Young Black Rich and Famous: The Rise of the NBA The Hip Hop Invasion and the Transformation of American Culture

About this book

In this controversial look at the impact of cutting-edge black urban culture on contemporary America Dr. Todd Boyd the man CNN deemed the hip-hop professor uses the intertwining worlds of basketball and hip hop as a powerful metaphor for exploring the larger themes of race class and identity. In the 1970s as a direct result of both the civil rights and the black power movements black popular culture became a visible influential presence in mainstream film television music and sports. Basketball in particular reflected the changing landscape. The NBA came to be dominated by young black men whose potent combination of fame and wealth often coupled with a defiance of white mores profoundly disrupted the status quo. At the same time hip hop music was emerging from the streets of New York City. An expression of and a response to urban conditions it served as a way of being heard when many other forces attempted to suffocate the black voice. It too aroused strong reactions. In Young Black Rich and Famous Todd Boyd chronicles how basketball and hip hop have gone from being reviled by the American mainstream to being embraced and imitated globally. For young black men he argues they represent a new version of the American dream one that embodies the hopes and desires of those excluded from the original version. Shedding light on both perceptions and reality Boyd shows that the NBA has been at the forefront of recognizing and incorporating cultural shiftsfrom the initial image of 1970s basketball players as overpaid black drug addicts to Michael Jordans spectacular rise as a universally admired icon to the 1990s when the hip hop aesthetic (for example Allen Iversons cornrows multiple tattoos and defiant in-your-face attitude) appeared on the basketball court. Hip hop lyrics with their emphasis on keepin it real and marked by a colossal indifference to mainstream taste became an equally powerful influence on young black men. These two influences have created a brand-new brand-name generation that refuses to assimilate but is nonetheless an important part of mainstream American culture. A thought-provoking examination of basketball and musicthe two rarefied spaces where the most fundamental elements of blackness are articulated and played out both internally and for the massesYoung Black Rich and Famous brilliantly captures a culture and a sensibility that are at once unique influential and sometimes intimidating to so many.