It was a landmark for the hip-hop generation.

For any normal person, that is the stupidest thing you could do. But you can't argue that his strategy didn't work. Everyone talked about it, and no one will forget it.

If anything, the book shows the good, the bad, the ugly, and then the sad. They're chasing these gold dreams, but what happens when you put too much value in your chain? If you spend all your money on your ring and then you go broke? It's not an advertisement for jewelry.

No one can identify the uninformed until they voice their ignorance about a topic. Silence is a fool’s best friend. Sadly, he is often too foolish to realize it.

For so-called conscious rappers, it is an opportunity to rap about ways to educate others about African American history, politics and even relationships: all of which would be missed if society merely focused on the “hook” and ignored the influence.

The business of hip hop is probably the most tangible example of the genre’s dramatic maturation.