Tanz, Jason 1974(?)-

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Tanz, Jason 1974(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1974, in Tacoma, WA; married; wife's name Denise. Education: Brown University, graduated.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Brooklyn, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

During early career, worked for Fortune and SmartMoney; currently senior editor, FSB: Fortune Small Business.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Mike Wallace Fellowship for Investigative Reporting, University of Michigan, 2004.

WRITINGS:

Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America, Bloomsbury USA (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to New York Times, Spin, New York Daily News, and TV Guide.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jason Tanz might seem the most unlikely of hip-hop fanatics: an Ivy-League-educated white Jewish boy raised in a suburb of Tacoma, Washington. It is precisely for that reason he became fascinated with how hip-hop and other aspects of African American culture have been appropriated by white youth. A year-long residency with the University of Michigan Knight-Wallace Fellows gave Tanz the opportunity to further explore the subject; from his time at Michigan came his first book, Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America. As part of his research, Tanz traveled across the United States, visiting a hip-hop radio station that caters to a white audience, a convention of would-be "geek" rappers, and a break-dancing class frequented by rich white kids, among other stops.

In an interview with Seattle Weekly contributor Karla Starr, Tanz remarked on his inspiration: "Like a lot of people, I loved hip-hop, but I'm not ‘hip-hop,’ as that term is often used. I partake of it from a distance. And I was interested in talking about that distance." He added: "I intended to implicate every reader with this book—myself most of all." Washington Post Book World contributor Adam Bradley commented: "Hip-hop's transformative capacity is the book's most powerful theme, particularly when Tanz turns to his own experience as a white hip-hop fan." A Publishers Weekly reviewer described Tanz as "an apt chronicler of the racial and cultural obstacles that stand between the producers and consumers of rap." Felicia Pride, writing for CityPaper, noted: "Part reportage, part memoir, and part critical analysis, Tanz presents an honest look at the relationship between white people and hip-hop." Pride concluded that "the informed, yet engaging voice with which he presents his evidence is enjoyable."