At a time where mainstream hip hop has seemingly morphed into a contest for the title of “Gangsta Most Likely to Succeed,” it’s no surprise that our friend Fiddy has become the reigning prince of the biz. With lines like “Come with my gun smokin’, you can smell death” among the more printable gems from the “bulletproof” MC’s lyrical arsenal, has hip hop become a major player in the gun crime epidemic?

Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent by Christian Pearce and Rodrigo Bascunán attempts to situate hip hop’s role within the much larger realm of gun culture. Through interviews with everybody from politicians to criminals, activists to gangsters, corporate bigwigs to academics and finally, to artists like Talib Kweli and, of course, 50 Cent, the authors reveal a truth that is as fascinating as it is disturbing. It’s like Bowling for Columbine for the hip hop generation, minus the smarmy, sensationalist bullshit.

Co-founders of Canadian hip hop magazine Pound, Bascunán and Pearce are quick to voice their disapproval of hip hop’s irresponsible gun talk, but the evidence they lay out over the course of four dense “chambers” (a cute alternative to having “chapters”) points to a nefarious system that owes more to the legacy of Charlton Heston’s NRA than from that of, say, Dr. Dre’s NWA.

Long before 50 Cent began waxing poetic about his skill with a MAC-10, popular culture provided its share of scapegoats for crimes committed by society’s impressionable youth. Of course, the comic books and rock n’ roll that spooked our grandparents’ generation seem totally benign when compared to the gratuitous thug life depicted in so much of today’s commercial hip hop. (Remember when Bill Haley and His Comets sprayed Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper with bullets for stepping on their turf? Yeah, me neither.)

Today, hip hop is often the loudest voice representing disenfranchised youth from crime-ridden, low-income communities. Sadly it is also often the only arena these kids have for self-expression. As such, hip hop is a reflection of a system of oppression and injustice, and Bascunán and Pearce take a skillful approach to shedding light on its complexities.

Rating: VVVV / VVVVV

-Kelli Korducki