Hip Hop & Hymns by Mawunyo Gbogbo is the memoir of a gutsy African Australian woman, who loved
hard and fought to build a successful career with the help of family, faith and an incomparable playlist!
Mawunyo tells of how she grew up in Muswellbrook, a mining town in NSW, where her parents had
settled as immigrants from Ghana. She and her siblings attended the local schools and church. The
latter became, not only a source of faith, but also the joy of celebration of that faith through music/hymns.
At high school, the course of her adult life is shaped by the discovery of hip-hop music and the sexual
magnetism of the High School bad boy, Tyce Carrington.
Through her natural intelligence and hard work, she is given the opportunity to further her media career
by attending the State University of New York at Oswego. From there she is thrilled to be offered a
position as an intern at The Source magazine in Manhattan. The Source is the go-to regarding Hip Hop
and Mawunyo is overjoyed to accept. Her Father has also arranged for her to stay with relatives in the
Bronx.
Unfortunately, her life then gradually begins to fall apart……………..
Mawunyo shares the story of how, as a person of colour, she battles to overcome prejudice and mental
health conditions to become a notable journalist and producer. She also faces the realities of a toxic
relationship and the need to escape. Throughout this journey, however, she is fortified by her love of Hip
Hop, her religious beliefs and the hymns that bring her so much comfort.
Hip Hop & Hymns is an often confronting, but absolutely inspiring read.
ISBN: 9781761042065
Hip Hop & Hymns is available in paperback, e-book and audiobook.
About Mawunyo Gbogbo
Mawunyo Gbogbo is a music and pop culture reporter for Double J and ABC News, and the author of
Hip Hop & Hymns. She has worked as a journalist for ABC NewsRadio; a features reporter and producer
for ABC Radio Sydney; a segment producer for the Today Show on the Nine Network; and an associate
producer for Insight on SBS TV, where she won a UN Media Peace Award. Mawunyo was born in
Ghana, raised in Muswellbrook in the NSW Hunter Valley, and now calls Sydney home. @penguinbooksaus @mawunyogbogbo
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