Over on the MysteryPeople blog today Scott M. posted a conversation with Nelson George, author of The Plot Against Hip Hop. This book turned out to be an unexpected hit with Scott, who is not himself a fan of hip hop, but who, after reading the crime noir novel, is expanding his musical horizons. He’s also recommending this book to anyone who will listen.
Check out the beginning of the interview below, and then hop over to the MP blog for the rest. You can also read a review of the book there and check out some of the other books Scott’s been talking about.
MysteryPeople: As someone who doesn’t follow hip-hop, this book schooled me. How did you go about writing a book for hard-boiled mystery fans who might not know much about the music and also for your fans who are well versed in it?
Nelson George: I’ve been a fan of detective novels since I was an adolescent. All the Chandler books. The Maltese Falcon by Hammett. All that great Black Mask stuff. I read all that through my teen years. Chinatown is one of my top three favorite movies. So this kind of storytelling is very much in my DNA. I’d done a couple of noir novels before — Night Work and the book I introduced D. Hunter in, The Accidental Hunter. But with The Plot Against Hip Hop I really wanted to interweave my affection for that kind of narrative with the rich history of hip hop culture.
MP: What did you want to convey about hip-hop culture in the book?
Nelson George :I’ve been covering hip hop since its beginnings in the Bronx and Harlem. In the decades in between the culture has spawned a rich lore of triumph, mystery, failure and death. From the chapter titles to the character back stories I wanted to drench this novel in all of that history. That’s what I intended. It was a lot of fun.
For the rest of the conversation, visit the MysteryPeople blog.
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