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Acknowledgments My father, Rick Sciullo, is the greatest inspiration for anything I do. I thank him and my Italian ancestors, including, of course, Angelo and Jeanette Sci- ullo, for making me the thinker that I am and engaging me in my earliest years in rigorous thought, although often only about the virtues of the Pitts- burgh Penguins’ first line and chipped ham sandwiches. I received support from more people than I could ever possibly list. Thanks are due in large part to those who have worked on hip-hop and the law over the years: andré douglas pond cummings, Dr. Donald F. Tibbs, and the late great Pam Bridge- water. Other scholars have always pushed me to be better and supported my work across disciplines: Dr. Joe Bellon, Dr. Michael Lane Bruner, Dr. David Cheshier, Dr. Michael K. Davis, Dr. Patricia Davis, Atiba Ellis, Dr. Kevin Kuswa, Dr. Ronald W. Greene, Dr. Alessandra Raengo, and Caprice Roberts. It’s not just the professors I’ve had and colleagues I’ve worked with who are due thanks but also all the people who have helped me along the way to bet- ter understand and appreciate music. All are intellectual forebearers to this project. Various scholarly institutions and communities have also been help- ful: the Mid-Atlantic People of Color Conference, the West Virginia Univer- sity College of Law, the Robert W. Woodruff Library at the Atlanta University Center, and the Osnabrück Summer Institute on the Cultural Study of Law. I have talked about hip-hop in the United States, England, and Germany. All the folks who have come to those talks or been involved in the various semi- nars have been helpful. Thanks also to friends from various places: Sara Baugh, Jeremy Broft, Harry Montoro, Luke Floyd, Robin Benson, and Amy Probasco. Thanks especially to Erin Hodgson, who has been a tremendous ally and all-around delight. She is a true friend, a champion of equality and critical thought, and someone I love genuinely. Caitlyn Moody and Meghan Roman wanted to be acknowledged for their role in making this book, and now their hilarity, friendship, and dogged determination to be awesome is so immortalized. Everyone mentioned here is great in their own right.