Hip-Hop's Hero

Michael Eric Dyson breaks it down.

by Deesha Dyer

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

With an intro by Jay-Z and an outro by Nas, Michael Eric Dyson's Know What I Mean? (Basic Civitas, $19.95) is gearing up to be one of 2007's hottest new releases. The latest book from the author, Penn professor and activist is composed of interviews in which he challenges misconceptions about hip-hop culture. Throughout the five tracks (not chapters), he addresses everything from gender relations to violence and creative expression in the controversial genre.

City Paper: Why was Know What I Mean? a significant book for you to write in the midst of the current unpredictable stage of hip-hop?

Michael Eric Dyson: It extends my deep and profound interest in the culture and how it has progressed over the last quarter century. For right now, it's important because hip-hop is under such a microscope and it's getting such heated controversy that I wanted to make certain all parties were clearly vented and that we fairly criticized hip-hop without the paranoia and hysteria that has been generated from the aftermath of the Imus affair. I try to show in this book that those that are serious about this culture's intellectual and social consequences have been wrestling with issues of gender, homophobia, politics and tensions between sexes before Imus.

CP: What type of action or reaction are you hoping this sparks in readers?

MED: I hope that this can be viewed as an opportunistic time to weigh in on persistent problems that have affected the hip-hop community. The roots of antipathy toward black women are far deeper and far more ancient than hip-hop. Imus didn't learn to call a black woman a nappy-headed ho from Snoop Dogg — he learned that from D.W. Griffith. So, how do we appropriately talk about tensions between black men and black women, the subordination of black women to black men's desire, and the honesty that shows up in hip-hop?

CP: And the homophobia element?

MED: Hip-hop is bigoted toward gay and lesbian people, and yet the larger quarters of even polite black society aren't upset by that. They are talking about what hip-hop says about black women. They haven't mentioned anything about gay or lesbian people because they share the homophobia of hip-hop, which is an irony.

CP: Do you believe that the influence and imagery of hip-hop has a direct impact on the violence affecting cities across the country?

MED: I don't buy into the fact that hip-hop is the major culprit behind the violence. We don't have to act like we don't know that the greatest predictor for violence among these communities in Philadelphia that are devastated by drugs and drive-bys is poverty and the lack of social, economic and educational resources. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. We'd rather blame hip-hop because we'd rather put the emphasis and the burden on the people who are suffering than on those who create the suffering.

CP: Can you give a little hint as to what the audience should expect next week?

MED: Expect the remix! I'm not giving them what is in the book. I'm giving them a barnstorming, stem-winding, provocative, edifying, Baptist preacher, professor discourse about contemporary society.

Michael Eric Dyson

Tue., July 10, 7 p.m., free, Free Library, 1901 Vine St., 215-567-4341, www.library.phila.gov