Buppies, B-boys, Baps, And Bohos: Notes On Post-soul Black Culture [Paperback]

Nelson George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2001

In this new and expanded edition of Nelson George's classic cultural study, contemporary black culture is chronicled through essays on music, film, sports, publishing, politics and city life, both uptown and down. "Buppies" enters nearly every arena of the black urban USA: roisterous rappers and legendary hoopsters, streetwise hustlers and influential filmmakers, unsung musicians and drug dealers at work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Village Voice columnist George has already established his scholarly depth and his gift for stylish, finger-on-the-pulse reporting on black music with his The Death of Rhythm & Blues and Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise & Fall of the Motown Sound . This collection of articles, nearly all of them reprinted from the Village Voice , marks him also as a knowledgeable, entertaining critic of African American popular culture generally and its pervasive influence on American life. Beginning with an astute, comprehensive, polemical time line, "A Chronicle of Post-Soul Black Culture," George traces black mass culture from the 1970s "blaxploitation" films through Alex Haley's Roots saga and comic Richard Pryor's sociopolitical humor up to the explosive popularity of hip-hop. His observations on the origins of rap in New York City black neighborhoods are valuable, and two probing essays--on the fatal 1985 shooting by a white Manhattan police officer of black Phillips Exeter Academy student Edmund Perry, and on the near-cosmic importance of basketball among black teens--vividly illustrate George's sensitivity to the social complexities of African American life. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this collection of his Village Voice "Native Son" columns (written mostly since 1988), George "reports on, hangs out with, and takes measure of" a variety of black Americans, from Marvin Gaye, Rick James, Kool Moe Dee, and Tracy Chapman to Al Sharpton, David Dinkins, Magic Johnson, and Spike Lee. His focus is the "black aesthetic," "black cultural emasculation," and the recent "tenor of African American culture." Dedicating this book to Richard Wright and James Baldwin, who "taught him it was all right for little black boys to write about how they saw the world with no apologies and no fear," George minces no words as he thoughtfully addresses misogyny, rap music, gangs, Afrocentrism, "blaxploitation," and what he called in 1990 "Malcolmania." His 33-page chronology of post-soul black culture is invaluable. Most certainly, he has captured a significant part of American society and culture. Lots of libraries and lots of readers will want this book.
- Katherine Dahl, Western Illinois Univ., Macomb
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 2nd edition (July 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306810271
• ISBN-13: 978-0306810275
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,701,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bboy = BREAK BOY, July 27, 2006

By 

C. Thorstad "Bboy StepChild" (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Buppies, B-boys, Baps, And Bohos: Notes On Post-soul Black Culture (Paperback)

Bboy means Break Boy, a bboy is a breakdancer, not an MC or a DJ or Graffiti Technican or a BASKETBALL Player. You're not a bboy unless you throw down on the floor and dance, and your not a bboy unless you battle. There are 55 pages of the Bboy section, mostly written on Rap artists. Which is cool because they are a part of bboy history too, but they are rappers not bboys. Other than that, the rest of the book is great, I would recommend reading this book for the sake of good history. But for Bboy history, I would read a different one, or just buy the Freshest Kids DVD. I did buy the book mostly for a different view on HIpHOp History and that i was referred to read it.
All and all he is a good writer.

Bboy StepChild

5.0 out of 5 stars very on time book, January 20, 2003

By 

A customer "mistermaxxx" (usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Buppies, B-boys, Baps, And Bohos: Notes On Post-soul Black Culture (Paperback)

Nelson George is one of My Favorite Writers&He has a way with words&conecting so much together.He brings a strong fusion too His work.I enjoyed the essays so much&the way He broke down era's,styles&overall entertainment.get a copy if you can.