worked on a national broadcast of the Canadian Urban Music Award show as a scriptwriter for comedian Russell Peters. He is currently a music programmer at the Harbourfront Centre – Canada’s Centre of Contemporary Culture – and has sat on a long list of music prize juries including the Juno Awards (Canada’s equivalent to the Grammys). He lives in Toronto. Please visit: daltonhiggins.wordpress.com
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