by Jeff Chang
34. Isabel Alegria, “Hispanics Round Up During L.A. Riots,” on National Public Radio Morning Edition, broadcast May 14, 1992.
35. Ong and Hee, 12 (see chap. 15, n. 12).
36. The Staff of the Los Angeles Times, Understanding the Riots: Los Angeles Before and After the Rodney King Case (Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, July 1992), 65.
37. Stuart Butler, “The Urban Policy America Needs,” Heritage Foundation Reports, Executive Memorandum No. 330 (May 5. 1992).
38. Martin Walker, “Less Welfare, More Warfare” The Guardian (London) (May 6, 1992), 21, citing a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
17. All in the Same Gang: The War on Youth and the Quest for Unity.
1. Don Lee, “5 Years Later a Mixed Legacy of Rebuilding,” Los Angeles Times (April 22, 1997), A1.
2. James Sterngold, “L.A. Story: What Is Made of Broken Promises,” New York Times (October 13, 1996), 1.
3. Marcos Frommer, “An Interview with Mike Davis,” Chicago Review 38, no. 4 (1992).
4. April Lynch, “L.A. Gangs Clinging to a Shaky Truce,” San Francisco Chronicle (June 2, 1992), A1.
5. Ice T, as told to Heidi Siegmund, The Ice Opinion (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), 149–150.
6. Michael and Greg Krikorian, “Watts Truce Holds Even As Hopes Fade,” Los Angeles Times (May 18, 1997), B1.
7. Syvester Monroe, “Trading Colors For A Future,” Emerge (August 1993), 46.
8. Peter Leyden, “Can Gang Members Turn the Tide Toward Peace?” Minneapolis Star-Tribune (August 31, 1992), 1A.
9. Russell Ben-Ali, “Deadly Force Wish: Gang Pact: An Uneasy LA Truce,” Newsday (May 10, 1992), 7.
10. Frommer, “An Interview with Mike Davis.”
11. Ron Allen, CBS Evening News, broadcast May 22, 1992.
12. Larry King Live, CNN, broadcast May 27, 1992.
13. Jennifer Rowland, “L.A. Police Say Gang Truce Works,” United Press International wire report (June 17, 1992).
14. Richard A. Serrano and Jesse Katz, “LAPD Gang Task Force Deployed Despite Truce,” Los Angeles Times (June 26, 1992), A1.
15. Luis Rodriguez, Cle “Bone” Sloan and Kershaun “Lil Monster” Scott, “Gangs: The New Political Force in Los Angeles,” Los Angeles Times (September 13, 1992), M1.
16. Muhammad, Chronology of Nation of Islam History, 58 (see chap. 11, n. 17).
17. Mike Males, Framing Youth: Ten Myths About the Next Generation (Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1999), 8.
18. ACLU Foundation of Southern California, False Promises, False Premises: The Blythe Street Gang Injunction and Its Aftermath (May 1997), 44.
19. Building Blocks for Youth, And Justice for Some (2000). http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/justiceforsome/jfs.html
20. Sasha Abramsky, Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002), 63.
21. Ibid., 71–72.
22. Jason Zeidenburg and Vince Schiraldi, Cellblocks or Classrooms?: The Funding of Higher Education and Corrections and Its Impact on African American Men (Washington, D.C.: Justice Policy Institute), 2002.
23. Marc Mauer, The Sentencing Project: Race To Incarcerate (New York: The New Press, 1999), 169–170.
24. James Q. Wilson, “Crime and Public Policy,” in Crime, ed. James Q. Wilson and Joan Petersilia (San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press, 1995), 507.
25. Tipper Gore, “Hate, Rape and Rap,” Washington Post (January 8, 1990), A15.
26. Mark Pankowski, “Seminole Sheriff Raps 2 Live Crew’s Music,” Orlando Sentinel (February 24, 1990), D1. Chuck Philips, “The ‘Batman’ Who Took on Rap,” Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1990), F1.
27. Phyllis Pollack. “FBI Hit List Sa Prize Part II,” The Source. (September 1990, 20.)
28. Nelson George, “She Has a Dream,” Village Voice (circa October 1990; specific date unavailable); from the files of Bill Adler. Robert Knight, “Antihero,” Spin (August 1992),97.
