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A Drop of Midnight

by Jason Diakité

Other authors: Mustafa Can (Editor)

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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1043263,034 (4.03)None
World-renowned hip-hop artist Jason "Timbuktu" Diakité's vivid and intimate journey through his own and his family's history--from South Carolina slavery to twenty-first-century Sweden. Born to interracial American parents in Sweden, Jason Diakité grew up between worlds--part Swedish, American, black, white, Cherokee, Slovak, and German, riding a delicate cultural and racial divide. It was a no-man's-land that left him in constant search of self. Even after his hip-hop career took off, Jason fought to unify a complex system of family roots that branched across continents, ethnicities, classes, colors, and eras to find a sense of belonging. In A Drop of Midnight, Jason draws on conversations with his parents, personal experiences, long-lost letters, and pilgrimages to South Carolina and New York to paint a vivid picture of race, discrimination, family, and ambition. His ancestors' origins as slaves in the antebellum South, his parents' struggles as an interracial couple, and his own world-expanding connection to hip-hop helped him fashion a strong black identity in Sweden. What unfolds in Jason's remarkable voyage of discovery is a complex and unflinching look at not only his own history but also that of generations affected by the trauma of the African diaspora, then and now.… (more)
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This was absolutely one of those books that you find yourself reading by happenstance—I had never heard of the Swedish rapper and hip-hop artist Jason Diakité before picking up A Drop of Midnight, although he is apparently quite successful. Here he writes about what it was like growing up as the son of a Black American man and a white American woman in Sweden during the 70s/80s. Diakité's experiences with growing up biracial in a very ethnically homogeneous country and his discovery of rap are intertwined with reflections on his fraught relationship with his father and memories of the trip he took to the American Deep South to find out something about the experiences of his enslaved ancestors.

I found this an interesting and thoughtful read, and respected how much Diakité was clearly working to grapple with the complexities of his family's past. (And wow, it is complex and full of trauma. For instance, in the 1950s, his grandmother sent her children, including Diakité's father, from New York City to Nigeria to be raised in what she saw as a more uplifting and Afrocentric environment—by themselves.) However, it's a little disjointed and repetitive, and I felt that Diakité rarely settled into enough of a groove to let him go deep on a topic. Still, an engaging read from an unusual perspective. ( )
  siriaeve | Feb 17, 2022 |
Jason Diakite is a Swedish rapper, hip-hop artist. He was born in Sweden to an American white mother and an American Black father. In A Drop of Midnight he tells the story of his family. Beginning with his father’s early life in South Carolina and moves to Harlem, Army service in Korea and then to Sweden. The author made several trips to the US South to explore and document his family history. While Jason was conflicted by his mixed ancestry as a child he sees it differently now. Rather than seeing himself as divided by his African and European/American parts he is multiplied by wholes. Jason Diakite performs with the stage name of Timbuktu. He has won the Swedish Grammy award eight times. My fault that I hadn’t heard of him before I read this book. I will look for Timbuktu on Pandora. ( )
  MMc009 | Jan 30, 2022 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Jason Diakitéprimary authorall editionscalculated
Can, MustafaEditorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Willson-Broyles, RachelTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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World-renowned hip-hop artist Jason "Timbuktu" Diakité's vivid and intimate journey through his own and his family's history--from South Carolina slavery to twenty-first-century Sweden. Born to interracial American parents in Sweden, Jason Diakité grew up between worlds--part Swedish, American, black, white, Cherokee, Slovak, and German, riding a delicate cultural and racial divide. It was a no-man's-land that left him in constant search of self. Even after his hip-hop career took off, Jason fought to unify a complex system of family roots that branched across continents, ethnicities, classes, colors, and eras to find a sense of belonging. In A Drop of Midnight, Jason draws on conversations with his parents, personal experiences, long-lost letters, and pilgrimages to South Carolina and New York to paint a vivid picture of race, discrimination, family, and ambition. His ancestors' origins as slaves in the antebellum South, his parents' struggles as an interracial couple, and his own world-expanding connection to hip-hop helped him fashion a strong black identity in Sweden. What unfolds in Jason's remarkable voyage of discovery is a complex and unflinching look at not only his own history but also that of generations affected by the trauma of the African diaspora, then and now.

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