Research Catalog

Title

Let the world listen right : the Mississippi Delta hip-hop story / Ali Colleen Neff ; foreword by William Ferris.

Author

Neff, Ali Colleen

Publication

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c2009.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Ferris, William R.

Description

xvi, 219 p. : ill.; 24 cm.

Summary

In the Mississippi Delta, creativity, community, and a rich expressive culture persist despite widespread poverty. Over five years of extensive work in the region, author Ali Colleen Neff collected a wealth of materials that demonstrate a vibrant musical scene. Let the World Listen Right draws from classic studies of the blues as well as extensive ethnographic work to document the "changing same" of Delta music making. From the neighborhood juke joints of the contemporary Delta to the international hip-hop stage, this study traces the musical networks that join the region's African American communities to both traditional forms and new global styles. The book features the words and describes performances of contemporary artists, including blues musicians, gospel singers, radio and club DJs, barroom toast-tellers, preachers, poets, and a spectrum of Delta hip-hop artists. Contemporary Delta hip-hop artists Jerome "TopNotch the Villain" Williams, Kimyata "Yata" Dear, and DA F.A.M. have contributed freestyle poetry, extensive interview materials, and their own commentaries. The book focuses particularly on the biography of TopNotch, whose hip-hop poetics emerge from a lifetime of schoolyard dozens and training in the gospel church.

Series Statement

American made music series

Uniform Title

• Project Muse UPCC books
• American made music series

Subject

• Rap (Music) > Delta (Region) > History and criticism
• Rap (Music) > History and criticism > Delta (Region)

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-213), discography (p. 213), and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

"This game is for life!" -- New blues in the Mississippi Delta -- A family affair -- True blues ain't no new news -- Musical mobilities -- The undivided road.

ISBN

• 9781604732290 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 1604732296 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2009008536

OCLC

• 276816750
• SCSB-10259217

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library