Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

What I understand

1. There was a new Peer-to-Peer file sharing system.
2. In 2000 Metallica became the first well known group to legally challenge Napster and p2p.
3. Chuck D believed in Napster.
4. Chuck D's real name is Carleton Ridenhour.
5. He started wanting to be a rapper.

Questions I Have

1. What is a sound bite?
2. How did Public Enemy fall?
3. How was Flavor Flav discovered?
4. How did Rick Ruben and Russel Simmons meet up?

Unknown Words

1. Baritone(Page 125) - a male voice or voice part intermediate between tenor and bass.
2. Execs(Page 121)-
   The executive officer of a unit of the armed forces.
3. Ancillary(Page 129) - subordinate; subsidiary.

Summarizing Statement

This book takes about the successes of Chuck D and the acomplishments and flaws of Public Enemy.

Literary Terms

Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

What I Understand

1. Dr. Dre used to be under a label but he decided to leave and start his own label.
2. He was in the the rap game for money and the music.
3. Dre basically found Eminem and gave him a chance.
4. Interscope records dropped Snoop Dogg becuase he wasn't a thug like character like Tupac Shakur.
5. He used to be in a group called N.W.A

Questions I Have

1. What would have happened to Eminem if Dr. Dre didn't start his own label?
2. How was Dr. Dre discovered in the rap game?
3. Why would the critics always compare Eminem to Elvis Presley?
4. How was 50 cent discovered?

Unknown Words

1. Contemptous-(Page 102) showing or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful.
2. Provocateur - (Page 106)- a person who provokes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator.
3. Outlanding- (Page 107) - freakishly or grotesquely strange or odd, as appearance, dress, objects, ideas, or practices.

Literary Terms

1. Metaphor (Page 110)- I believe it's the bigger cancer to black America, because it doesn't inform, it just sells product.
2. Alliteration (Page 108)- "Eminem's ability to navigate hip hop's racial fault lines..."

Summarizing Statement

This part talks about how Dr. Dre got his new begginning in the rap industry.

Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

What I understand

• Young white teen have an appetite for hip hop.
• Hip Hop's market grew wider in 1991 after the sound scan due to whites.
• "Efil4zaggin" was an album from N.W.A that was thought to be some pretty racist trash.
• Rap's crossover appeal represented a strange form of cultural tourism for many young whites.
• However N.W.A made way for hip hop to expand itself.

Questions I Have

• How often does Hip Hop set a new standard?
• Will Hip Hop ever rise from its birth place (ghetto), into the hands of whites?
• Is it something that blacks created just so they express themselves?
• How can artists only become one-hit wonders when it takes so much talent and intelligence to make an album?

Unknown Words

• Clarion (page 97)- clear and shrill: the clarion call of a battle trumpet.
• Vicariously (p. 97)- performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another: vicarious punishment.
• Visceral (p.97) - characterized by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect: a visceral reaction.

Literary Terms

• Simile (Page 97) - "Hip Hop was their fantasy island, a place to travel largely through the pleasures of consumption- rather than actual contact into a foreign world..."
• Alliteration (Page 100)- "As Slim Shady her fired back..."

Summarizing Statement

During this part of the book Watkins discusses N.W.A's success and also some of the humiliation he has faced. He also like talking about Eminem and how hard it was for him to become successful and obtain his celebrity status.

Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

What I Understand

• I learned that Benzino and Eminem had a conflict in 2003.
• There were two tapes in which Eminem had put some racial slurs on about his girlfriend who happened to be African American.
• Eminem is known as the rapper who actually broke the racial barrier in the rap industry.
• Eminem grew up in Detroit with a troubled family.
• Eminem second album "The Marshall Mathers LP, sold more than 1.7 million units in only six days

Questions I Have

• How would the rap industry be like if the racial barrier wasn't broken by Eminem?
• Do you basically have to be born in the hood in order to become a successful rap artist?
• How do most artist get their stage name?
• How can a High School dropout or a college drop out make up so many descriptive lyrics?

