(MercuryNews.com) — A group of teenagers armed with little more than an attitude and some turntables created a rebellion 30 years ago in the Bronx. The fire spread across the globe, from Beirut to Beijing, where youths use hip-hop to rap about being denied freedom, power, a voice.
Back at home, the lingua franca of the counterculture has become the language of vapid commercialism and empty values, according to author Thomas Chatterton Williams.