Michael Eric Dyson is many things, including (but not limited to) a minister, a scholar, and a rare voice with the willingness and ability to translate his ideas seamlessly from the ivory tower to the pulpit and to the streets. Dyson's 2007 book, Know What I mean? Reflections on Hip Hop, illustrates some of the Renaissance man's clearest thinking on the relationship between the hip hop genre and contemporary popular culture.

Jay-Z and Nas?

However, hip hop fans might be shocked more by two of the book's secondary contributors more than by anything Dyson writes. Rappers Jay-Z and Nas, who formerly engaged in one of the more famous lyrical feuds in hip hop history, have penned the book's foreword and epilogue (or "intro" and "outro," as they are described in the book), respectively.

The two wordsmiths speak eloquently about the importance of Dyson's work. Although some readers familiar with the two contributors might not resist the temptation to compare the two sections of the book -- Jay-Z appears to be the more polished writer of the two -- the greater impression should be that many hip hop artists are mindful of the broad impact of their work