Deconstructing Prophets
Some might dismissit as “cultural-studies academese.” But about halfway through Prophets of the Hood, Imani Perry finds her groove. Focusing her Harvard-bred literary sights on lyrics, from Run-DMC to Cee-Lo, she serves up the dynamics driving “hypermasculinity” as a form of “subjectification for black men in hip-hop”: subaltern societal status......