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Learn moreThe Plot against Hip Hop is a noir novel set in the world of hip-hop culture. The fatal stabbing of esteemed music critic Dwayne Robinson in a Soho office building is dismissed by the NYPD as a gang initiation. But his old friend, bodyguard and security expert D Hunter, suspects there are larger forces at work.
D Hunter's investigation into his mentor's murder leads into a parallel history of hip hop, a place where renegade government agents, behind-the-scenes power brokers, and paranoid journalists know a truth that only a few hard-core fans suspect. This rewrite of hip-hop history mixes real-life figures with characters pulled from the culture's hidden world, including Jay Z, Kanye West, and Russell Simmons.
Nelson George is an author and filmmaker who specializes in documenting and celebrating African American culture. He has written several classic black music histories, including Where Did Our Love Go?, The Death of Rhythm & Blues, and Hip Hop America. George also coedited The James Brown Reader and has contributed major articles on the films Pariah, The Help, and 12 Years a Slave to the New York Times. He directed the HBO film Life Support and the VH1 documentary Finding the Funk.
Nicole Small (a.k.a. Shayna Small) is an actress/singer born and raised in Chicago. In the middle of her freshman year of high school she relocated to Baltimore to attend a performing arts school. She holds a BFA in drama at the Juilliard School. Her theater credits include Hurt Village and The Threepenny Opera.
Reviews
“George is a well-known, respected hip-hop chronicler…Now he adds crime fiction to his résumé with a carefully plotted crime novel peopled by believable characters and real-life hip-hop personalities.”
“Part procedural murder mystery, part conspiracy-theory manifesto, Nelson George’s The Plot against Hip Hop reads like the PTSD fever dream of a renegade who’s done several tours of duty in the trenches…Plot’s combination of record-biz knowledge and ghetto fabulosity could have been written only by venerable music journalist Nelson George, who knows his hip-hop history…The writing is as New York as ‘Empire State of Mind,’ and D is a detective compelling enough to anchor a series.”
“George very masterfully has created a novel that informs as well as entertains.”
“The Plot against Hip Hop is a quick-moving murder mystery that educates its audience on Hip Hop’s pioneer generation along the way…A nostalgic look at a magical and manic moment in time.”
“This hard-boiled tale is jazzed up with authentic street slang and name-dropping…George’s tightly packaged mystery pivots on a believable conspiracy…and his street cred shines in his descriptions of Harlem and Brownsville’s mean streets.”
“George’s prose sparkles with an effortless humanity, bringing his characters to life in a way that seems true and beautiful. The story—and the conspiracy behind it—is one we all need to hear as consumers and creators in the post-hardcore hip-hop world.”
“George is an ace at interlacing the real dramas of the world…Playas and haters and celebrity cameos fuel a novel that is wickedly entertaining while being frozen in time.”
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