Holler if You Hear Me : Searching for Tupac Shakur

Author : Michael Eric Dyson

Pages : 320pp

Format : Paperback

Publisher: Basic Civitas Books

Pub. Date: September 2006

Sales Rank: 68,991

Edition Description: Fifth Anniversary Edition

Synopsis :

"Five years after his murder, rap artist Tupac Shakur is even more loved, contested and celebrated than he was in life. His posthumously released albums, poetry, and movies still top the charts; he inspires countless plays, articles, and websites by fans and critics alike. Who was Tupac and why does he matter so much to us?" "In Holler If You Hear Me, "hip-hop intellectual" Michael Eric Dyson, acclaimed for his writing on Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as his passionate defense of black youth culture, turns his attention to one of the most enigmatic and enduring figures of our time. Through original interviews and reporting, Dyson offers us a wholly original understanding of the controversial icon who has been called the "black Elvis"."--BOOK JACKET.

Reviews :

From Barnes & Noble

In this bound-to-be-controversial book, black scholar Michael Eric Dyson contends that the civil rights movement and the hip-hop generation have more in common than meets the ear. To prove his point, he traces the short (1971-1996), heaven-and-hell life of rapper Tupac Shakur. The son of radical activist parents, Shakur spent his last eight years battling critics, prosecutors, and bullet wounds. (After at least one other murder attempt, he died in a torrent of gunfire in September of 1996.) Though castigated as a shameless promoter of thug life, Tupac appealed to a large and surprisingly diverse audience. Dyson tells us why they listened and why this dead rapper still matters.

From the Publisher

Publishers Weekly

A poor, urban, high school dropout and book-devouring autodidact who'd quote Shakespeare in conversation, Shakur would also sing along to Sarah McLachlan. Dyson (I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.), a Baptist minister, reveals the complexity of Shakur and shows why even five years after his death his records, poetry and films continue to sell. "He was not hip-hop's most gifted emcee. Still, Shakur may be the most influential and compelling rapper of them all," writes Dyson. "He was more than the sum of his artistic parts." Complementing Dyson's articulate perspectives on the short life and extraordinary impact of the icon are his emotive interviews with writer Toni Morrison, actress Jada Pinkett Smith (Shakur proposed to her, but was turned down), rapper Mos Def and more than a dozen others. Most striking are the conversations about and with Shakur's beloved mother, a former Black Panther and ex-crack addict. Dyson uses themes in Shakur's raps to examine the larger ills of hip-hop culture such as misogyny and the new hostility between youths and elders without neglecting the rapper's positive acts and intentions. Shakur wanted to "combat the anti-intellectualism of hip-hop," Dyson persuasively writes. (Sept.) Forecast: This book will sell, for Shakur has a huge fan base that has only grown since his death. But more than a music bio, the book will draw the attention of socially conscious readers who are interested in how hip-hop affects society. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Jennifer Hubert - VOYA

Using hundreds of his own candid interviews and drawing on several treatises of black culture, Dyson tries to form a comprehensive picture of the late, arguably great, rapper Tupac Shakur. Dyson, who also has written about Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., discusses how Shakur's troubled relationship with his mother, a former Black Panther; his voracious reading habits despite his high school dropout status; and his longing to "keep it real" with his music all combined to turn him into this generation's "black Elvis." Older teenage fans of Shakur will find much to like in this lovingly crafted biography and hip hop social commentary. Of particular interest are Dyson's inclusion of some of the titles Tupac kept in his overflowing bookcase and several teenage dating mishaps. Younger fans, however, might get bogged down in Dyson's many tangential and occasionally tedious in-depth analyses of certain aspects of black culture, such as his prolonged discussion of the Black Panther movement, the origins and arguments that surround the notorious N-word, and the misogynistic messages that pervade rap music. Nevertheless those rap devotees who make it through Dyson's lengthy discourses no doubt will be rewarded with a fuller picture of the slain rapper. Libraries with large young adult sections or special African American history and culture collections will want to purchase this book. Index. Photos. Biblio. Source Notes. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Basic Books/Perseus, 240p,

