IN Dead Precedents: How Hip-Hop Defines the Future, Chicago-based writer and academic Roy Christopher considers the notion that hip-hop is “black cyberpunk.” [From New Inquiry]

DEAD PRECEDENTS is a somewhat esoteric but overall thought-provoking read. Roy Christopher posits hip hop DJs as musical hackers, stretching and twisting original compositions into something new through use of sampling and mixing. The concept is fresh and timely, despite his primary focus on the 1980s. However the focus might be a little narrowly-focused, as I found myself wishing for an exploration of techno DJs as well.

DEAD PRECEDENTS is meticulously researched, an ode to Christopher’s palpable love for hip hop. His writing has its own fittingly musical cadence: “...crowd control, cruise control, remote control, the discotheque as panopticon.” Be sure to read with a streaming music source at hand, because you’ll be inspired to listen to the many songs he references in the text, as well as numerous more listed in the backmatter.

As a side note, I thought it very interesting to come to Christopher’s analysis of digital archives on the very same day that AO3 was nominated for a Hugo Award. “Causal, casual language” indeed.

I enjoyed this exploration of "how hip-hop culture defines twenty-first century culture". It's really an extended essay, which covers a lot of ground succinctly and that is both its virtue and its problem. There's lots here (Afro-futurism, cyberpunk and music) that is introduced and then quickly passed over and I hope the author takes some of these issues further in other books. At least half a star for the title.