Murda', Misogyny, and Mayhem: Hip-Hop and the Culture of Abnormality in the Urban Community
is a sociological work that utilizes a historical materialist perspective to expose the harmful effects of hip hop as a regulated industry, music, and culture. Spencer skillfully uses works by Antonio Gramsci and Paolo Freire as a backdrop to analyze how "hip hop" media reflects the stereotypical images that were used to justify enslavement, influences the culture of abnormality in the African American (urban) community, and promotes the prison industrial complex. This work is exceptionally innovative because it places the destruction of urban life and the urban experience in a theoretical and qualitative methodological frame. In so doing, Spencer thoroughly dissects the nature and purpose of the media as an industry designed to manipulate public perception of African Americans in the urban community. This careful analysis allows the reader to examine the relationship between the presentation of hip hop and the prevalence of murder, misogyny, and mayhem in the urban community.