Introduction 1. I'm Audi It Was a Wonderful World (Biggie Smalls, The Village Voice ) 2. Sensitive Thugs The Family Man (Eninem, Rolling Stone ) The Life of a Hunted Man (50 Cent, Rolling Stone ) DMX Drives Crazy, but He Loves You ( Rolling Stone ) I'm Scared to Death, but I Gotta Live (Biggie Smalls, Rolling Stone ) The Toughest Record Exec Ever (Dick Griffey, XXL ) 3. Big Willies Best Rapper Alive (Puff Daddy, The Village Voice ) Hiphop's Biggest Kid Grows Up (Russell Simmons, Playboy ) The Power of Radio (Andre Harrell, unpublished) Al Sharpton Has a Dream ( Playboy ) Ships Passing in the Night (Barack Obama and Colin Powell, Suede magazine) 4. Icaruses Invincible Man (Tupac, The Village Voice ) The Ivy League Counterfeiter (Cliff Evans, Rolling Stone ) The Greatest Tennis Player You've Never Heard Of (Al Parker, Jr., Tennis magazine) Inherit the Wind (Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Rolling Stone ) The Mystery of Lauryn Hill ( Rolling Stone ) 5. Almost Famous A Woman Possessed (Beyoncé, Rolling Stone ) The Next Queen of Soul (Alicia Keys, Rolling Stone ) Lauryn in Love (Lauryn Hill, Rolling Stone ) Kurt Is My Copilot (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

, Rolling Stone ) 6. Get Up, Get Out, and Get Involved Jay-Z Has Got Guts ( Rolling Stone ) Do You Like My Jesus Piece? (Kanye West, Rolling Stone ) You Can Call Him Prince ( Icon Magazine ) Wynton Marsalis Wants to Kick Your Ass ( Icon Magazine ) Just Jen (Jennifer Capriati, unpublished) 7. Microphone Fiend "Crack Is Responsible for Hiphop" (Ahmir Thompson, aka ?uestlove, The Believer ) 8. Strange Fruit Condoleezza Rice Is a House Negro ( Suede magazine) Show Me the Money (Michael Jordan, The Village Voice ) The Five-Mic Personality, or Why I Hate Mary J. Blige ( Vibe ) 9. Somehow, There's Love in the Hiphop Nation I Live in the Hiphop Nation ( The New York Times ) Love Your Niggas ( The Village Voice ) Are Gay Rappers Too Real for Hiphop? (Caushun, The New York Times ) Hiphop Famiglia (Junior M.A.F.

I.A. and the Wu-Tang Clan, The Village Voice ) No Drinks in '96! (Funkmaster Flex, The New Yorker ) 10. Boys Will Be Boys Trainspotting ( The New Yorker ) Night Moves ( The New Yorker ) Bling-bling Makes the Dictionary! (unpublished) An Invitation to Carnal Russian Roulette, or Memoirs of a Sexual Desperado ( The Bastard on the Couch ) 11. Who Do You Think You Are? What's Inside You, Brother? ( The Best American Essays 1996 ) A Funky Fresh Talented Tenth (unpublished) The Blackest Tennis Club in the World ( Tennis magazine) 12. I Can't Take It At Jam Master Jay's Funeral (unpublished).