Out of print
book by
David Foster Wallace and
Mark Costello. Full title is:
Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present.
Being about 11 years old at the time of this writing, the book is out of print and out of date but still interesting. When I attended a recent reading by him, a question was asked about the book during the Q&A section of the reading. The following is paraphrased from memory, therefore grammar errors are my own.
Q.
DFW: Well, I'd say rap scholarship is a generous term. I mean, the book was written during this period when I had an intense intrest in the rap music of the time, De La Soul specifically. I don't listen to much anymore.
You've got your book friends, your movie friends. Mark was my music friend and we thought it was a fun idea. It was originally an essay and we gave it to a publisher and they liked it and wanted to make it a book. So we did.
Like I said, my tastes have changed, but I can speak emotionally about a six month period of rap music . . . I don't know, there was this whole thing with Elton John and what was his name? Eminem? I have no idea.