The relationship between The Darkest Hearts and The Plot Against Hip Hop
The sequel contains a book within a book
‘The Darkest Hearts,’ my upcoming mystery novel, contains a book within the book. Slipped in throughout the new novel are selections from an unpublished 2011 manuscript called ‘The Plot Against Hip Hop’ by Dwayne Robinson. The Plot Against Hip Hop is also the title of a previous D Hunter novel in which Robinson’s murder triggers the action. In that novel a few brief selections can be read. In Darkest Hearts the unpublished non-fiction book is quoted more liberally and plays key role in the story. So ‘The Darkest Hearts’ is a bit of a sequel to ‘The Plot Against Hip Hop’ while containing bits of the unpublished non-fiction book. You got that? LOL.
In these excerpts the late music critic Robinson goes on several long rants about the state of hip hop and its relationship to capitalism and race. Here’s a sample from Dwayne Robinson’s book found within ‘The Darkest Hearts’ : “The dance between creativity and commerce for black artists in America is always fraught since the very gifts that liberate the soul are easily commodified into simple formulas that diminish the spirit, transforming deep passion into disposable product. Hip hop has manifested in so many creators an embrace of a limited, essentialist menu of stories and emotions that narrowed the MC and their audience’s humanity. To be a thug or a gangsta bitch or a backpack MC was to be a mythological persona crafted to be easily understood and marketed, fitting into expectations of black life in a nation for whom stereotypes are reality. Why think about the complexity of any individual life when through the right clothes, slang and graphics you can telegraph your message — no need to think. Just enjoy your synthetic black experience and kick back with a cold brew or a blunt.”
A lot more in the novel.
The Darkest Hearts is being published August 4th. You can pre-order via www.AkashicBooks.com.