Deconstructing Tyrone: A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip-Hop Generation (Paperback)

~ (Author), Natalie Y. Moore (Author)
Key Phrases: civil rights generation, plea deal, black masculinity, New York, Mmoja Ajabu, Etan Thomas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this series of 11 essays, journalists Hopkinson and Moore probe black male archetypes of the hip-hop generation, but the Howard University grads' superficial application of Jacques Derrida's "deconstruction theory" limits the impact of their effort. ("Tyrone," the everyman moniker in Erykah Badu's 1997 female anthem, is the authors' cultural catchall for these black men.) Written in cheeky, intellectual-yet-down vernacular, the strongest chapters deliver convention-bending twists on familiar types. They introduce Etan Thomas, an erudite basketball player with a taste for politics; hypermasculine showboat Kwame Kilpatrick, not pimping in a rap video but leaning back in Detroit's mayoral mansion; and a gay couple restoring their well-appointed Victorian home while the kids are away at camp. But too often, trendy cultural arguments and the minutiae of each subject's life eclipse deeper analysis. The essay on Kwame Kilpatrick is less about unveling meanings buried in media and public perceptions than evaluating his uneven mayoral record. Essays like "Babydaddy" and "Tyrones in Training" complicate boilerplate images of young, hip-hop–loving black men, but rely exclusively on the views of babymamas and teen girls. Hopkinson and Moore offer snap shots of alternative black masculinities, but don't really break new ground. (Dec.)
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From The Washington Post

Reviewed by Evelyn C. White
In 1997, singer Erykah Badu released "Tyrone," in which she bemoans a lover who can't function without his posse, including a hanger-on she dubs "Tyrone." Fed up with her man, she croons, "I think ya better call Tyrone, And tell him come on, help you get your [stuff]."

Tyrone is "a name that has come to speak to a unique form of black male identity," write Natalie Hopkinson and Natalie Y. Moore in Deconstructing Tyrone, "one flavored with a distinctly postsoul aesthetic. Simply put: Tyrone is our boy." Taking that name as their guide for this intriguing book, Hopkinson (a Washington Post reporter) and Moore (a Chicago journalist and teacher) explore the world of black men who, like the authors, are members of the hip-hop generation.

Black men who exhibit "Tyroninity," the authors' term for a cavalier disregard for convention, are often disparaged as sidekicks to their more forceful male peers. Yet in their attention to everyday issues of survival, such men play an important role in the black community. Disdainful of the integrationist gains of the civil rights movement, Tyrones favor entrepreneurial endeavors over establishment jobs. Hopkinson and Moore compare that attitude with the laments of their own fathers, outwardly successful beneficiaries of the battles for racial equality who hated "working for The Man. . . . We heard axioms such as: There is nothing. Harder. In this world. Than being a black man in corporate America. Own your own business. Write your own ticket. . . . Our peers have listened."

The authors offer Kwame Kilpatrick as an example of someone who works within the system, albeit with his own flair. A former middle school teacher and a law school graduate, Kilpatrick grew up in a politically prominent family. When he ran for mayor of Detroit in 2001 at 31, he stopped wearing a large diamond stud in his ear on the advice of pollsters. When he won, he restored the stud, signaling his intent to rule the roost as mayor. Kilpatrick's administration has bedazzled (after-school programs flourish) and bedeviled (allegations of cronyism abound) Detroit: "Like hip-hop, he's flashy, fresh, a finger-to-the-establishment. Like hip-hop, he is, at his worst, arrogant, unfocused, and undisciplined."

Washington Wizards star Etan Thomas's outspokenness also qualifies him as a Tyrone. At a 2005 rally against the Iraq War, he announced to a roaring crowd, "I wanna get one of those big yellow buses with no air-conditioning and no seat belts. Round up Bill O'Reilly, Pat Buchanan and any other right-wing, conservative Republicans I can think of, and take them on a trip to the hood." Thomas's admiration of controversial groups such as the Black Muslims earned him an "our boy" stamp of approval from the authors. "I have so much respect for the Nation of Islam," Thomas told them in an interview. "They encourage the black man to walk upright."

But there's a downside to Tyroninity. Hopkinson and Moore note the multitudes of "Tyrones" who've barraged the world with degrading portraits of black women, citing specifically the rapper Nelly's infamous video in which he swipes a credit card between a woman's buttocks. "So what is the self-respecting black woman to do?" they ask. "Often the most thugged-out rappers turn to sharp, educated women to market their images. Scores of black women coordinate media interviews, design publicity campaigns . . . and style video shoots." Such women are empathetic to the longing among rappers for wealth and fame -- by any means necessary, the authors explain. But readers are likely to be disappointed by their final limp take on hip-hop misogyny: "Unfortunately, there is no easy resolution to a crisis that has been decades in the making."

