First published 2013
In 1989, David Foster Wallace and his buddy Mark Costello discover a shared fascination with the new sounds of rap and hip-hop. Diving into the legendary Boston music scene, they map the tensions between the genre's rebellion and pop appeal, its glitz and grit. As two privileged outsiders, they wrestle with their own racial biases, trying to reconcile rap's transformative energy with their distinctly white perspectives. Signifying Rappers issues a challenge to the rock establishment: can this raw, revolutionary music truly set us free?
Genres: african-american, biography-memoir, music, hip-hop, academic, cultural-studies
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: outsiders, social-commentary
176 pages · Paperback