29. David Mills, “Sister Souljah’s Call to Arms,” Washington Post (May 13, 1992), B1.
30. Thomas Edsall, “Clinton Stuns Rainbow Coalition,” Washington Post (June 14, 1992), A1. Crossfire, CNN, transcript of June 15, 1992, broadcast.
31. Knight, “Antihero.”
32. Edsall, “Clinton Stuns Rainbow Coalition.”
33. Gwen Ifill, “Clinton Deftly Navigates Shoals of Racial Issues,” New York Times (June 17, 1992), A22.
34. Chuck Philips, “Police Groups Urge Halt of Record’s Sale,” Los Angeles Times (June 16, 1992), F1.
35. Remarks made by Vice President Dan Quayle to the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts Fourth Annual Convention, at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington D.C. Transcript, June 19, 1992.
36. John Stehr, “Vice President Agrees With Clinton About Sister Souljah,” CBS Morning News, transcript of June 23, 1992, broadcast.
37. Chuck Philips, “Cop Killer Controversy Spurs Ice-T Album Sales,” Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1992), F1.
38. “Amnesty Decries L.A. ‘Torture,’ ” Associated Press wire report (June 27, 1992).
39. Susan Spillman, “More Heat on Ice-T’s ‘Cop Killer,’ ” USA Today (July 17, 1992), D1.
40. Tracey Kaplan and Jim Zamora, “The Heat Turns Out for Ice-T Rap Concert,” Los Angeles Times (July 25, 1992), B1.
41. “Warner Pulls ‘Cop Killer’ At Ice-T’s Request,” United Press International wire report (July 28, 1992).
42. Ibid.
43. Ice T, as told to Heidi Siegmund, The Ice Opinion, 183.
44. Talk Back Live, CNN, transcript of October 13, 1995, broadcast.
45. Tony White, “We’re Ready to Take Our Place,” Richmond Afro-American (August 23, 1995), 1.
46. Beth Harpaz, “Angela Davis Denounces Farrakhan March for Excluding Women,” Associated Press wire report (October 14, 1995).
47. Salim Muwakkil, “Divided Loyalties,” In These Times (February 17, 1997), 24.
48. Jeanne Dewey and Brian Blomquist, “Black Foes of March Schedule Visible Events in Opposition,” Washington Times (October 15, 1995), A11.
49. Michelangelo Signorile, “Queer in a Million,” OUT Magazine (February 1996). http://www.signorile.coom/articles/outqiam.html
50. Hamil R. Harris and John F. Harris, “March Called Endorsement of Farrakhan,” Washington Post (October 13, 1995), A21.
51. Roderick Terry, One Million Strong (Edgewood, Md.: Duncan & Duncan, 1996), 52–53.
52. Signorile, “Queer in a Million.”
53. Diane Weathers and Tara Roberts, “Kathleen Cleaver and Angela Davis: Rekindling The Flame,” Essence (May 1996), 82.
54. Ibid.
55. “Interview: Angela Davis,” from the Web page “Frontline: The Two Nations of Black America,” available on the PBS Web site at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/interviews/Davis.html. The interview was conducted in 1997.
18. Becoming the Hip-Hop Generation: The Source, The Industry and the Big Crossover.
1. Maximillian Potter. “Getting to The Source,” GQ (December 2001), 149.
2. The Source Rate Kit (1991).
3. The Source Mind Squad, “Rap Session,” The Source (January 1992), 40.
4. Meg Cox, “Little Rap-Music Magazine Has Big Aims,” Wall Street Journal (September 25, 1991), B1–B2.
5. Ibid. See also Janice Kelly, “The Printed Word,” Advertising Age (May 11, 1992), 45.
6. Douglas McGill, “Nike Is Bounding Past Reebok,” New York Times (July 11, 1989), D3. “The Year’s 25 Most Fascinating Business People,” Fortune (January 1990), 62.
7. Randall Rothenberg, “Second Shoe Drops for Image Ads,” New York Times (February 19, 1989), D1.
8. Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988), 160.
9. Randall Rothenberg, “Shift Sought from ‘Black’ to ‘Urban,’ ” New York Times (November 30, 1989), D19.
10. Paul Grein, “Pop Eye: Rappers Welcome MTV’s Enthusi
asm,” Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1989), 64.
