IT'S BIGGER THAN HIP HOP: THE RISE OF THE POST-HIP-HOP GENERATION

I picked up this book at the NYPL and am plowing through it. Asante is brilliant.

Here's the product description and author bio from amazon.com:

It's Bigger Than Hip Hop takes a bold look at the rise of a generation that sees beyond the smoke and mirrors of corporate-manufactured hip hop and is building a movement that will change not only the face of pop culture, but the world. M. K. Asante, Jr., a young firebrand poet, professor, filmmaker, and activist who represents this new movement, uses hip hop as a springboard for a larger discussion about the urgent social and political issues affecting the post-hip-hop generation, a new wave of youth searching for an understanding of itself outside the self-destructive, corporate hip-hop monopoly. Through insightful anecdotes, scholarship, personal encounters, and conversations with youth across the globe as well as icons such as Chuck D and Maya Angelou, Asante illuminates a shift that can be felt in the crowded spoken-word joints in post-Katrina New Orleans, seen in the rise of youth-led organizations committed to social justice, and heard around the world chanting "It's bigger than hip hop."

M.K. Asante, Jr. is an award-winning poet, filmmaker and creative writing and screenwriting professor at Morgan State University. He is also the author of LIKE WATER RUNNING OFF MY BACK and BEAUTIFUL. AND UGLY TOO. His films include the internationally acclaimed documentary, 500 Years Later and The Black Candle. For more, visit www.mkasante.com