Loving the Cool

Loving the cool explores the understudied discourse of love relationships in hip-hop music as it relates to notions of black masculinity and male identity. Loving the Cool considers hip-hop as dialogic and discursive space where, in particular, African American men discuss their experiences, concerns, perspectives and fears about sexuality, love and relationships. Through an interdiscpilnary mix of social science, black feminist thought, rhetorical studies and hip-hop scholarship, this book explores how hip-hop's Black masculine dialogues animate and give voice to real-life tensions surrounding sexuality and loving relationships in the lives of African American audiences. Loving The cool challenges reductionist notions of hip-hop and masculinity by exploring the potential for feminist 'eroticism' as intervention on hip-hop's fascination with the 'cool.'