Library Journal

Ordained Baptist minister and DePaul University professor Dyson (Between God and Gangsta Rap, LJ 1/96) here analyzes the life of rapper/actor Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-96) as a microcosm of black American life and culture. Placing gangsta rap in social and historical context, he thoroughly and thoughtfully considers its key elements as evidenced by Shakur's music and videos, exploring issues like machismo, the simultaneous contempt for and adoration of black women, and black-on-black violence. (Shakur himself was shot to death in a still-unsolved murder.) Dyson discusses these sensitive, controversial subjects with such noted cultural analysts as Khephra Burns and Stanley Crouch, creditably balancing the opinions of rap's supporters, rap's critics, and rappers themselves. Though marred by a few minor errors, this well-written, intelligent, and energetically investigative work will make a valuable addition to academic libraries. The extremely high level of writing renders it unsuitable for fan-oriented biography collections, for which Tupac Amaru Shakur, 1971-1996 (Three Rivers, 1998) is more appropriate. Bill Piekarski, formerly with Villa Maria Coll. of Buffalo, Cheektowaga, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Arguing that the late rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur "is perhaps the representative figure of his generation," Dyson (De Paul U.) analyzes Tupac's life and work and connects them to both the world of hip-hop and the wider world of black youth in America. Drawing on interviews with musicians, relatives, friends, politicians, activists, writers, and others who either knew or studied Tupac, Dyson looks at his early life as the son of a Black Panther revolutionary, his later entrance into the "thug life," his spiritual concerns in his music, his treatment of women, and his politics, all the while drawing connections to wider concerns. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kirkus Reviews

Noted African-American scholar and Baptist minister Dyson (I May Not Get There With You, 2000, etc.), in keeping with the current reappraisal of hip-hop and rap, offers provocative insights into the life and milieu of the artist he calls a "ghetto saint." In a lengthy preface, Dyson details how his interview with rapper Big Tray Dee (the artist broke down in tears after talking about Tupac) became for him a metaphor of the "agony many have over the loss of Tupac's gift . . . that nevertheless continues to speak to millions around the globe." In four sections ("Childhood Chains," "Adolescent Aspiration," "Portraits of an Artist," and "Bodies and Beliefs"), Dyson attempts to understand, with the help of those who knew Tupac and also of critics like Stanley Crouch, the man who symbolized the best and worst of rap. To start, Dyson explores Tupac's troubled childhood: his mother was a former Black Panther as well as crack addict, which meant that, though he absorbed her revolutionary ideals, he saw the Black Panthers as a practical attempt to "answer racial oppression."her drug habit made for an impoverished and unstable childhood. In the second section he assesses Tupac's role as an artist, who not only read widely (Sartre, Walker, and Orwell) but, understanding the reality of inner-city life-its thug culture, its hopelessness-wrote stirring raps that changed people's' lives. The last section analyzes the crude sexist language of many raps, Tupac's own conflicted attitude toward women, and his spiritual beliefs-"an ongoing argument" with God as the performer both rejected and embraced suffering. Though critical of his treatment of women and of his drug-taking, Dyson notes approvinglyhow in death Tupac has become a posthumous icon as well as an urban legend, serving "the psychic and cultural needs of poor black youth." Perceptive, informative, and certainly timely, albeit a tad hagiographic.

Table of Contents :

Acknowledgments ix

Preface: "I Always Wanted 1

to Make a Book Out of My Life" In Search of Tupac

CHILDHOOD CHAINS, ADOLESCENT ASPIRATIONS

1 "Dear Mama" Motherhood and a Hood's Mother 21

2 "The Son of a Panther" A Postrevolutionary

Childhood 47

3 "No Malcolm X in My History Text" 69

School, Learning, and Tupac's Books

PORTRAITS OF AN ARTIST

4 "Give Me a Paper and a Pen" Tupac's Place

in Hip-Hop 105

5 "For All the Real Niggas Out There"

Authenticity Blues 141

BODIES AND BELIEFS

6 "Do We Hate Our Women?" Female Per Versions 175

7 "But Do the Lord Care?" 201

God, Suffering, Compassion, and Death in the Ghetto

8 "I Got Your Name Tatted on My Arm" 231

Reading the Black Body

Epilogue: "How Long Will They Mourn Me?" 247

Posthumous Presences of a Ghetto Saint

Notes 269

Bibliography 272

Index 286

Read a Sample Chapter

Chapter One

"I Always

Wanted

to Make a

Book Out

of My Life"

In Search of Tupac