11. Janice Simpson, “Yo! Rap Gets On The Map,” Time (February 5, 1990), 60.
12. Sources say that the advance promotion cassettes contained explicit references to Heller and his Jewishness.
13. William Upski Wimsatt, Bomb the Suburbs (Chicago: Subway and Elevated Press. 1994).
14. Ibid.
15. Anne Marie Kerwin and Melanie Warner, “Check It Out: 10 Independently Published Periodicals with Over 50,000 Circulation,” Inside Media (May 25, 1994), 48.
16. Ibid.
17. David Mills, “Jonathan Van Meter: The Corporate Hip-Hop Hope,” Washington Post (September 14, 1992), D1.
18. Scott Donaton, “New Hip-Hop Magazine Attracts Mainstream Ads,” Advertising Age (September 14, 1992), 3.
19. Naomi Klein, No Logo (New York: Picador, 1999), 76.
20. Danyel Smith, “Preface,” The Vibe History of Hip Hop (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999), ix.
21. Alan Mirabella, “Rap Magazine Gets Busy, Trailblazer Diversifies, Gains Amid Turmoil,” Crain’s New York Business (January 9, 1995), 3.
22. Letter from James Bernard to David Mays, September 28, 1994.
23. James Bernard, “Negative Reviews,” The Source (November 1994), 8.
24. Steve Hochman, “Pop Eye,” Los Angeles Times (October 16, 1994).
25. Brett Sokol, “He Ain’t Guilty, He’s My Partner,” Miami New Times (September 6. 2001).
26. Potter, “Getting to the Source.”
27. Brett Sokol, “It’s a Hip-Hop World,” Miami New Times (July 5, 2001).
28. Jose Martinez, “Newly Freed Made Men Front Man Raps Press,” Boston Herald (November 4, 2000), 5.
29. Brett Sokol, “Still in the Hood?” Miami New Times (May 22, 2003).
19. New World Order: Globalization, Containment and Counterculture at the End of the Century.
1. M. William Cooper, Behold a Pale Horse (Flagstaff, Ariz.: Light Technology Publishing, 1991), 267.
2. Ben Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (Boston: Beacon Press, 1997), xiii.
3. Ed Chrisman, “Indies No. 1 In Total Album Market Share for First Time,” Billboard (January 18, 1998).
4. Michael Roberts, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” in Rhythm & Business: The Political Economy of Black Music, ed. Norman Kelley (Brooklyn: Akashic Books, 2002), 36.
5. Cristina Verán, “Soul by the Pound,” One World (December 2002/January 2003).
6. Niren Tolsi, “Preacher Men,” Rage: South African Street Culture Online. http://www.rage.co.za/issue30/durbaug.htm.
7. Verán, “Soul by the Pound,” 82.
8. Chuck Philips, “Anti-Rap Crusader Under Fire,” Los Angeles Times (March 20, 1996), A1.
9. United States Senate, Committee of the Judiciary, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice, Shaping Our Responses to Violent and Demeaning Imagery in Popular Music, February 23, 1994, 14.
10. Ibid., 10.
11. William Upski Wimsatt, “State of The Movement,” in Future 500: Youth Organizing and Activism in the United States, comp. Jee Kim, Mathilda de Rios, Pablo Caraballo, Manuela Arciniegas, Ibrahim Abdul-Martin and Kofi Taha (New Orleans, La.: Subway and Elevated, 2002), 4.
12. Nora Zamichow, “Ex-Gang Member Gets Political Asylum,” Los Angeles Times (July 12, 2002).
Acknowledgments
It wouldn’t be hip-hop without a ton of shout-outs. That’s because no hip-hopper counts their success—however big or small—as individual. There are debts and reciprocations at every turn, and it’s good that way.
This book began on a long trip back from Lake Tahoe in the cab of a tow truck in January 1998. We had just decided to end SoleSides, a project to which I had devoted the better part of five years. At that moment, change seemed in order. It wasn’t until three and half years later that I had the distance to recognize that my next big project was already in motion.
So this first shout-out goes to Josh Davis, Xavier Mosley, Tom Shimura, Lateef Daumont, Joy Malig, Tim Parker and Lisa Haugen, who seemed to know what I was put here to do and set me off to do it. A deeply felt appreciation goes to Brian Cross, who applied the necessary verbal ass-whipping to get me moving. To those that gave their all to the old SoleSides—Winston Chiong, Gene Kim Whitney, David Maduli, Jason Malig, Omari Patterson, Rodney Sino-Cruz, Benjamin Davis (R.I.P) and all the others who were down—I ain’t forgot you. To D-Sharp and Alicia, the Lifesavas fam, Isaac Bess and Lydia Popovich, the legacy continues.
