My Book: ‘Being Dope: Hip Hop & Theory Through Mixtape Memoir’ By Dr. A.D. Carson

By now, the phrase “Hip-Hop changed my life” is a well-worn cliché, but that won’t stop me from saying it. I’m from the small Central Illinois town of Decatur. My hometown is one of the sites where the war on drugs and many of its battles took place. In 2018, Decatur was listed at number seven in USA Today’s “15 worst cities for Black Americans” and ranked third nationally in their 2019 “America’s fastest shrinking cities” poll.