The Plot Against Hip Hop
A Novel
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
A "wickedly entertaining" crime thriller from a renowned chronicler of the world of rap music (Kirkus Reviews).
Finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Literature
The stabbing murder of esteemed music critic Dwayne Robinson in a Soho office building has been dismissed by the NYPD as a gang initiation. But his old friend, bodyguard and security expert D Hunter, suspects there are larger forces at work.
D Hunter's investigation into his mentor's murder leads into a parallel history of hip hop, a place where renegade government agents, behind-the-scenes power brokers, and paranoid journalists know a truth that only a few hardcore fans suspect. This rewrite of hip hop history mixes real-life figures with characters pulled from the culture's hidden world, including Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Russell Simmons.
"This hard-boiled tale is jazzed up with authentic street slang and name-dropping (Biggie, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, and Chuck D) . . . George's tightly packaged mystery pivots on a believable conspiracy . . . and his street cred shines in his descriptions of Harlem and Brownsville's mean streets." —Library Journal
"George is a well-known, respected hip-hop chronicler . . . Now he adds crime fiction to his resume with a carefully plotted crime novel peopled by believable characters and real-life hip-hop personalities." —Booklist
"Reads almost like Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, but in the world of rap music . . . If you love crime fiction and you love hip hop, this book is a must read." —BookRiot
"Part procedural murder mystery, part conspiracy-theory manifesto . . . .The writing is as New York as 'Empire State of Mind,' and D is a detective compelling enough to anchor a series." —Time Out New York
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
George (City Kid), a prolific cultural critic, attempts to squeeze 40 years of hip-hop and urban culture into this uneven noir, which centers on the stabbing of Dwayne Robinson, a middle-aged music critic and black intellectual with a career similar to that of the author's. Robinson dies clutching a bloodied cassette tape at the door to his pal D's downtown Manhattan office. When the authorities quickly dismiss the murder as just another gang initiation, D takes the investigation into his own hands, discovering bits and pieces of his late friend's hip-hop conspiracy theory along the way. George embeds the story with cultural references that will resonate with fans of the music (each chapter cleverly takes its name from a relevant rap song), and the real-life East Coast/West Coast feud that led to the deaths of Biggie and Tupac plays a large role in the development of the plot. Unfortunately, that plot can be slow-moving and hard to follow.
