Young, Black, Rich, and Famous

In Young, Black, Rich, and Famous, Todd Boyd chronicles how basketball and hip hop have gone from being reviled by the American mainstream in the 1970s to being embraced and imitated globally today. For young black men, he argues, they represent a new version of the American dream, one embodying the hopes and desires of those excluded from the original version.  Shedding light on both perception and reality, Boyd shows that the NBA has been at the forefront of recognizing and incorporating cultural shifts-from the initial image of 1970s basketball players as overpaid black drug addicts, to Michael Jordan's spectacular rise as a universally admired icon, to the 1990s, when the hip hop aesthetic (for example, Allen Iverson's cornrows, multiple tattoos, and defiant, in-your-face attitude) appeared on the basketball court. Hip hop lyrics, with their emphasis on "keepin' it real" and marked by a colossal indifference to mainstream taste, became an equally powerful influence on young black men. These two influences have created a brand-new, brand-name generation that refuses to assimilate but is nonetheless an important part of mainstream American culture. This Bison Books edition includes a new introduction by the author.

Introduction to the Bison Books EditionIntroduction: The Playa's Life1. Young, Black, Rich and Famous: 'Ball, Hip Hop, and the Redefinition of the American Dream2. Don't Get High on Your Own Supply: The NBA's Image Problem Back in the Day3. That Ol' Black Magic and the Great White Hope: Basketball and Race in the Reagan Era4. Chocolate City: Georgetown and the Intelligent Hoodlums5. I Am: Hip Hop, the Individual, and the Culture of Michael Jordan6. My Detroit Playaz: Ballin' in the Motor City7. The Takeover: The Fab Five, Hip Hop, and College 'Ball8. Leaders of the New School: The Answer, "Karaoke Jordan," and the Modern-Day Balla9. Can It All Be So Simple? Internationally Known, Nationally Recognized, and Locally Accepted