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and history. I also want to recognize rappers who have been forced to take their music in directions that contradict their beliefs because of music industry exploitation. Special thanks to Curtis Wayne Riley, Jr., better known as “Boze,” for this book cover which incorporates urban themes and symbolisms (mastercrate22@gmail.com).
A number of people read versions of the manuscript. They made important suggestions and encouraged this work. I am indebted to professor Michael Woods at Hamilton College, who read and commented on every word. My friends and colleagues of many years, David Burak at Santa Monica College and Terry Oldano, saw what I could not see. This book could not have been written without a hip hop advisory group whose members served as insiders and longtime observers of the movement; they also read and commented on the manuscript: Mohammed Bilal, Elise Bell, and Nathan Jones. I particularly appreciate the many students at California State University, East Bay, who have insisted for years that I write this book. Special thanks to former graduate student Professor Scott Brooks and his students at the University of California, Irvine, for doing a content analysis for this project. It was Professor Brooks’s MA thesis that initially opened the door for me to hip hop studies and the problems of gangster rap.
Special people created a space so that I could stay focused on the work, research, and writing for the years that this project required. My soul mate, Deborah Whittle, has been the heart that kept me going and focused. In addition, I am part of a circle of men who regularly held discussions, dissected issues, and conjured solutions. We have been engaged in 50 years of movements and history. Many thanks to the brothers: the late Rafiq Bilal, the magician and founder of the Upper Room; Thomas Goodwin, keeper of the planets and spirits; and Muhammad Al-Amin, the Moor and mentor to hip hoppers. This circle of men also called this book into being. I must also acknowledge the young men in my life who have kept it real and who showed me the way—Paul Bowser, Jamie McGhee, Joshua Morrison, and Joseph Morrison.