Beschrijving

On November 1, 2022, rapper Takeoff (Kirsnick Khari Ball) from the group Migos was shot and killed in Houston, Texas. Two weeks later on November 15 Hip Hop legends Too Short and E-40 published an Op-Ed in The Atlantic entitled “Hip-Hop Needs an Intervention.”[1] They note that back in their day in the 1990s “you could expect a fistfight or a backstage brawl, but those incidents seem mild-mannered compared with the surge of violence in hip-hop now.” They say in part:

In 2018, the rapper XXXTentacion, just 20 years old, was shot dead. Hip-hop has since lost an artist every year. The frequency with which we are losing rappers to gun violence is painful: Nipsey Hussle. Pop Smoke. King Von. PnB Rock. Young Dolph. And now Takeoff. These rappers were young, successful, talented individuals, millionaires creating generational wealth for their loved ones….Jazz musicians weren’t routinely murdered in the street at the height of their career. Nor were rock stars. We just want the same truth for our young superstars….

Rap has become a pretty dangerous profession compared with when we were first on the scene. We need an intervention. As OGs in the rap game, we have seen several during our career. When Tupac and Biggie were murdered, members of the Nation of Islam sat a lot of us down. We went to Louis Farrakhan’s house in Chicago, had a meal, and talked about the state of hip-hop, our responsibilities to the culture, and how we should fix things. It’s time for us to come together again. The industry needs change.

We show in this book that it is not by accident that “Rap has become a pretty dangerous profession” today; it is by design.
Hip Hop is like a beautiful Black Stallion, and whoever is saddled atop it and holds its reins in their hands can help determine the fate of Black America. That Black Stallion – Hip Hop – can lead Black People towards Redemption, or it can lead us toward degradation and doom. Whose riding Hip Hop today and to what effect? We answer these questions.