Lakeyta M. Bonnette-Bailey is Associate Professor of African American Studies at Georgia State University.Adolphus G. Belk, Jr. is Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Winthrop University.

"For the Culture has much to recommend. The volume offers multiple perspectives on rap’s connection to social justice, providing historical nuance and political context. The book’s greatest contribution, however, lies in its focus on contemporary social issues and present-day rap music culture. It is a welcome addition to the hip-hop studies canon and is a must-read for anyone interested in rap’s relationship to culture and politics in the twenty-first century."

• Intro: “Doing It for the Culture”Section One: Activism or Perpetuation? Hip-Hoppers, Protest Movements, and Mass IncarcerationChapter One – Belk, Adolphus G., Jr. “Going Upstate: Challenging Mass Imprisonment in New York State”Chapter Two – Bonnette-Bailey, Lakeyta M., Lestina Dongo, and Michael Westberg. “This is America: Hip-Hop and the Black Lives Matter Movement”Chapter Three – Ogbar, Jeffrey O.G. “Criminal Minded: The War on Drugs, Social Justice, Policing, and Hip-Hop”Chapter Four – Baptist, Najja K. “‘And When They Wake-Up’: Black Lives Matter, Rap, and Activism”Section Two: Old School and New School Methods of Political EngagementChapter Five – Hemphill, Portia R. “Made You Look: Leaders Speak to the Power of Black Youth Rap Music Consumption and Political Action”Chapter Six – Napoli, Sarah. “Everyday Rights: Creating Rights Identities within the Midwest Rap Community”Chapter Seven – Shawel, Tabia. “‘Don’t Call It A Comeback’: Trump, Hip-Hop, and the Fight for Human Rights”Chapter Eight – Akinyela, Ife Jie. “Movement Music Revisited: Conscious Rap and Contemporary Political Activism”Section Three: Education and Social Justice: Getting an Education in “They Schools”Chapter Nine – Sajnani, Damon. “Problematizing the Civil Rights Paradigm of Hip-Hop Studies”Chapter Ten – Evans, Jabari. “‘It’s​ Bigger​ ​than​ ​Hip-Hop’:​ ​The​​Socio-Emotional​ ​Effect​ ​of​ Hip-Hop as Creative Music Making within the Formal Classroom” ​Chapter Eleven – Harrison, Anthony Kwame. “Hip-Hop's Place in Campus Inclusion and Social Justice”Section Four: Gender, Identity, and Sexuality in Hip-HopChapter Twelve – Ali, Khalilah. “That’s Them Hoes Over There: Female Students Mitigating Hip-Hop Social Identity Threats”Chapter Thirteen – Anderson, Britta L. “Public Grief and Collective Joy: Feminicide, Solidarity, and Feminist Rap in Ciudad Juárez”Chapter Fourteen – Lamar, Alba Isabel. “Atrevidas: Afro-Cuban Women Demand Equity through Rap”Section 5: Mixing It Up: Hip-Hoppers and Social Justice Around the WorldChapter Fifteen – Cheuk, Michael Ka Chi. “The Low Mays and the Transgression of Wo Lei Fei Fei”Chapter Sixteen – Gill, Lisa M. “Watch the Throne: Representations of Blackness in Western Political Expressions”Chapter Seventeen – Pimenta-Silva, Miguel. “Rhymes, Beats and Maize: The Maya Civilization and the Use of Rap”Chapter Eighteen – Ouassini, Anwar and Mostafa Amini, M.A. “Native Transnational ‘Flows’: Hip-Hop, Social Justice, and the Construction of a Global Indigenous Identity”Outro: “The Beautiful Struggle”Author Bios