Hip hop - Book Report/Review Example

Hip hop The seventh chapter "Our Future. Right Here, Right Now!" from the work Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement by S. Craig Watkins is utilized for this review. The foretold chapter is a mixture of the biography of an American politician namely Kwame Kilpatrick, and the relationship between popular culture and urban politics. As pointed out, the author provides ample importance to Kwame Kilpatrick’s growth and development as the hip-hop mayor of Detroit and as an eminent politician in national politics. S. Craig Watkins states that “The effort to translate hip hop’s pop capital into political capital is well under way” (205).

Within this scenario, the author makes use of the theme to explore the deep relationship between popular culture (say, hip hop) and regional/ national politics in America. In the work, the example given by Michael Eric Dyson, (critic) to explore the African American politics is apt. For instance, the African American politics can be divided into two sections, the older generation which represents the civil rights movement and the younger generation which represents the popular culture. The example given by the author to unveil the political development of African Americans or the immigrants in America is noteworthy.

For example, the political development put forth by Kwame Kilpatrick (Detroit) and Corey Booker (Newark), especially the importance given to youngsters, is significant. One can easily identify that Kwame Kilpatrick’s candidateship and success as the Mayor of Detroit is closely related to his positive attitude towards hip hop culture. Besides, this chapter gives ample importance of community development and the involvement of the same in business scenario. In short, the innovative design put forth by Kwame Kilpatrick aims to inculcate hip hop and community development within the scenario of urban politics in America. S. Craig Watkins states that the relationship between popular culture and urban politics is undergoing rapid but positive change and hip hop symbolism “represented the dawn of a new era in urban politics” (196).

Besides, this chapter clearly states the rapid change and the importance gained by popular culture within the regional and national political scenario in America. Summing, the chapter "Our Future. Right Here, Right Now!" from the work Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement can be evaluated as a brief biography of Kwame Kilpatrick, and wider interpretation of the newly gained importance of popular culture in regional and national politics in America.

References Watkins, S. Craig. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2006.Print.