Lexington Books
Pages: 204
Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
978-1-4985-6670-4 • Hardback • December 2020 • $95.00 • (£73.00)
978-1-4985-6671-1 • eBook • December 2020 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
Lissa Skitolsky is the 2020-2021 Simon and Riva Spatz Visiting Chair in Jewish Studies at Dalhousie University.
Introduction: It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop
Chapter One: Know What I’m Sayin?
Chapter Two: Can I Get a Witness?
Chapter Three: Claimin I’m a Criminal
Chapter Four: But You Don’t Hear Me Tho
Chapter Five: You Feel Me?
Chapter Six: Fuck Tha Police
Conclusion: The Aesthetic Politics of Underground Hip-Hop
Playlist by Chapter
Discography
“Like Rakim’s legendary ink, the thoughtfulness of Lissa Skitolsky’s Hip-Hop as Philosophical Text and Testimony: Can I Get a Witness? makes the reader think as her penetrating analysis sinks into their consciousness. A deeply personal, passionate, and provocative look at the aural, psychological, and political power of Hip-Hop, this work brings a devoted (Hip-Hop) head’s amped perspective and challenging voice to philosophy, aesthetics, and hip-hop studies.”
— Charles Peterson, Oberlin College
"Lissa Skitolsky brings palpable passion and revelatory philosophical vision to this exploration of what hip-hop can teach us about our different experiences of this unequal world. Admirably devoted to celebrating the artform's ability to expose the institutional and psychological dimensions of anti-black racism, Skitolsky's argument that hip-hop can help us better understand post-traumatic stress disorder is especially eye-opening."
— Chike Jeffers, Dalhousie University
"Lissa Skitolsky has written the rare study in the philosophy of culture that reflects the vibrancy of its subject. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the politics and aesthetics of Hip-Hop Nation!"
— Paul Taylor, Vanderbilt University