Urban Souls by Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou.

Urban Souls by Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou Urban Press, April 2001, $13.95 ISBN 0-9709052-0-3

Over the last few years, the hip-hop generation has been a much-studied group. Programs have aired, preachers have preached and the ids in the ivory towers have issued academic prophecies on the state of these young brothers and sisters. Some worry that many of our youth have fallen and can't (or won't) get up, driven down, as they have been, by the perennial forces of gross materialism (bling, bling), moral ineptitude, conspiracy theories, fashionable crimes, bad leadership, religious hypocrisy (sorry Jesse), or just plain shallowness of spirit. Can they be saved? Do they need saving?

This generation is often as resistant to change (or counsel) as the latest bacterial strain. In this era of Columbine, Tupac and Biggie Smalls, Jeffrey Dahmer, Amadou Diallo and Lionel Tate, we've learned not to check our cynicism at the door. And let's not forget the prime-time drama of P. Diddy, DMX, Jay-Z, one Jamal "Shyne" Barrow and the emotional freaks that make up Jerry Springer's circus. The young guns of today have souls carved as deep as a river by a set of issues very different from that of their parents.

Hip-hop culture/music critic, social activist and writer Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou thinks often and hard about the hip-hop generation and the decisions they must make. His feelings about the subject have been voiced in a number of lectures with Professor Cornel West and have appeared in a number of Web-based zines and journals. So it's no surprise that his recent book Urban Souls continues the train of thought.

Sekou states that youthful questions must be asked about the hypocrisy of public policy, the ignorance of truth and violence against the body and soul. Why do we do things this way? Or why is this happening and how can we fix it? What do we think about Du Bois's assertion that the problem of the 20th century is that of the color line?

Sekou reads the problem of the 21st century as that of the American soul--especially, "when over thirty percent of America's children live in poverty while the rest of the country experiences the most prosperous times in history. It is clear that the American soul is near death"

Urban Souls is an effective, lyrical indictment of a system that cheapens the young black generation. He doesn't simply accuse, he offers explanations. He writes about two of the fastest growing musical genres--alternative music and gangsta rap. Both are the genesis of the disenfranchisement and frustration stemming from personal and social alienation, he states. He also reminds us that this type of pop-culture expression is necessary if we are to hear the innocent and not-so-innocent voices of our children, share their terror, joy, victories, defeats, tears and smiles. He says that youth pop culture is a window to broader description and understanding of their perspectives and can be a strong prescriptive commentary. To illustrate, Sekou breaks down Coolio's "Gangsta Paradise" as an example of a "self-fulfilling prophecy of hopelessness."

He cites Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" as an appropriate rhythmic riff about the chaotic, dirty and cramped space of the inner city, and tackles the subject of police blue-on-black bias by citing homeboy rapper Nelly as someone whose success doesn't exclude him from run-ins with the law.

Urban Souls isn't out-and-out about music, yet it has enough melodic meat to warrant reading by anyone interested in the world of hip-hop. The chapter "Hip-hop Religion" is especially interesting. Sekou uses the chapter to discuss how the hip-hop generation has found sanctuary, an almost religious salvation via hip-hop accoutrements. The club and its scene, the gear and language all form important beliefs that support the behavior of devoted followers of hip hop.

Sekou's premise is that this generation of young black youths must be heard and saved. And in the book's last chapter "Urban Solutions" he makes a simple, yet effective emotional plea: "We must listen with the heart for truth, speak with words of love and create systems that will allow all Americans to live out the prophetic meaning of citizenship."

Although Sekou's language often gets bogged down in complex wording when simpler ones would have sufficed, Urban Souls is a strong critical ally of the hip-hop generation.