Nelson George gives a first-person tour through the history of hip hop from its roots in the '70s to its present standing as a cultural force that influences everything from movies to fashion, advertising to sports. George--himself a longtime music and cultural critic and a frequent player in hip hop's development--examines hip hop as a music, a style, a business, a myth, and a moral force. It's the story of a society-altering collision between black youth culture and the mass media, a story that touches on the themes of drugs, incarceration, basketball, entrepreneurship, technology, and language and it's all very big business [Publisher description]