Let Me Hear a Rhyme

Let Me Hear a Rhyme takes place in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, in 1997 and 1998, shortly after the death of the famous Brooklyn hip-hop artist Biggie Smalls, also known as Notorious B.I.G. Biggie’s murder was impactful due to his young age of 24 years old, the fact that his murder was never solved, his popularity, and his representation of his community of Brooklyn through his music. Many fans felt that Biggie’s death changed hip-hop forever, because hip-hop lost one of its greatest artists to a tragic murder. Biggie achieved so much by the age of 24, and many imagine that he could have achieved even more if he was allowed to keep living.

Although Biggie’s murderer is still unknown to the public, many people believe Biggie’s death was a result of the conflict between east coast and west coast hip-hop artists at the time. While the “hub” of 1990s hip-hop music was Brooklyn on the east coast, it was California on the west coast. Music executives seemed to encourage conflict between east coast and west coast hip-hop artists, and some speculate that Biggie’s death was orchestrated in part to fuel this conflict and sell more records. Tupac Shakur, who was born in New York but grew up in California, was also murdered prior to Biggie, and some speculated that Biggie or his associates were behind Tupac’s death. Some also speculate that Tupac’s still-living associates were behind Biggie’s death. This culture of hearsay, gossip, and conflict between people from different geographical locations is criticized heavily in Let Me Hear a Rhyme. Jackson’s novel argues that this conflict did not have a clear winner, because both sides suffered massive losses as a result of the conflict. Tupac and Biggie, two of the best hip-hop artists of all time, both died in their twenties due to senseless violence. Let Me Hear a Rhyme also argues that hip-hop is not meant to be a violent genre, but a genre that spreads love and inspiration.