is the spectacular convergence of these and other issues in the move-
ment that makes hip hop so urgent. For all of the problems and pas-
sions it arouses, hip hop connects with its young constituency like
nothing else can or will. When virtually nothing else could, hip hop
created a voice and a vehicle for the young and the dispossessed, giv-
ing them both hope and inspiration. But even as hip hop has been
buoyed by a heroic sense of hope it has also been bewildered by its
own disturbing and hell-raising antics. These are the contradictions
that are woven into the very essence of hip hop and make the struggle
for the movement one of the more compelling stories of our time.

P R O L O G U E

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