Since its inception in the 1970s, hip hop music and the culture surrounding it has become a hugely influential and popular musical form in America and around the world. Its popularity extends beyond the urban centres where it was born and pervades and influences youth culture around the globe. Although the media is full of images of hip hop stars, few artists have created serious and powerful photographs that explore the complexity of the phenomenon. With David Scheinbaum's images and incisive texts by scholars, cultural critics and public intellectuals Gaye Theresa Johnson and Michael Eric Dyson, as well as an artist conversation with Frank Goodyear Jr. of the National Portrait Gallery, plus an introduction by Brian Hardgroove of Public Enemy, this book will look at Hip Hop as a positive cultural influence that is akin to the youth movements of the 1960s in its scope.