The ‘Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap’ Brilliantly Conveys America’s Rap Music History

“I guess hip-hop has been closer to the pulse of the streets than any music we’ve had in a long time. It’s sociology as well as music, which is in keeping with the tradition of Black music in America.” – Quincy Jones

In his essay “Gangsta Rap and American Culture”, scholar Michael Eric Dyson characterized hip-hop as an art form born out of the tumultuous period in recent American history with urban blight, the deindustrialization of steel towns, unemployment, and disinvestment in urban communities. “Hip-hoppers joined pleasure and rage while turning the details of their difficult lives into craft and capital.”