Rap analysis is hot, it seems, what with Michael Eric Dyson's
Holler If You Hear Me [BKL Ag 01] on Tupac Shakur and
Hip Hop Divas [BKL O 15 01] from
VIBE magazine (now there's a rap sheet for you). But the rapper landscape changes so fast that the subtitle of Ro's take on rapper-fashionista-(exonerated) miscreant Combs was superannuated long ago: Puffy, who used to be Puff Daddy, is now P. Diddy. Still, if anyone can penetrate Combs' high-profile, low-concept world, Ro can. Dripping street cred, Ro tells us how Combs built Bad Boy Entertainment and how his "bad decisions, his hubris, and his legendary temper" created a situation in which that conglomerate "can no longer work the way it used to." Reportage on recording projects, rap feuds, and da trial comes amid a flurry of colorful street names, and the always enjoyable aura of danger that the gangsta milieu exudes makes this a crucial read for fans and detractors, and an excellent piece of hip-hop history to boot.
Mike TribbyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
From Library Journal
Ro is an expert on gangsta rap whose two previous works on the subject, Gangsta: Merchandising the Rhymes of Violence (LJ 6/1/96) and Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records (LJ 4/15/98), were both informed and informative. This time around, Ro examines the triumphs and tribulations of actor/producer/singer/rap mogul Sean Combs (estimated worth: $400 million), previously known as "Puff Daddy" and currently sporting the nom de rap "P-Diddy." Bad Boy is primarily a dish-the-dirt biography, but for optimal comprehension, readers must be thoroughly familiar not only with rap music but also with its subgenres and proponents, both major and minor. Despite his indisputable command of rap philosophy and history, Ro's unfamiliarity with the pop music matrix itself is disconcertingly obvious: for example, he chronically refers to The Police's 1983 megahit "Every Breath You Take" (sampled by Combs on numerous productions) as "I'll Be Watching You." Also, while he clearly understands popular music as a business and can explain it clearly and thoroughly, his impressive discussions of the knotty contractual complications that impoverish even successful artists are too brief, too few, and too randomly scattered. Finally, even Ro concedes that Combs has exhausted his impact upon popular music. Still, Combs remains popular among youth, and for public libraries with a high demand in this area, Bad Boy is preferable to Cassie Murphy's Puff Daddy (Andrews McMeel, 1999) or Elizabeth Bowman's Sean "Puffy" Combs (Chelsea House, 2000). Bill Piekarski, Angelicus Webdesign, Lackawanna, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
