My first response after reading this book was, “WOW!” UrbanSouls is a must read, not only for African-Americans but also for all Americans. I would even go as far as saying that UrbanSouls should be added to the curriculum in our nation’s schools.

Rev. Sekou brilliantly paints a picture of the social and socioeconomic crisis in today’s urban communities. The brilliance comes in how he uses Hip-hop to describe and explain the reasons behind the crisis that is now faced in urban society today. Rev. Sekou also reaches out to today’s youth in this book. He obviously recognizes the generational gap and believes that Hip-Hop, if done properly, can be used as a forum to bridge that gap.

One of the best qualities of UrbanSouls is that it uplifts and criticizes without sounding too preachy. Rev Sekou effectively uses a medium (Hip-Hop) that can appeal to the masses. Hip-Hop has become the biggest music genre in the world today and is loved by people of all colors, gender, and nationality. Therefore, it is a very smart move to get an important message across to today’s youth by using a culture and art (Hip-Hop) that transcends gender, race and socioeconomic status and Rev. Sekou does this well.

I will end this Book review with one of the most powerful passages written in this book:

There is a strong although small remnant of prophetic voices within the Hip-Hop community. We must affirm and celebrate their contribution to spiritual life of our youth, for the phat beat and tight lyrics are part of a musical tradition that has allowed African-American to be hopeful against hopelessness.