The Plot Against Hip Hop: A Novel

A “wickedly entertaining” crime thriller from a renowned chronicler of the world of rap music (Kirkus Reviews).

Finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Literature

The stabbing murder of esteemed music critic Dwayne Robinson in a Soho office building has been dismissed by the NYPD as a gang initiation. But his old friend, bodyguard and security expert D Hunter, suspects there are larger forces at work.

D Hunter’s investigation into his mentor’s murder leads into a parallel history of hip hop, a place where renegade government agents, behind-the-scenes power brokers, and paranoid journalists know a truth that only a few hardcore fans suspect. This rewrite of hip hop history mixes real-life figures with characters pulled from the culture’s hidden world, including Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Russell Simmons.

“This hard-boiled tale is jazzed up with authentic street slang and name-dropping (Biggie, Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, and Chuck D) . . . George’s tightly packaged mystery pivots on a believable conspiracy . . . and his street cred shines in his descriptions of Harlem and Brownsville’s mean streets.” —Library Journal

“George is a well-known, respected hip-hop chronicler . . . Now he adds crime fiction to his resume with a carefully plotted crime novel peopled by believable characters and real-life hip-hop personalities.” —Booklist

“Reads almost like Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, but in the world of rap music . . . If you love crime fiction and you love hip hop, this book is a must read.” —BookRiot

“Part procedural murder mystery, part conspiracy-theory manifesto . . . .The writing is as New York as ‘Empire State of Mind,’ and D is a detective compelling enough to anchor a series.” —Time Out New York

© 2014 Urban Audiobooks (Audiobook): 9781481500043
© 2011 Akashic Books (Ebook): 9781617750823

Release date

Audiobook: 1 December 2014
Ebook: 1 November 2011