The Plot Against Hip Hop

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