Is there too much violence in hip-hop music? What's the difference between Kimberly Jones and the artist Lil' Kim? Is hip-hop culture a "black" thing? Is it okay for N.W.A. to call themselves niggaz and for Dave Chappelle to call everybody bitches? These witty, provocative essays ponder these and other thorny questions, linking the searing cultural issues implicit -- and often explicit -- in hip-hop to the weighty matters examined by the great philosophers of the past. The book shows that rap classics by Lauryn Hill, OutKast, and the Notorious B.I.G. can help uncover the meanings of lo.;Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Foreword; Shout Outs; From Rhyme to Reason: This Shit Ain't Easy; Disk 1 Da Mysteries: God, Love, and Knowledge; Disk 2 What's Beef? Ruminations on Violence; Disk 3 That's How I'm Livin': Authenticity, Blackness, and Sexuality; Disk 4 Word Up! Language, Meaning, and Ethics; Disk 5 Fight the Power: Political Philosophy 'n the Hood; After ... Word! The Philosophy of the Hip-Hop Battle; Beats & Rhymes! A Selected Discography; The Crew; The Hip-Hop Head Index.