Nelson George
Music Critic / Documentarian
Nelson George is a novelist, cultural critic, and filmmaker. After receiving his degree from St. John's University in 1982, George first worked for New York's Amsterdam News, later becoming an editor at Billboard and a columnist for the Village Voice. Many of his books -- both fiction and non-fiction -- have focused on black popular culture. George is the author of Hip Hop America and The Death of Rhythm and Blues, both studies of black urban music, as well as the novels Night Work and Urban Romance. George co-wrote the films Strictly Business (1991) and CB4 (1993); he also directed To Be a Black Man, a short based on a piece he wrote for the Voice that starred Samuel L. Jackson.
Rising from an abandoned city, hip hop captured the voice of a generation.
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8 min
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Nelson George talks about who is on the way to make great music.
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3 min
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War and poverty, says George.
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2 min
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George is wary of charismatic political leaders.
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2 min
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Most people want to do good, but end up doing bad, says George.
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3 min
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We are suspicious of difference and scared of change.
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4 min
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George still remembers the KKK jokes.
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4 min
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Poverty, George says, is not a Black issue.
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2 min
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It’s a problem of class, not race, says George.
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5 min
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Nelson George talks about working with the Queen on the HBO film Life Support.
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3 min
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It is a film about HIV and forgiveness, George says.
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4 min
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George talks about a new generation of super achievers.
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2 min
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The wonderful things that can happen when you don’t fulfill your first career goal.
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4 min
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George talks about the frustration of getting a film about the black experience seen outside America.
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4 min
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There’s a range of experience that isn’t being captured, George says.
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3 min
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Back when there were Jewish gangsters and Fort Greene was a dodgy place to live.
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7 min
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