Rap,HipHop, and Class

[Maria Gilmore]

One of the interesting stories I've heard bandied
about regarding rap, esp. gangsta rap, is that
most of the performers, promoters, labels, etc,
consist of middle-class- background types, like
Eddie Murphy and Spike Lee.  This is besides the
fact that they they tend to move to exclusive
neighborhoods once they make a pile of money;
the reality is, most of these people aren't any
more "from the streets" than I am.

Nelson George has a new book out on the history of
rap I'm looking for now.  He's not especially
political, but he wrote a book a few years ago
that was very critical of the
homogenizing of black pop so as to crossover into
mainstream commercial success.