Never Drank the Kool-Aid

by Touré

His name is Touré--just Touré--and like many of the musicians, athletes, and celebrities he's profiled, he has affected the way that we think about culture in America. He has profiled Eminem, 50 Cent, and Alicia Keys for the cover of Rolling Stone. He's played high-stakes poker with Jay-Z and basketball with Prince and Wynton Marsalis. In Touré's world, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sits beside Condoleezza Rice who sits beside hip-hop pioneer Tupac Shakur, and all of them are fascinating company.

Never Drank the Kool-Aid is the chronicle of Touré's unparalleled journey through the American funhouse called pop culture. Its rooms are filled with creative, arrogant, kind, ordinary, and extraordinary people, most of whom happen to be famous. It is Touré's gift to be able to see through the artifice of their world and understand the genuine motivations behind their achievements--to see who they truly are as people. This is a searingly funny, surprisingly unguarded, and deeply insightful look at a world few of us comprehend.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Music, Hip Hop

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Touré Neblett is an American novelist, essayist, music journalist, cultural critic, and television personality.

Reviews

[Joyce]

He loves hip-hop, and yet is conflicted and vulnerable and overeducated and skeptical -- just like you, if you were blacker and cooler. Toure plays basketball with Prince, gets the crap scared out of him by Suge Knight, and hates Mary J. Blige for cursing him out in a limo.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

many of these i've read in their original form, being a magazine junkie. this guy seems like a bit of a douche to me. the essays were out of control- crap that doesn't really mean anything or matter. i did like some of his profiles of artists, they are usually better than the average magazine article.

[Shix · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading this for like a year. I don't know why I can't get into it.

[Ben Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great. An interesting kind of snapshot overview of a fairly recent time period in African-American culture. I could have used slightly less sports, particularly some of the more forgettable tennis bits and the autobiographical pieces were less successful but the articles on counterfeiting, Beyonce, Condeleeza Rice, etc. were awesome. His portrait on Kanye West is particularly striking now that Kanye is such a mega-star. In the piece he seems super self-conscious and like he's getting razzed by Jay-Z all the time. The other thing that's interesting about this collection is that quite a few of the subjects we get to see at different points in time: Lauryn Hill at the height of her success and then Lauryn Hill as a weird reclusive shut-in. Dale Earnhardt Jr. as young upstart and then in the moment of grieving over his father, knowing the kind of weird rivalry and not necessarily easy father-son relationship makes it much more compelling. Also, Questlove from The Roots shows up often enough that he feels in the best possible way like a kind of assistant narrative voice. Right on.

[Rory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most interesting? The essay he published way back in early 2004 about Obama. About how he was going to run for president in 2008, and go up against Clinton and Edwards. And run against someone like McCain. And make millions of people feel hope and conflict in their hearts. And triumph but do so only by denying his Blackness and betraying his base. I'm not convinced by that last prophesy, but still, wow.

The other essays...well, they read like magazine profiles. And sometimes magazine profiles--no matter how literate and connective and zippy they are--are just better in context. Something about cologne ads and sidebars and photo spreads and slickness of the paper, I guess.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is (in general) essays and interviews by Toure that explore the Hip-hop generation. Two that were particularly good were I'm Scared To Death But I Gotta Live about the life of Biggie Smalls and an essay The Five Mic Personality, or Why I Hate Mary J. Blige.

I read this on the plane on the way to New Orleans for the ALA conference and would have loved to read this at home where I could have played the music being talked about. The author has a genuine interest in and affection for the hip-hop artist but never completely buys into the hype. There are a few essays that don't fit in with the rest and this weakens the collection but it was a highly enjoyable read.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart, thorough, and often stylistically stunning journalism. There's a voice and a presence in Toure's articles that I think a lot of other pop culture writing lacks. My only criticism is that arranging the book thematically rather than chronologically left some sections, especially near the end, feeling stylistically very uneven because his style was so different in the mid-90s than it was later in his career.

I read it straight through, but this is one of those collections you can read in bits and pieces. Students also respond positively to his work--I've used a few of the Tupac, Biggie, and Eminem pieces with my college freshmen.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection - some really amazing, a few less interesting. I'm amused seeing some of the comments that complain about how these "essays" don't really gel together to form a coherent whole. It is what it is - a collection of mostly interviews, mostly from Rolling Stone, mostly really good. I think you're safe looking at the contents and picking and choosing, though. I read them all but there were easily a handful that I wouldn't have missed.

[Kerrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't love this one. A a book of essays, very little stood out about each essay, and other than the commonality of being blacks in the public eye, I did not see how these essays fit together. The interviews often failed to bring anything new or interesting to light, thereby functioning more as a Wikipedia article rather than journalism. Pretty disappointing read overall.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining music journalism. Toure also interviews a race car driver and tennis star, among others..He asks the questions you want answers to..My favorite - the interview with Prince and taking him on in hoops.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a collection of essays written by Toure, who is one of the few authors that I would love to meet. He is a brilliant, engaging and sarcastic writer, but this is not the way to introduce yourself to him. You need to appreciate his writing style first. Start with Soul City instead.

[Justinia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the introduction to this book is just short of a Hip Hop Manifesto, the contents of book itself reveal no new information to anyone who reads Vibe, The Source, or Rolling Stone. Smells like a vanity project to me, son.

[Demetria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toure is an excellent music journalist and this collection of essays really shows his range, ability and engaging writing style.

[Kudzayi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommendation from a dear friend. We both love music and this was a great insight into the world of music and the entertainers and the things that make em tick.

[dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

insightful, fun, hip.
like hanging out with celebrities and having interesting conversations with them.

[Damika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about Toure at first, but I absolutely loved this collection. The predictions about Obama from 4 years ago? Priceless.

[Azile]

Mostly information on successful. A little disappointing b/c it dwells on tedious info and less on a broader scope.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Random find while looking up books on social capital in the library. I'm bouncing around. Sure I won't finish them all. But it's good for the bus.

[Eleanor Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

He's a great writer. but not being a great rap fan some essays weren't that interesting to me. The author though is very nice to look at

[Rachel Pieters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not finish this book, not because it wasn't interesting (I learned more in the first few pages about the origins of rap and hip hop than in all my 44 years of listening to it.)

It was interesting, but it was kind of like reading a pile of old magazine articles about people you know have grown and changed and had so many more things happen to them since then. I knew the age of the book going in, and the articles reflected those people at that time, which is fine, but it felt a bit like reading old news. The world has changed and so have they.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touré is a game-changing journalist, and this collection, piece-by-piece allows the reader entry into such sanctified, rarified places as a basketball court with Prince, the interior walls of the minds of ?Love, 2Pac, Marsalis, and Biggie Smalls, and a front row seat at the funeral service for Jam Master Jay. A truly brilliant collection of essays.

[drake kirby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was enamored with the hip hip history, but generally less impressed. Occasional bouts of obnoxious mansplaining and half baked arguments really undermined the stronger parts of this book. Alas

[Jai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this guy. He's hip, he's bold and he understands

[NEWMARKJRESEARCH]

Please check display cabinets and shelves.

[Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stories, but Toure often comes off as pretentious in my opinion.