In this unflinching, timely, wide-ranging collection of essays, William Jelani Cobb lays bare the black experience of the past decade using cinema, music, literature, politics and pop culture. From the "too smart" irony of Dave Chappelle to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; from the gift and curse of "black success" in the post civil rights era to the failure of history to act as a guide for the present, this collection is a chronicle of where we have been and a signpost for where we need to go next.

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With roots that stretch from West Africa through the black pulpit, hip-hop emerged in the streets of the South Bronx in the 1970s and has spread to the farthest corners of the earth. To the Break of Dawn uniquely examines this freestyle verbal artistry on its own terms. A kid from Queens who spent his youth at the epicenter of this new art form, music critic William Jelani Cobb takes readers inside the beats, the lyrics, and the flow of hip-hop, separating mere corporate rappers from the creative MCs that forged the art in the crucible of the street jam. Read an excerpt of To the Break of Dawn.