All about the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can't Save Black America [Hardcover]

John McWhorter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 19, 2008

The bestselling commentator, hailed for his frank and fearless arguments on race, imparts a scathing look at the hypocrisy of hip-hop—and why its popularity proves that black America must overhaul its politics.

One of the most outspoken voices in America’s cultural dialogues, John McWhorter can always be counted on to provide provocative viewpoints steeped in scholarly savvy. Now he turns his formidable intellect to the topic of hip-hop music and culture, smashing the claims that hip-hop is politically valuable because it delivers the only “real” portrayal of black society.

In this measured, impassioned work, McWhorter delves into the rhythms of hip-hop, analyzing its content and celebrating its artistry and craftsmanship. But at the same time he points out that hip-hop is, at its core, simply music, and takes issue with those who celebrate hip-hop as the beginning of a new civil rights program and inflate the lyrics with a kind of radical chic. In a power vacuum, this often offensive and destructive music has become a leading voice of black America, and McWhorter stridently calls for a renewed sense of purpose and pride in black communities.

Joining the ranks of Russell Simmons and others who have called for a deeper investigation of hip-hop’s role in black culture, McWhorter’s All About the Beat is a spectacular polemic that takes the debate in a seismically new direction.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this uneven critique of mainstream and socially conscious rap and hip-hop, McWhorter (Losing the Race) pillories the genre for positioning itself as a political—even revolutionary—medium. In the author's analysis, hip-hop is typified by narcissism rather than altruism, a culture of complaint rather than creative solution and a willful blindness to the real problems affecting black communities; McWhorter demonstrates how frequently artists rail against police brutality and how few mention HIV/AIDS, the single biggest killer of African-Americans. The author's admiration for the genre generally keeps his criticisms from sounding shrill, but it cannot compensate for the book's flaws. While McWhorter lambastes rappers for failing to address real issues, he doesn't either: like the hip-hop artists he chides, the author romanticizes activism while appearing clueless about the nuts and bolts of grassroots work. Equally troubling are McWhorter's unsubstantiated theories, chief among them his claim that African-Americans are more inclined to judge a statement by how it sounds than what it communicates. More interested in skewering hip-hop than suggesting paths to substantive social change, this book ultimately frustrates more than it illuminates. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“This is a remarkable book because, in its way, it celebrates hip-hop even as it argues against its political significance. McWhorter separates the powerful elements of the music itself from the often mindless political pretensions that surround it. He does what only the best cultural critics can do: he parses and clarifies to show the way beyond the dead-ends that art forms inevitably come to. He wants hip-hop to align with logic and reason. He wants it to grow.”
—Shelby Steele, author of The Content of Our Character

“John McWhorter is one of the few of whom it can be said, ‘He thinks for himself and goes his own way.’ In All About the Beat he takes on all of the exaggerated claims for hip-hop as something more than a long-running and lucrative trend. With absolute clarity, he proves them not to be the claims of airheads but airholes—empty openings in the wall of American popular culture. This book is a short but sharp and substantial rebuttal of the academic hustlers, lightweight rabble-rousers, and camp followers who do not know the difference between smoke and fire. For the good of us all, John McWhorter does.”
—Stanley Crouch, author of Considering Genius and The Artificial White Man

Praise for Winning the Race

“Splendid. . . . McWhorter has a keen eye for the foibles of social scientists.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“A provocative challenge to conventional wisdom.”
—USA Today --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (June 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592403743
• ISBN-13: 978-1592403745
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Beat, but Can Anyone Dance To It? January 3, 2009

By Nyghtewynd VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

McWhorter makes a compelling case for a subject that seems obvious enough only if you are who McWhorter is: one of the world's preeminent linguists. Since he spends all day listening to languages to determine their meaning, why not do the same to hip-hop? And when you take away the beat (which the author claims is the primary draw to it) and the theatrics, what's left is not much. Even today's "conscious" rappers can't seem to fit more than a few sentences of actual message into each song, and the "message" that ends up there isn't much more than an upraised middle finger. Instead of encouraging action through music, the author encourages action through service, work, and education, and all three are more relevant that the political activism that is encouraged by such music. Don't turn it off, but don't rely on it as the be-all, end-all. The author has a very relational, understandable style, and his arguments are fairly tight. Very much worth your time.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It Is Entertainment, Not a Political Forum. November 28, 2008

By Kevin Currie-Knight TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Hip-hop presents nothing useful to forging political change in the real world. It's all about attitude and just that. It's music. Gkood music, but just music." (Kindle edition, loc. 178)

This is the thesis of John McWhorter's "All About the Beat." Hip-hop mlght be good music, but it makes for empty political commentary. It is time, McWhorter says, to treat hip-hop as what it is and not more than what it is.