Deconstructing Tyrone meets The Autobiography of Malcolm X in the authors' riveting account of Kofi "Debo" Ajabu, who was reared in black grassroots traditions. A gifted child of activist parents, Ajabu, at age 21, was convicted for his alleged part in a gruesome murder and is now serving a 180-year prison term. His parents had "tried to insulate Debo . . . from the toxic racial climate by enveloping [him] in a community of like-minded souls, committed to the liberation struggle of black people. . . . [They] went to black cultural events, boycotted products doing business with South Africa, and taught their children Swahili." Still, Ajabu embraced the gangster lifestyle. "You wouldn't believe how many middle-class gangbangers there are," he tells the authors. "It's like . . . we gotta prove some[thing]."

Deconstructing Tyrone achieves a deep poignancy when the authors describe Ajabu's response to his plight. "This is not life," he insists from his prison cell. "I will never accept this. . . . I was brought up to be free." Black men of the hip-hop generation are stepping to a different beat. But as the authors reveal, the path to freedom remains fraught with personal and societal peril.
Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Press (September 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573442577
• ISBN-13: 978-1573442572
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #571,229 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Regarding (Post?)Modern Black Males, January 9, 2007

By	Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Two African-American, female journalists, the Natalies, discuss current topics related to African-American males. Oftentimes, I think journalists don't make quality booklength works. I am glad these writers overcame that trend. They cover a wide range of topics from boys' education, strippers, gay men, entrepreneurialism, inter alia. Because of the East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry, many Americans, across racial identities, forget that many Blacks live in the Midwest. Black Chicagoans made house music and Black Detroiters made techno, for example. This book is heavily Midwest-focused, and I appreciated that novelty, especially as a Black person from the region.

This book is much stronger than Cose's "Envy of the World" or Dawsey's "Living to Tell About It." You may want to read it alongside strong works such as Neal's "New Black Man." This was published by Cleis Press. I am impressed how that press is including more than Susie Bright fans recently.

I learned some interesting things from this book. For example, the Natalies say that upper-class Black men marry as rarely as poor Black males. I love that the authors call out Jawanza Kunjufu on his homophobic writings. Still, the journalists come to no conclusion and this may frustrate many. For example, do they think Detroit's Mayor Kilpatrick is a bad or good politician? Do they think strippers are victims of abuse or women with much agency and business skills? Also, some chapters felt too internal, as if they were talking to themselves, rather than about topics that others would find interesting.

Two chapters, one on strippers and one on adolescent girls, troubled the ideas of Black masculinity. On the one hand, these chapters can be seen as anti-essentialist. As women's studies departments become gender studies departments, space is being made to discuss males and this book reflects that. This may prove, again, how much males and females need each other. On the other hand, some may say the writers are going off-topic. These female-dominant chapters may suggest the writers were running out of topics or had to go to women in order to discuss Black males.

The authors spoke in Chicago in November of last year and I regret not hearing their talk deeply. I recommend this book for many readers, across age and gender categories.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who is Tyrone?, February 10, 2007

By	The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

When Erykah Badu sang the song Tyrone, it was a defining statement of a black man and what he does or does not do. DECONSTRUCTING TYRONE by Natalie Hopkinson and Natalie Y. Moore examines the dichotomy of black men and their masculinity from different perspectives. They look at how the media portrays black men and how people view them in the hip-hop generation.

The chapter "Boy Born Saturday" talks about Michigan's "Hip-Hop Mayor", Kwame Kilpatrick and his role as mayor of Detroit and how he is perceived in and outside of Michigan. The chapter named "Thomas, 36" is about Washington Wizards forward Etan Thomas, a basketball player who has a voice outside of the basketball arena, who is not afraid to pronounce his dissent to the Iraq war and is not afraid to write poetry as well. The chapter "Hip-Hop" further explores the role of hip-hop on black men and how their masculinity is seen. And one of the most interesting chapters was "Boy Born Friday" about Kofi "Debo" Ajabu, a young man schooled and trained in the Black Panther Militia, college student and a gang member. His life takes a turn for the worse and even with all his knowledge and his belief the establishment has been a suppressor, his own actions caused him the biggest trouble. The other chapters in the book are just as informative and insightful.

DECONSTRUCTING TYRONE: A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip-Hop Generation is not a negative portrayal of black men, but the truth as seen from different viewpoints. Hopkinson and Moore used a variety of sources, even their own personal views to explore black masculinity. Although some of the observations are not new, they are still meaningful. Hopkinson and Moore are not offering definitive solutions for a better perception of black men, just views on how they are perceived and ways to hopefully open dialogue for change.

Reviewed by Cashana Seals
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interseting Perspective, May 23, 2007

By	L. Rowe (NY, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very interesting insight. Made me review my perspective on Black Masculinity. I enjoyed it.