They can't kill us until they kill us : essays

Title:

Author:

Willis-Abdurraqib, Hanif, author.

Personal Author:

Willis-Abdurraqib, Hanif, author.

ISBN:

9781937512651

Physical Description:

285 pages ; 19 cm

Contents:

I. Chance The Rapper's golden year ; A night in Bruce Springsteen's America ; Carly Rae Jepsen loves you back ; The night Prince walked on water ; Schoolboy Q wants white people to say the word ; The Weeknd and the future of loveless sex -- II. I wasn't brought here, I was born: surviving punk rock long enough to find Afropunk ; Under half-lit fluorescents: The Wonder Years and the great suburban narrative ; All our friends are famous ; The return of the loneliest boys in town ; Brief notes on staying // no one is making their best work when they want to die ; Searching for a new kind of optimism ; Death becomes you: My Chemical Romance and ten years of The Black Parade ; Defiance, Ohio is the name of a band -- III. Fall Out Boy forever -- IV. Ric Flair, best rapper alive ; It rained in Ohio on the night Allen Iverson hit Michael Jordan with a crossover ; There is the picture of Michael Jackson kissing Whitney Houston on the cheek ; Black life on film ; Tell 'em all to come and get me ; Burning that which will not save you: Wipe Me Down and the Ballad of Baton Rouge ; Rumours and the currency of heartbreak -- V. February 26, 2012 ; On kindness ; In the summer of 1997, everyone took to the streets in shiny suits ; Nina Simone was very black ; Blood summer, in three parts ; August 9, 2014 ; Fear in two winters ; On Paris-- my first police stop ; Serena Williams and the policing of imagined arrogance ; They will speak loudest of you after you're gone ; Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno. Or, the Migos: nice kids from the suburbs ; The Obama White House, a brief home for rappers ; The white rapper joke ; On future and working through what hurts ; November 22, 2014 ; Surviving on small joys -- VI.

Abstract:

"In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib's is a voice that matters. Whether he's attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown's grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly. In the wake of the nightclub attacks in Paris, he recalls how he sought refuge as a teenager in music, at shows, and wonders whether the next generation of young Muslims will not be afforded that opportunity now. While discussing the everyday threat to the lives of black Americans, Abdurraqib recounts the first time he was ordered to the ground by police officers: for attempting to enter his own car. In essays that have been published by the New York Times, MTV, and Pitchfork, among others--along with original, previously unreleased essays-- Abdurraqib uses music and culture as a lens through which to view our world, so that we might better understand ourselves, and in doing so proves himself a bellwether for out times." -- Provided by publisher

Subject Term:

African Americans -- Literary collections.

Genre:

Essays.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Main Library	Book	814.6 W734	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

* 2018 "12 best books to give this holiday season" -- TODAY (Elizabeth Acevedo)
* A "Best Book of 2017" --Rolling Stone (2018), NPR, Buzzfeed, Paste Magazine , Esquire , Chicago Tribune , Vol. 1 Brooklyn, CBC, Stereogum, National Post , Entropy, Heavy, Book Riot, Chicago Review of Books , The Los Angeles Review, Michigan Daily
* American Booksellers Association (ABA) 'December 2017 Indie Next List Great Reads'
* Midwest Indie Bestseller

In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib's is a voice that matters. Whether he's attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown's grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.

In the wake of the nightclub attacks in Paris, he recalls how he sought refuge as a teenager in music, at shows, and wonders whether the next generation of young Muslims will not be afforded that opportunity now. While discussing the everyday threat to the lives of Black Americans, Abdurraqib recounts the first time he was ordered to the ground by police officers: for attempting to enter his own car.

In essays that have been published by the New York Times , MTV , and Pitchfork , among others--along with original, previously unreleased essays--Abdurraqib uses music and culture as a lens through which to view our world, so that we might better understand ourselves, and in so doing proves himself a bellwether for our times.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

An Ohio-based poet, columnist, and music critic takes the pulse of the nation while absorbing some of today's most eclectic beats.At first glance, discovering deep meaning in the performance of top-40 songstress Carly Rae Jepsen might seem like a tough assignment. However, Abdurraqib (The Crown Ain't Worth Much, 2016) does more than just manage it; he dives in fully, uncovering aspects of love and adoration that are as illuminating and earnest as they are powerful and profound. If he can do that with Jepsen's pop, imagine what the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Prince, or Nina Simone might stir in him. But as iconic as those artists may be, the subjects found in these essays often serve to invoke deeper forays into the worlds surrounding the artists as much as the artists themselves. Although the author is interested in the success and appeal of The Weeknd or Chance the Rapper, he is also equallyif not moreintrigued with the sociopolitical and existential issues that they each managed to evoke in present-day America. In witnessing Zoe Saldana's 2016 portrayal of Simone, for instance, Abdurraqib thinks back to his own childhood playing on the floor of his family home absorbing the powerful emotions caused by his mother's 1964 recording of "Nina Simone in Concert"and remembering the relentlessly stigmatized soul who, unlike Saldana, could not wash off her blackness at the end of the day. In listening to Springsteen, the author is reminded of the death of Michael Brown and how "the idea of hard, beautiful, romantic work is a dream sold a lot easier by someone who currently knows where their next meal is coming from." In all of Abdurraqib's poetic essays, there is the artist, the work, the nation, and himself. The author effortlessly navigates among these many points before ultimately arriving at conclusions that are sometimes hopeful, often sorrowful, and always visceral.Erudite writing from an author struggling to find meaning through music. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.