In this new and expanded edition of Nelson George's classic cultural study, contemporary black culture is chronicled through essays on music, film, sports, publishing, politics, and city life, both uptown and down. Buppies enters nearly every arena of the black urban U.S.A.: roisterous rappers and legendary hoopsters, streetwise hustlers and influential filmmakers, unsung musicians and drug dealers at work. In an edition updated with a new introduction as well as new essays, Nelson George's vibrant work clearly remains the definitive take on contemporary African American culture.

Nelson George is the author of fourteen books of fiction and non-fiction, including The Death of Rhythm and Blues and Hip-Hop America, both nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He wrote about hip-hop for Billboard and The Village Voice in the 1970s and '80s. He lives in Brooklyn.

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments

xiii

Introduction to the New Edition

xv

Introduction

1

(8)

A Chronicle of Post-Soul Black Culture

9

(34)

PART I: B-Boys

Rapping Deejays (1980)

43

(3)

Rappin' with Russell: Eddie Murphying the Flack-Catchers (1985)

46

(12)

CPT Time (1990)

58

(3)

Take Back the Mike (1991)

61

(2)

Michael Bivins: Boy to Man (1991)

63

(3)

Scarface (1992)

66

(3)

Cool vs. Chilly (1992)

69

(4)

The New Street Art (1981)

73

(1)

World Culture (1981)

74

(1)

Grandmaster Flash: Flash Is Bad (1987)

75

(2)

Rakim and Eric B.: Hyper as a Heart Attack (1987)

77

(3)

Nationwide: America Raps Back (1988)

80

(4)

Bobby Brown: Bad Boy Makes Good (1988)

84

(2)

Kool Moe Dee & L.L. Cool J: I Versus I (1989)

86

(3)

Goin' Off in Cali (1989)

89

(3)

Rap's 10th Birthday (1989)

92

(3)

Ghettocentricity (1991)

95

(2)

Pop Life (1990)

97

(6)

PART II: Media Impressions

Critical Condition (1991)

103

(2)

Up from Integration (1991)

105

(4)

Forty Acres and an Empire: Spike Lee Plants the New Motown in Brooklyn (1990)

109

(3)

Tracy Chapman: Today's Black Woman (1988)

112

(3)

The Ebony Agenda (1989)

115

(3)

Superfly (1990)

118

(3)

Beige Is Fine (1989)

121

(2)

Gangsta Attitude (1990)

123

(3)

Shady Dealin' (1990)

126

(3)

Boy Talk (1989)

129

(2)

Old Glory (1990)

131

(2)

Native Daughters (1989)

133

(2)

August (1990)

135

(3)

Get on Up (1991)

138

(3)

Sweet Funny Robin (1990)

141

(2)

Women of Color (1990)

143

(3)

Owner's Manual (1990)

146

(3)

Video Blaculinity (1990)

149

(3)

Box Office Riot (1991)

152

(4)

Niggas With Attitude (1992)

156

(9)

PART III: Soul Culture: Trad and Retro-Nuevo

Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Unsung Session Men of Hitsville's Golden Era (1983)

165

(10)

Whose Time Was It? (1990)

175

(4)

Two Detroit Sisters (1991)

179

(3)

Berry's Ass (1990)

182

(3)

Babyface: LaFacing the Future (1989)

185

(2)

Lisa Stansfield: Britain in Effect (1990)

187

(3)

Rick James's Ghetto Life (1981)

190

(2)

Frankie Beverly Stays Home (1981)

192

(2)

Too Much Luther Vandross (1982)

194

(3)

Till the Day They Die (1984)

197

(3)

Lionel Richie: Truly Still Easy (1983)

200

(3)

The Best of Gil Scott-Heron (1984)

203

(2)

Not the Average Kind (1984)

205

(2)

Chocolate Chips at the Ice Capades (1984)

207

(5)

Marvin Gaye Obituary (1984)

212

(6)

Family Ties: Bobby Womack, Linda Womack, & Cecil Womack (1985)

218

(3)

The Time Has Come: Jimmy ``Jam'' Harris/Terry Lewis (1986)

221

(2)

Anita Baker: A Quiet Storm (1986)

223

(3)

Bobby ``Blue'' Bland: Storm Warnings (1987)

226

(5)

PART IV: To Be a Black Man

Why Did Edmund Perry Die? (1985)

231

(9)

Blacklash (1991)

240

(3)

The Magic Touch (1991)

243

(3)

Semiconsciousness (1990)

246

(2)

Hands On (1989)

248

(3)

Race Loyalty (1991)

251

(3)

Dinkins's World, Sharpton's People (1989)

254

(3)

Dare to Be Black (1989)

257

(3)

B-Boy Boojie Backcourt Man: Mark ``Action'' Jackson Stirs the Knicks (1988)

260

(4)

To Be a Black Man (1991)

264

(5)

PART V: Big City of Dreams

Middle-Class Heaven (1989)

269

(3)

Fort to the Future (1990)

272

(3)

Garbage Time (1991)

275

(2)

Gusto (1991)

277

(3)

This Christmas (1991)

280

(2)

Dining on Dave (1991)

282

(3)

Mother's Day (1991)

285

(2)

Marilyn (1989)

287

(3)

Byron (1989)

290

(2)

New Lots Avenue (1990)

292

(2)

Sisters Who Sing (1991)

294

(3)

Last Exit from Brooklyn (1990)

297

(2)

Overnightmares (1990)

299

(2)

Afro Ed (1991)

301

(3)

The Brownsville Bomber (1986)

304

(10)

Summertime Blues (1991)

314

(2)

White Lines That Bind: Two Generations in the Cocaine Trade (1985)

316

(6)

Point Man in the Swampland: Dwayne Washington and the Death of Schoolyard Basketball (1987)

322

(3)

Brooklyn Bound (1990)

325

(8)

PART VI: Masters of Their Own Fates

Menaces to Society: Brothers Grim---The Hugheses' Film is Hip Hop Dark (1993)

333

(3)

Black Books, Black Souls: The Literary Chitlin' Circuit from McMillan to Asante (1994)

336

(10)

They Stand Accused: Public Enemy (1994)

346

(5)

Master of His Own Fate (1996)

351

(1)

All Eyez on Spre (1999)

352

(5)

Michael Jordan: The Head and the Heart (1999)

357

(8)

Photo Credits

365

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