Hiding in Hip Hop by Terrance Dean
By Darnetta Frazier • Jun 18th, 2008 • Category: Book Review •
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Hiding in Hip Hop: Confessions of a Down Low Brother in the Entertainment Industry by Terrance Dean is an intimate account of the author’s experience as an undercover brother. As a child, Dean was forced to cope with issues surrounding drugs, abandonment, AIDS, and molestation. As an adult, those issues still plagued him, but he was able to add sexuality to his list of problems. His fulfillment in having sex with other men would not have been so huge had he not been a part of the entertainment business. But because he was flooded with images of masculinity and saw how the rich and famous treated those who were openly gay, he contrived an artificial existence as a heterosexual man ultimately hiding in Hip Hop.
Dean was not the typical down-low guy though. In actuality, he loathed the way some down-low men lied to their women. He also was not too keen on playing second fiddle to men who wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Dean wanted much more. He wanted real love. And he wanted to know how he could attain that love and still be accepted in a business that was all about images and facades. Through his desires to love freely, dealing with his estranged family, and attempting to find a way to overcome his conflict with his sexual preference, Dean started Men’s Empowerment where he invited his peers to discuss the stressors that came with celebrity and/or power. Men’s Empowerment became a seed flourishing into other groups that helped communities in New York and ultimately helped Dean do some serious soul searching.
Hiding is Hip Hop was a decent read. It garnered so much attention that by the time I read it, I was so intrigued by the celebrities Dean was not naming and almost missed the point of his book. He did an excellent job of protecting the innocent, as I was unable to positively identify anyone he described, but I had tons of fun trying to figure them out. Because he used fictitious names, and so many of them, I often lost track of who was who and why they mattered. There were a few name glitches complete with misspellings and the timeline was a bit off. Sometimes, I could not tell what time period he was speaking of, but it may have been to protect celebrity’s anonymity. Overall, Hiding in Hip Hop is an entertaining read if you enjoy playing guessing games. Readers who like memoirs and stories that delve into the struggles of human nature would also find this story fulfilling.
Reviewed by Darnetta Frazier
APOOO BookClub
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Darnetta Frazier is an Ohio-born, spoken-word poet who has composed poetry since she was able to hold a laddie pencil. As reviewer for A Place Of Our Own (APOOO) and aspiring novelist, she dabbles in the literary scene from all perspectives. She has been published on www.thebacklist.net, interviewed on www.blogginginblack.com, and is currently submitting fiction manuscripts to publishers while juggling daughterhood, sisterhood, wifedom, parenthood, and of course, writing. Outside of family and all things literary, Darnetta overindulges in Hip-Hop, dabbles in computer graphic design, and creates handcrafted cards, candles, and jewelry.
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