M.K. Asante, It's Bigger Than Hip Hop: The Rise of the Post-Hip-Hop Generation (2008)
A long lament about the loss of hip-hop identity to corporate interests that proposes some hopeful alternatives.
Yvonne Bynoe, Stand and Deliver: Political Activism, Leadership and Hip-Hop Culture (2004)
A passionate argument for the political use of hip-hop.
Jeff Chang, Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation (2005)
Chang's hopeful and complex take on hip-hop history won the American Book Award.