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ebonyutley's review against another edition
It’s been a couple days since I finished the book so this review will be thin, but maybe that’s appropriate because The Plot Against Hip Hop is a slim volume. It has great descriptions, though. Some of George’s lines are just beautiful. I thought, oh my God, I can see that; I can feel this. Simply wonderful, but then I wished the characters spoke to each other more. I missed the dialog. The book is also discontinuous as in “wait, weren’t we just someplace else,” but I guess that comes with the short novel territory. And at the end, I was like, really? I hate a quick dénouement. It ruins the murder mystery steez to wrap it up so neatly and so quickly. I wanted more conflict, more drama, just more. But I suppose it did what 174 pages could do.
chichi27's review against another edition
1.0
It hurts when one of your favorite writers comes out with a terrible book, but I can't pretend that there was anything to like here. Bad plot, tons of name dropping, just a disappointment all around.
valkyriejmu's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicide and Chronic illness
emsprobablyreading's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
kaiouelios's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting conspiracy theory about the hip hop world. I felt engaged through out the entire book. I dont have any interest in reading any other of the books in this series.
eabreu's review
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
bookdragon217's review against another edition
3.0
The book had a great plot and it boldly expressed ideas that true hip hop fans have been expressing for many years. However, I wish the storyline was more developed. It is my first D Hunter book and I wish I knew more about the character.
rosseroo's review
3.0
The combo of great indie publisher, great cover, provocative title, well-known author, and short length, prompted me to pick up this hip-hop thriller. Just to be clear, this isn't "Street Lit" or "Urban Fiction" or "Hood Lit" or anything of that nature, rather, it's a fairly conventional crime/detective genre novel set amidst the world of contemporary hip-hop, with a story line stretching back to the scene in the late '80s and early '90s. The hero is "D" -- the only one of four brothers to make it out of the rough Brownsville part of Brooklyn alive. He's managed to establish himself as the head of a very successful security firm specializing in the world of hip-hop, working award shows, video shoots, private parties, and soforth. When his friend and widely respected music critic Dwayne Robinson dies in a bloody heap on his doorstep, he doesn't buy the official explanation that Robinson was the random target of a gang initiation attack. Instead, he starts poking around, asking questions, which soon leads him down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theorists with some wild ideas about who is trying to do what to black people in America.
All of which starts pointing him to a mysterious report from the late '80s (inspired by the real-life Harvard report from the '70s) which is reputedly about how hip-hop can be leveraged and marketed -- and perhaps even co-opted a tool of social control. D's investigation centers on New York and L.A., and is finds him rubbing shoulders with big names of today, and name-checking big names of the past. Even as he searches for this report so that he can try and learn if it had something in it worth killing his friend for, he struggles with the reality that the all-pervasive hip-hop culture that pays his bills is an artistically weak but commercially huge business (Drake comes under particular criticism), compared to the artistically strong hip-hop of his youth (political and conscious acts such as PE and BDP get much love in this book), which weren't as prevalent in mainstream culture. (I guess I'm kind of the perfect reader, because my sympathies are right in line with D's when it comes to the state of mainstream hip-hop -- which is not to say there isn't some great stuff lurking in the underground.)
In any event, as the story progresses, there are some more murders, and a love interest to spice things up. The short chapters and uptempo pacing make it a quick, page-turning read, although it sometimes grinds to a halt for a paragraph to explain some reference or another. As a crime genre book it's decent, not amazing, but decent -- I struggled a bit with whether I felt like it was likely that people were killed for the motives that are eventually revealed. But if you're into hip-hop, it'd definitely worth the short time it takes to read. If you're not into hip-hop, I can't imagine it would do much for you, since the story is so deeply immersed in that world. In the end, D is an engaging hero, and one I wouldn't mind reading another book about.
All of which starts pointing him to a mysterious report from the late '80s (inspired by the real-life Harvard report from the '70s) which is reputedly about how hip-hop can be leveraged and marketed -- and perhaps even co-opted a tool of social control. D's investigation centers on New York and L.A., and is finds him rubbing shoulders with big names of today, and name-checking big names of the past. Even as he searches for this report so that he can try and learn if it had something in it worth killing his friend for, he struggles with the reality that the all-pervasive hip-hop culture that pays his bills is an artistically weak but commercially huge business (Drake comes under particular criticism), compared to the artistically strong hip-hop of his youth (political and conscious acts such as PE and BDP get much love in this book), which weren't as prevalent in mainstream culture. (I guess I'm kind of the perfect reader, because my sympathies are right in line with D's when it comes to the state of mainstream hip-hop -- which is not to say there isn't some great stuff lurking in the underground.)
In any event, as the story progresses, there are some more murders, and a love interest to spice things up. The short chapters and uptempo pacing make it a quick, page-turning read, although it sometimes grinds to a halt for a paragraph to explain some reference or another. As a crime genre book it's decent, not amazing, but decent -- I struggled a bit with whether I felt like it was likely that people were killed for the motives that are eventually revealed. But if you're into hip-hop, it'd definitely worth the short time it takes to read. If you're not into hip-hop, I can't imagine it would do much for you, since the story is so deeply immersed in that world. In the end, D is an engaging hero, and one I wouldn't mind reading another book about.
bigbooklife's review
3.0
171 pages of hip-hop conspiracy theories. In the copyright page of the book, there's a statement that this book is completely fiction and everything is a part of the author's imagination. It was hard to separate truth from fiction with the use of real names and references to real events. D Hunter, owner of D Security, finds himself poorly investigating the murder of his friend and hip-hop critic, Dwayne Robinson. In his investigation, he begins to uncover a conspiracy to take over hip-hop and brainwash urban youth. The book is well-written, but the plot is poorly thought out. There are no clues that help the reader or even D Hunter figure anything out. Everything comes together in the last 20 pages of the book through a confession from the Black Godfather of the music industry. He makes a good point to D Hunter: If he didn't spell everything out for him, then he wouldn't have gotten it. I read this book in one day, which is rare for me. I wish that the book could have taken me more places, put a different spin on things, but I finished the book underwhelmed. Once you get passed the obsessive name dropping and over explanations of D Hunter and everyone he encounters' history in the hip-hop game, you have an okay read. If you like action and slight mystery, then this is a good Saturday afternoon read. Just don't expect too much.