Bomb the Suburbs

13May08

Bomb The Suburbs - William Upski Wimsatt
Paper | 5.5″ x 8.5″ | 176 pgs. | ISBN: 1-887128-44-5 | List: $13.95 | 03/1/2008

A copy of William ‘Upski’ Wimsatt’s Bomb the Suburbs anonymously arrived in the mail in 1995. I read the book furiously, consuming Upski’s tales of Chicago graffiti, Hip Hop and hitchhiking as well as his observations on race in Hip Hop and society. A well worn, paint stained copy soon became the foundation of my grand unified theory of Hip Hop, providing me a parenthetical reference for the taxonomy of 4 elements. (Page 71) It took me a few years to fully comprehend the genius of Bomb the Suburbs, and by then I was dismissing its second wave of readers as intellectual lightweight poseurs trying quote Upski in freshman seminars.

It was the summer of ‘99 when Upski came to work in DC. His second book, No More Prisons was about to come out and we met on a playground in Columbia Heights. We talked Hip Hop, technology, graf, and he shared his ideas for the No More Prisons movement, the Hip Hop compilation, the tour and the crowdsourced graffiti spree. Honestly, it’s the framework for everything I do now - a non-stop self financed DIY punk rock hip hop peace machine for social change: UPSET THE SETUP.

By the turn of the millennium the ideas of his two books were catching on with a generation that was beginning to think about Hip Hop as a real movement. Having realized that “writing a book doesn’t change shit,” he turned to organization building and new philanthropy efforts. A few co-edited books later and Upski was building an army of young activists, forging virtual organizing methods and finally working to found The League of Young Voters – Hip Hop’s first 527 Political Action Committee.

Bomb the Suburbs captures an era of Hip Hop thinking in a way that has rarely been produced as a book. Upski gave us his view of where the culture had been, where it was headed and what it needed to watch out for. He was the voice of white boy’s inner Hip Hop conscious before white boys everywhere began trading in alt rock for gangsta rap. A critical self-observer, he knew that his voice wasn’t the only perspective that needed sharing and glorification, and through interviews and stories he introduced us to characters from all walks of life to pen a uniquely Hip Hop story – one that is especially relevant 15 years later.

Tupac Shakur called Bomb The Suburbs “the best book I read in prison.” You can’t really top a recommendation like that. So go on ahead and cop the fresh re-issue from Skull Soft Press (includes an interview by Jeff Chang) and please randomly mail a copy to an aspiring hip hopper.

-PJ Urquilla
UpsetTheSetup.com


Filed under: Book Reviews, DC, DC Blogs, Hip Hop, Hip Hop Blogs, Hip Hop News, Upset The Setup   |  
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2 Responses to “Bomb the Suburbs”  

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  1. 1 Tikamar on May 14, 2008 said:

    Thanks for the suggestion. I just did.

  2. 2 the minister on May 15, 2008 said:

    In July 2000 my family buried a “time capsule” at my grandparent’s cabins in virginia to be opened in 2020.

    in addition to the interviews of my family i conducted that weekend, i enclosed a copy of No More Prisons and a picture of Cara. that pretty much summed up “where i was” at the time. i look forward to rereading it in 12 years if not before then.

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