Sampling, Biting, and the Postmodern Subversion of Hip Hop

Drawing on the cultures history before and after the birth of rap music, this book argues that the values attributed to Hip Hop by postmodern scholars stand in stark contrast with those that not only implicitly guided its aesthetic elements, but are explicitly voiced by Hip Hops pioneers and rap musics most consequential artists. It argues that the structural evacuation of the voices of its founders and organic intellectuals in the postmodern theorization of Hip Hop has foreclosed the cultures ethical values and political goals from scholarly view, undermining its unity and progress. Through a historically informed critique of the hegemonic theoretical framework in Hip Hop Studies, and a re-centering of the cultures fundamental proscription against biting,' this book articulates and defends the aesthetic and ethical values of Hip Hop against their concealment and subversion by an academic discourse that merely samples the culture for its own reactionary ends.