Unknown words

• Albeit (Page 93) - although; even if: a peaceful, albeit brief retirement.
• Latently (Page 92)- present but not visible, apparent, or actualized; existing as potential.
• Demographic (Page 96)- a single vital or social statistic of a human population, as the number of births or deaths.

Literary Terms

• Strong Quote -(Page 92)- "Look past my whitenesss and you will see that I am one of you."
• Imagery- "That a poor white high school dropout could find hope and inspiration from a musical genre so closely associated with ghetto youths is...Eminem's spectacular rise.

Summarizing Statement

This part of the book talks about how Eminem was growing up and and the difficulties he faced in his life. It also talks about other rap artists and their successes.

Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

What I Understand

1. In 1991, WOWI NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, became the first radio station to play rap throughout the day.



2. The radio was split into about seven different formats.



3. As some songs were doing well on the Billboard, not all the time were they doing good on the black charts.



4. Eminem is one of the first artists to break the racial boundary for hip hop.



5. N.W.A has never reached top spot on the R&B chart.

Questions I have

1. Is there another Caucasian rapper like Eminem in the rap game?
2. How long will the rap industry last?
3. How does the rap industry affect the children who listen to it?
4. How will this industry increase its reputation?

Unknown words

1. Interloper (Page 86)- to intrude into some region or field of trade without a proper license.
2. Corrosive (page 86)- harmful or destructive; deleterious.
3. Vernacular (Page 87)- expressed or written in the native language of a place, as literary works.

Literary terms

1. Metaphor (Pagge 89)- "Taking music on the Internet is no different that from taking it from a store.
2. Similie (Page 91) - "When Benzino reffered to Eminem as Vanilla Ice 2003 it was a deliberate attack on the rapper's whiteness, a calculated attempted to reestablish hip hop's racial borders.

Summarizing Statement

During this part of the book there is a description of how rapper range of celebrity depends on many music charts.

Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

What I Understand

• FUBU was created Daymond John and Carl Brown.


• They both started to make hats, t-shirts, rugby jerseys, and baseball caps.


• Lauryn Hill was probably the first woman artist to actually create a path for R&B.


• Jay Z was one of the few rappers to tell his life through his rhymes, he wasn't just looking for fame but also respect.


• Many rappers use the rap game to obtain a rags-to- riches story.

Questions I Have

• Can rappers be intelligent but at the same time be "gangsta"?


• Are these hardcore rappers really good inside?


• Is the rap game getting stronger as time passes or weaker?


• How are new rappers being found?

Unknown Words

• Hedonistic (Page 77)-devoted to pleasure.
• Juggernaut (Page 76) - any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team.
• Fidelity (Page 68)- strict observance of promises, duties, etc.

Literary Terms

• Irony - "When FUBU began in 1992, it had neither the money nor the connections to place its product in key retail sites. Pg. 69
• Metaphor- "The making of the Roc-A-Fella juggernaut represents in brilliant fashion.

Summarizing Sentence

During this part of novel FUBU was created and it also describes how Jay Z got his celebrity status.

Hip Hop Matters by S. Craig Watkins

Things I Understand

1. The first studio recorded song was called "King Tim 3" by the Fatback Band.


2. In addition, "Rapper's Delight" was the first successful rap song in the music industry.


3. More than 2 million units were sold for that song alone.


4. Sylvia Robinson could be known as the first person who broughtout rap commercially.


5. SoundScan was a new creation that was made traking down album sales more accurate.

Questions Asked

1. Was Frankie Crocker being racist by saying that "Rapper's Delight" was tooo black for his station?


2. Why was Emimen accused of stealing Hip Hop?


3. How would the would be with out rap?


4. Would it be a peace earth or a land of destruction or would it make no difference at all?

Unknown Words

1. Derisively - characterized by or expressing derision; contemptuous; mocking: derisive heckling. Page 18


2. Fervent- having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm. Page 20
3. Lucrative- profitable; moneymaking; remunerative. Page 28

Rare to find any literary method

Summarizing Statement

During this part of the book Watkins describes how rap started and how rappers like Master P played tough and found their way to fame.