To all those who generously opened up their lives to me: the Melendezes, the Suarezes, DJ Kool Herc and Cindy Campbell, Afrika Bambaataa, Lucky Strike, FABEL and Christie, Jazzy Jay, Kool Lady Blue, Grandmaster Flash, BOM 5, ZEPHYR, Joseph Ahn, King Tee and crew, Reginald Dennis, James Bernard, Alex Sanchez, Silvia Beltran, Aqeela and Daude Sherrills, Bakari Kitwana, Bill Stephney, Harry Allen, Felipe Mercado, Danny DeJesus, Charlie Ahearn, Chuck D, Hank Shocklee, Crazy Legs, Dante Ross, David Hershkovits, DJ AJ, DOZE, FAB 5 FREDDY, Greg Tate, Ice Cube, Kam, LADY PINK, Leyla Turkkan, Rennie Harris, Rudy Corpuz, Matthew Countryman, Pedro Noguera, R. J. Smith, Sadiki Nia, Tamu du Ewa, SPAR ONE, IZ THE WlZ, Steven Hager, Tom Silverman, Talib Kweli, Uncle Jam, Egyptian Lover, Iceberg, Andrei Strobert, Chuck Brown, Reo Edwards, Steve Barrow, Dave Katz, Jasmine De La Rosa, Roger Steffens, and the many more heads, players and creators whom I’ve spoken with through the years, I hope that I represented well.
Thank you to the libraries and librarians that fed my ravenous appetite—the Brooklyn Public Library, the Donnell Library, the Schomburg Center, the Lincoln Center Library, the Museum of Television and Radio, the U.C. Berkeley libraries, the Berkeley Public Library, and especially, Bill Adler’s Hip-Hop Archives. To the Ego Trip crew, thanks for the free advice, the magazine lending library, the job offer and the jokes. To Jacquie Juceam, Michelle Lin, Pat Meschino, Radcliffe Roye and family, Corey, Miss P and Jah Lou, Afflicted Yard, Ajamu Myrie, Dave Kelly, Jeremy Harding, Sean Paul, Italee, and Tullah Carter, thanks for the island hospitality.
To everyone involved in the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, the Applied Research Center, and the Center for Third World Organizing, thanks for letting me soak up game and always having my back. To the editors that always demanded more—Raymond Roker, Sue Cummings, Sheena Lester, Danyel Smith, J. H. Tompkins, Jon Dolan, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Chuck Eddy, Bob Christgau; to the homies who gave much and asked for little—Rickey Vincent, Davey D, Billy Jam, Adisa Banjoko, Tomas Palermo, Cheo Hodari Coker, Rob Kenner, Serena Kim, Todd Inoue, Cristina Verán, Joe Schloss and Ogbonna Ogbar, thank you for leaving me better than you found me.
To the entire crew from 360hiphop.com, every day was an honor, and thanks for never letting me sip wack juice. To the Soundings crew past and present—Jon Caramanica, Neil Drumming, Will Hermes, Charles Aaron, Windy Chien, Sia Michel, Sylvia Chan, Mark Anthony Neal, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Josh DuLac, Sasha Frere-Jones, Jessica Hopper, Julianne Shepherd, Josh Kun, Amanda Nowinski, Mosi Reeves, Peter Shapiro, Tony Green, Hua Hsu, Chris Ryan, R. J. Smith, Elizabeth Mendez Berry—we came, we saw, we got our bylines.
