Close to the Edge

At its rhythmic, beating heart this book asks whether Hip Hop can change the world. Hip Hop – rapping, rhyming, b-boying, d-jaying, graffiti - captured the imagination of the teenage Sujatha Fernandes in the Sydney suburbs in the 1990s, inspiring her and politicising her along the way. Armed with mc-ing skills, academic credentials and an urge to immerse herself in global hip hop, she launches on a journey into street culture around the world. From the ghettos of Chicago to the barrios of Caracas and Havana and the sprawling suburbs of Sydney, she grapples with questions of global voices and local critiques, and the rage that underlies both. An engrossing read and an exhilarating global ride, this punchy book also asks hard questions about dispossession, racism, poverty and the hope for change through a microphone.