Like all musical revolutions that once seemed of-the-moment—from rock 'n' roll to glam to punk—hip hop has a history now. If recent old-school tributes both reverent (the 1997 album In Tha Beginning… There Was Rap) and questionable (the old biddy kicking out "Rapper's Delight" in The Wedding Singer) weren't proof enough, the appearance of Hip Hop America, by a fortyish writer who has covered the music since close to its inception, ought to be. Fortunately, in The Death Of Rhythm And Blues author and sometime Chris Rock collaborator Nelson George, the music has an insightful and clearheaded chronicler and analyst, even if the book can't help but disappoint given its ambitious title and scope. Though it provides a history of both the music and George's relationship to it—from his first encounter with Lovebug Starski and DJ Hollywood through the present—Hip Hop America is primarily a survey of the most pertinent topics in the culture's history. For George, this includes such time-tested hot-button issues as sampling, gangsta rap, and whites in hip hop. With these, he can't do much more than lend a fresh perspective to time-tested debates. But, given such less-discussed topics as the social significance of street fashion, the parallel developments of hip hop and basketball, and the culture's global impact, George does even better. Unfortunately, at a mere 212 pages, Hip Hop America could stand to be about twice as long. When George delves into the details of a given topic (the strange, short-lived alliance of Suge Knight and C. Dolores Tucker, for instance), he does an excellent job. But however interesting any given chapter is, nearly all of them seem to end abruptly after having introduced only the background for a more thorough discussion. With any luck, George or someone else will go into further detail, but until then, Hip Hop America serves as a useful introduction to the state of the art today.