To the organizers and activists that keep the world moving forward: Billy UPSKI Wimsatt, Kofi Taha, Kate Rhee, Angela Brown, Malika Sanders, Favianna Rodriguez, Weyland Southon, Gita Drury, Tram Nguyen, Jee Kim, Van Jones and the EBC Crew, Taj James and the MSC Crew, Malkia Cyril and the YMC Crew, Harmony, Nicole, Omana and everyone at Mandela Arts Center, Bakari Kitwana, Baye Adofo-Wilson, Boots Riley, Dereca Blackmon, Troy Nkrumah, Angela Garretson, Jeff Johnson, Reverend Osagyefo Sekou, Hashim Shomari, Daryl Scipio, Angela Woodson, Jessica Tully, Jan Adams, Libero Della Piana, Mark Toney, Gabriel Torres, Black Artemis, Danny Hoch, Raquel Cepeda, the Hard Knock Radio crew, the Divine Forces Radio crew, Jeff Perlstein, Kristina Rizga and the Media Alliance crew, the PopandPolitics.com crew, the Alternet and Wiretap crew, Bill Martinez, Monifa Akinwole, Kali Akuno, and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Marinieves Alba, Peter Chung, Kim McGillicuddy, Kevin Powell, Kimi Lee, David Muhammad, Jiaching Chen,
Edget Betru, Jennifer “J-Love” Calderon, Robin Templeton, James Kass, Martha Diaz, Tricia Wang, Hekter Gonzalez, Jeremy Lahoud, Homies Unidos, the Community Self-Determination Institute, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Pacific News Service, Listen, Inc., CAAAV, the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, BayLOC, the LA LOC, San Jose Hip-Hop Coup, Future 500+, there are so many more to name—thank you all for your inspiration.
To all the folks who made great things happen: Russell Simmons, Robin D. G. Kelley, Joe Austin, Roberta Uno, San San Wong, the La Peña crew, Amanda Berger, Alvin Starks, Anna Lefer, Jolyn Matsumuro, Gerry Villareal, Jody Miller, Gabe Tesoriero, Nikkia Jackson, Mark Hines, Nikki Smith, Kris Ex, Ola Kudu, Nandi Dallen, Stephanie Reyes, Andrea Duncan, Yvette Russell, Kweli Wright, Sonya Maggett, Ryan Pintado-Vertner, Chris Veltri, Eothen Alapatt, Barbara Osborn, Eric Weisbard, Ann Powers, Raquel Cepeda, Joan Morgan, Eric Ture Muhammad, Nisa Muhammad, Adam Mansbach, Tanya Diaz, Margaret Rea, Martine Barrat, Karl Evanzz, Zen & Tanya Matsuura, Cedric Muhammad, Rebecca Deshpande, Vince Beiser, Monika Bauerlein, Tim Dickinson, Johnny Temple, Hillary Frey, William Jelani Cobb, Farai Chideya, Raymond Codrington, Mike Davis, Karen Dere, Tricia Rose, Simon Reynolds, Dawn-Elissa Fischer, Sandy Close, Adrian Gaskins, Ann-Marie Nicholson, Janet Francedese, Michael Jarrett, Theresa Park, Assata Wright, Akiba Solomon, King EMZ, Tom Goldfogle, Rha Goddess, Andy Hsiao, Tisha Hooks, Chisun Lee, Jehmu Greene, Darren Keast, Craig Smith, Lillian Matulic, Roberta Magrini, Adam Ma’anit, Lisa Lowe, Vijay Prashad, Thuylinh Tu, Tony Silver, Shelana DeSilva, Richie Monroe, Ed Park, Phyllis Pollack, Jim Prigoff, Devin Roberson, Luis Rodriguez, East Wind Books, Tresa Sanders, Trevor Schoonmaker, Paul Heck, Norman Stolzoff, Corey Takahashi, Julio Trejo, Mattie Weiss, Eric Arnold, David Paul, Peanut Butter Wolf, Shingo Annen, Spence Abbott, Jason Bentley, Elinor Tatum, Walter Leapheart, Lathan Hodge, Janice Suguitan, Richard Goldstein, Armond White, Sally Banes, Mimi Valdes, Shani Saxob-Parrish, Erik Parker, and the whole Vibe crew, Kathryn McGuire, Andre Torres, Joann Wypijewski, and especially everyone else I forgot, thank you.
To the indefatigable, incessantly intricate Dave Tompkins, still the best hip-hop writer ever born, thanks for the save. Thanks to Dan McCarthy and Sanjev DeSilva for transcriptions. Thanks to all the graphic designers whose visions have blessed this project: James Sinclair and the St. Martin’s Press design department, Sharon Mizota, the Brent Rollins Design Explosion, Keith Tamashiro at Soap Design, EugeneKuo @ 226-design, and Mike Stern of 0rigin.