Before buying this book - and if you are interested in the subject, you really should pick it up - we need to be clear on what this book is NOT. The book is not dissing hip-hop. It is not a conservative screed decrying the lack of family values in hip hop. It is not arguing that hip-hop is ruining the fabric of society. It's point is simply that hip-hop music, often touted as political commmentary laced with a beat, is nothing of the sort; it is music that OCCASIONALLY TRIES (and fails) to be political commentary.

McWhorter first focuses on the 'big' rappers - 50 Cent, Young Jeezy, et. al. - and, not suprisingly, finds this music virtually bereft of any real political statement other than "f... the man!" Next, McWhorter focuses on the "conscious" rappers - Mos Def, Common, the Roots - and finds that while their lyrics may be more about positivity than the thug life, these rappers still offer only very surface-level "political commentary." Rather than, "f... the man," these rappers say essentially the same thing in more tidy and seemingly thoughtful words - "rebel against the machine," perhaps.

McWhrter's strongest point, at least to me, is the idea that what passes as political commentary in rap is so light that it would not, and should not, be seen as political commentary at all. Let me quote directly from McWhorter on this score:

"Yet people apparently see great drama in young black men of humble circumstances knowing something about current events. The quiet assumption is that for a white person, being an intellectual means making points sustained with argumentation, and possibly writing it down. But a black person is intlelectual if he or she just says the names of W.E.B. Dubois and Malcolm X in a rap." (loc. 961)

What some say is "political commentary" in rap is usually just mention of some current social ill, civil rights, or big words like "manifest." Through some sustained analysis of supposedly deep rap lyrics, McWhorter demonstreats this phenomenon again and again; any "political message" in rap music is generally confined to a few lines, inordinate amounts of vagueness, and compulsive emphasis on moaning problems rather than spitting solutions.

So, why did I give this book 4 stars rather than 5? To be honest, a large reason was that McWhorter's points are so obvious, that I kept wondering why a book was written on it at all. Aside from about 5 scholars (Michael Eric Dyson being the most prominent), I don't think that many folks take seriously rap - or ANY form of music - as astute political commentary. While the book was a fun read, and the analysis of rap lyrics fascinating, it is still a book written to counter a handful of ivory tower academics.

This brings me to my next point. I REALLY would have liked to see a chapter or section comparing rap's present situation to that of 60's protest music, which somewhow was considered political commentary. What, if anything, makes the two situations different. (My guess is that the music of the 60's, like rap, can be called political commentary only in the sense that it contained sprinkles of rageing lyrics that managed to tap into people's anger, but could not really be seen as sustained political analysis.) It REALL would have been nice to see a section exploring this, though, because I suspect that the scholars that want to see rap as a potential political art-form probably model this desire on hopes that it will recreate what 60's folk was to the hippie generation.

All in all, this is an interesting book, even though its scope is a lot smaller than some will expect. Those who hope for a screed against rap as art will be very disappointed, as will anyone expecting a dissertaion on rap's supposed immorality. McWhoter confines himself to a much narrower thesis, and makes it forcefully.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, but who's the audience?? January 9, 2010

By Plain Talk

Format:Hardcover

I enjoyed this book. I recommend it for anyone who is interested in hip-hop. with that being said, I think Mcwhorter's idea of political change is different that most hip-hop heads. I agree with most points that the author makes: Hip-hop is arguing for the sake of arguing in many cases, but there have been times where people have been fired up as a result of hip-hop. Hip-hop has brought to light many cases that would normally be obscure. I remember Chubb Rock talking about Yusef Hawkins, which caused me to do the research and find out what happened. Without Rap, I would have been in the dark. So to emphasize: Rap is not in the business of changing the political landscape, or even working within the political landscape most of the times. Rap is an empowerment tool that is designed to inform and hopefully get people to think. The problem is, which McWhorter has definitely pointed out, is that you can't be taken seriously when you make a brilliant political rap, then you are right back talking about Hoes, and money, and selling drugs. Nas is a prime example, also Tupac. Nas is brilliant at times, but then he slinks right back to talking about sex, drugs, or other mundane topics. You have to take the good with the bad, but let's not push rap off as meaningless when it comes to political movements. You may need to scale down your expectations. Check out my new book Plain Talk volume 1 on Racism and stereotypes. Oh yeah, buy this book as well!!!

Plain Talk - Volume 1