Book profile: “The New Head Niggas in Charge”

From Todd Boyd comes The New H.N.I.C., a clearheaded voice about the direction of black music today.

Boyd talks about Lauryn Hill, receiving her fifth Grammy Award in 1999 stopping to say “This is crazy, ’cause this is hip hop music,” surprised that her sounds, previously discarded as insignificant tripe were receiving national acclaim.

Hip hop has become a social element, moving beyond the civil rights age. Boyd says “hip hop is distinguished…because it never attempted to go mainstream, but instead the mainstream came to hip hop.”

Boyd is a professor of critical studies at the University of South California, and his book is a must read for people interested in cultural issues.