identity, 6, 9, 13, 25, 33, 71, 100, 102–103, 105, 115, 161, 195, 200–207, 209, 214–216, 222–223, 247, 263–264, 266–267, 272–273, 282, 284, 290

immigrant, 23, 105, 195–196, 207, 216, 285

inmate, 213

Interscope Records, 70, 86

Ja Rule, 163–164

Jackson, Michael, 98

jail, 22, 59, 66, 123, 125, 131, 133, 138–139, 142, 144, 153, 156, 178, 189, 201, 203, 211–214, 220, 227, 269, 287

Jay-Z, 3, 67, 69–70, 75, 79, 81, 83, 99, 135–136

Jazzy Jay, 28

Jim Crow, 34, 102, 107–110, 116, 151–152, 154, 156, 159–161, 164, 215–216, 220–221

jobs, 77, 79, 130–131, 143, 173, 190, 210, 268, 286

Johnson, Sylvia, 57, 78

Kennedy, Randall 149, 156, 175, 182–185, 190–192, 298

King, Martin Luther 34

Kitwana, Bakari, 19, 42, 51, 79–81, 85, 87, 89–92, 94, 117, 141, 207, 241

Knight, Suge, 10, 58–60, 65, 67–68, 70, 83, 94, 112, 123, 135, 160, 166–167, 202, 208, 216, 257

KRS, 18, 45, 57, 85, 143, 242, 280

Ku Klux Klan, 165, 181, 186

Kubrin, Charis, 64, 79, 85, 100

Kweli, Talib, 67, 246, 280

La Pena Cultural, 40

Laface, 83

Latino, 26–27, 31–33, 38–39, 50, 76, 90, 93–94, 280

Lee, Spike, 114, 177

Lil' Jon, 69, 107–108, 166

Living Legacy, 67

Ludacris, 68, 109

lumpins, 56

mainstream, 19, 35, 38, 40, 100, 122, 131, 149, 168, 200, 210–211, 232–233, 282

Malcolm X, 218

male identity crisis, 202, 204–206, 214, 247

Marshall, 141

Marxist, 33

masculinity, 100–101, 203–204, 206, 209–210, 268

materialism, 18, 38–39, 43, 204, 279, 285

MC, 26, 36, 52–53, 77

MCA Records, 81

media influence, 228

media violence, 230–231

middle class, 38, 41, 56, 89, 116–117, 146, 174, 189, 205–206, 209, 283, 286

Miller v. California, 192

minstrel, 11–14, 97–101, 103, 105–117, 119, 124, 127, 139–140, 146–147, 151–152, 165, 183, 189, 209, 213, 252, 281, 288

misogyny, 3, 61, 63, 97, 217, 239–240, 251, 273, 278

Mos Def, 66–67, 144, 280

MTV, 59, 71, 84, 90–91, 99, 106, 195, 240, 244

Murphy, Eddie, 108

music contract, 11, 38, 58, 78–83, 85, 196, 267, 278