"Watkins's study is the best yet on the hip-hop industry. Watkins has provided nothing less than a political economy of hip-hop, one that doesn't shy away from the dirty business hip-hop has become--especially as the shift from selling dope beats and rhymes to the selling of ass and overpriced leisurewear became the movement's primary (and, not incidentally, most lucrative) focus. He's also attentive to the way hip-hop was affected by the appalling rates of incarceration and AIDS in black communities."

"Watkins sets his tome apart with a meticulous attention to the facts…Opening with a wry observation of the infamous sit-down between Ja Rule and Minister Farrakhan to quell the Ja/50 Cent beef, he leaves few stones unturned examining the endless influence of hip-hop on the world around us, always with a critical eye."

"A fantastic voyage into a culture that has defined a generation, Hip Hop Matters truly is 'bigger than Hip Hop.'"

"With Hip Hop Matters, S. Craig Watkins establishes himself as one of the most insightful observers and critics of hip hop culture. Without neglecting the rhetorical and aesthetic dimensions of rap music, Watkins also manages to keep a sharp eye on the social, moral, and political meanings of hip hop culture. His nuanced and elegant readings of critical moments in the genealogy of contemporary expressions of hip hop culture are some of the best in print. Hip Hop Matters is an acute, soulful, and brilliant examination of the broad and complex terrain that hip hop culture now occupies in this country, in cyberspace, and across the globe."