

Build
The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World
Author: Mark Katz
Narrator: Michael Butler Murray
Unabridged: 6 hr 25 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Published: 12/24/2019
Categories: Nonfiction, Music, Rap & Hip Hop
Synopsis
A timely study of US diplomacy, Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World reveals the power of art to bridge cultural divides, facilitate understanding, and express and heal trauma. Yet power is never single-edged, and the story of hip hop diplomacy is deeply fraught. Drawing from nearly 150 interviews with hip hop artists, diplomats, and others in more than thirty countries, Build explores the inescapable tensions and ambiguities in the relationship between art and the state, revealing the ethical complexities that lurk behind what might seem mere goodwill tours. Author Mark Katz makes the case that hip hop, at its best, can promote positive, productive international relations between people and nations. A US-born art form that has become a voice of struggle and celebration worldwide, hip hop has the power to build global community when it is so desperately needed.