According to Ronin Ro, Gangsta is to Hip-Hop as Death Metal is to Brahms. As Fitzgerald chronicled the jazz age, Ronin Ro has captured a society attracted to the base parts of itself. With an insider's knowledge, Ro, a veteran music reporter and a rhymer himself, describes how money and marketing have bastardized the funk and how the star-maker machinery of L.A.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
A collection of articles by freelance music reporter Ronin Ro, whose writing has appeared in Spin, Rolling Stone, The Source and Rap Pages, on the social ramifications of gangsta rap. Ro examines the proliferation of crack cocaine in the last decade and the rise of gang violence, and provides thorough criticism on the music this anarchic culture has spawned. Through insightful interviews and deft observations, Ro argues that record companies and artists looking to make a profit have contributed to the spread of gangs, and that the industry of gangsta rap validates, even promotes, misogyny, gun use and the corruption of children.
From Publishers Weekly
Brooklyn-based freelance music reporter Ro has covered the gangsta rap scene for Spin, The Source, Rap Pages and Rolling Stone. This raw, gritty collection of his articles chronicles rap music from 1992 to 1995, mainly in Los Angeles and New York City. Ro asserts that hip-hop, which once unified people and steered a predominantly black and Latino audience in a more positive direction, has been perverted by gangsta rappers and exploitative record companies that package gang-culture images and lyrics promoting misogyny, violence, self-hatred, antisocial attitudes and gang-related murders. This message, spelled out in an introductory chapter, is muted when Ro profiles Kid Frost, Street Mentality, Method Man, NWA's Dr. Dre and other rap artists. In this collection, he parties, hangs out with the stars and hears their whining stories of fame and self-destructiveness. As Ro acknowledges, this is "not an anti-gangsta rap tract," and because it's too close to fanzine fare, it probably won't make a difference.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
After penning a column for Dance Music Report magazine, Ronin Ro began a groundbreaking run in The Source. From here, Ro contributed to SPIN, Rolling Stone, VIBE, Rap Pages, XXL, Vanity Fair, Playboy, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and more. To date, Ro has authored eight Books, including the classic Have Gun Will Travel, the definitive Jack Kirby bio Tales to Astonish, Raising Hell (containing original interviews with Run-D.M.C. and others), Dr. Dre: The Biography, the controversial novella Street Sweeper (whose hero, Jerome Usher, reputedly inspired a similar hero in the motion picture Man on Fire) and the upcoming Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks. Currently in New York City, known for epic, classically-structured works, the influential Author is currently at work on two nonfiction projects.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Important chronicle.,
By
This review is from: Gangsta: Merchandizing the Rhymes of Violence (Hardcover)
I really do not understand how someone gave this one star! It is one of the important Hip Hop books chronicling the violence in Hip Hop from a mid 1990's perspective, and written from the inside looking out. Any serious student of Hip hop should own this.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gangsta is an incredible book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gangsta: Merchandizing the Rhymes of Violence (Hardcover)
Ronin Ro's Gangsta is much better than Have Gun Will Travel. Ro's writing was more artistic, and had more feeling. He spent most of this book reflecting on the future of America and music and the nature of life and death. Portions of the book were heart-rending; some were hilarious; others were unbelievable. This book showed me where most of the rap-writing styles out there today came from. Ronin was at his best in this book.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A waste of time,
By A Customer
This review is from: Gangsta: Merchandizing the Rhymes of Violence (Hardcover)
The author knows that NWA started gangsta rap and not much else. After a promising, well-written introduction, the rest of the book is sheer disappointment. Ro writes about his sexual exploits, his alcoholism, his brother's suicide, and his crush on a young Japanese girl. In short, everything except gangsta rap. The introduction was well worth reading twice, but not worth special oredering this poor attempt at attacking the subject.
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