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Tavis: If being a writer were just this easy. In just her first try, author Erica Kennedy has received critical acclaim for her novel, which takes an inside look at the hip-hop industry. The book is called 'Bling.' There you see the cover of 'Bling.' It's blingin', too, on the cover of your screen. Erica Kennedy, nice to see you.

Erica Kennedy: Nice to see you.

Tavis: Nice to have you on. So, that shot was very nice because you could see the real bling on the cover of the book. What, uh-- For those who don't know what the word 'bling' is all about, since we are on PBS, as opposed to Black Entertainment Television, you might want to explain it.

Kennedy: Right. Well, bling's a term that was popularized in a song called 'Bling Bling.' Originally it just meant ice, jewelry, diamonds, but then it came to mean a flashy lifestyle, the kind of lifestyle that hip-hop stars love. Big cars, rims--

Tavis: Why a book--why a novel about bling?

Kennedy: I just think the hip-hop world is a fascinating world. You know, I'm sort of an insider in that world, and I'm taking you really behind the scenes to know, like, what goes on at those parties, what goes on at the record label, and I think people are fascinated by it. I'm fascinated by the hip-hop world.

Tavis: Tell me about some of the characters.

Kennedy: Um, the premise of the book is that there's a hip-hop mogul named Lamont Jackson, and he discovers a small-town singer named Mimi Jean. She's half-Haitian, and he wants to turn her into a big cross-over superstar like a Beyoncé. And she's an outsider to the world of hip-hop, and she gets signed to the label. She moves to New York, and she's in with everything that's bling, and she, uh--you know, she's like Dorothy in the land of Oz. Her eyes are wide open, and she can't believe the lifestyle and the extravagance, and, you know, she has to roll with the punches.

Tavis: I asked you to tell me about some of the characters, because what I've been reading is that there are a lot of names being bandied about--as you've been getting critical acclaim--about who some of these characters may be loosely based on. You have said you didn't base your book on any particular person, but I've heard rumors that the record industry executive may be based a little bit on L.A.--L.A. Reid. I've heard that the singer, who happens to be multiracial, might be based a little bit on someone like a Mariah Carey. Naomi Campbell had to put out a statement because there are rumors that you have a supermodel in here who's over the hill and temperamental that mirrors Naomi Campbell, and to all that criticism you say what?

Kennedy: And you know, and somebody said there's a wild child in the book, a rich girl who's out at all the parties with the rappers, and somebody said it's based on Nicole Richie. And all of those people you just named, I have never met. So, I mean, there you have it. It's based on my imagination. It is inspired by real people that I know in the hip-hop world. I've known Russell Simmons since I was 18 years old. I'm actually the godmother to his daughter Ming Lee. So I've been around that world in my own personal life. I've also covered it in my professional life as a journalist writing for Vibe, doing celebrity profiles. And I take all that information that I know. It's not based on one specific person but, being around people like Russell and Andre Harrell, I know how the mogul would talk and how he would joke around and how he would dress and what kind of car he's driving or being driven in. So that's how you do it. But the fun part of being a fiction writer--I mean, I was a journalist for 5 years, and I wanted to write fiction because the fun part is making it all up.

Tavis: If I were being critical or playing devil's advocate, which I was doing just now, I could ask you what the fascination is--why there is a fascination with a culture like hip-hop and the whole notion of bling. 'Cause all we're really talking about here is a bunch of folk--more often than not--flossin'--that is to say, trying to act like they got stuff they really don't have. Driving cars that they rented, wearing jewelry that ain't paid for, living in houses they about to be evicted out of somewhere down the road because they borrowed so much money against what the record--they think--is going to sell. The record doesn't sell, and if it does sell, they still owe the record company for the rest of their lives anyway. So this whole notion of bling is a bunch of put-on that we see, we call flossing in the hip-hop culture. Why dedicate good PBS television time--tell me why you're here. Why'd I let you on my show? Why should we be fascinated by a culture that represents in that way?

Kennedy: I mean, I think hip-hop is a powerful culture. 80 percent of the people who buy hip-hop records are non-black. If you watch 'TRL,' you know, all those kids on there--

Tavis: You gotta explain that. You're on PBS.

Kennedy: OK. We watch MTV...'TRL,' their highest-rated show. You know, those are kids--you have white, suburban kids who are trying to emulate this culture. And I think people, parents, want to know why.

Tavis: So tell 'em why. Why is almost 80 percent of hip-hop music purchased by white kids in the 'burbs? Why are white kids fascinated with it?

Kennedy: Because I think hip-hop equals rebellion, and that's what every teenager wants to do, is rebel. And I think that--

Tavis: So is rock 'n' roll. Why not buy rock 'n' roll records?

Kennedy: Right. And this is no different. I think parents want to know why their kids are up in their room listening to Eminem. It's the same thing as the parent who's like, 'Don't watch Elvis on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show' because I don't like the way he swivels his hips.' It's just like a different generation. And I think that's why kids love it--because their parents don't like it but also because their parents don't understand it. Parents don't even understand what they're saying, most of those hip-hop songs. And it's like a thing that kids can have to themselves.

Tavis: To what extent is bling to blame for the way that hip-hop has lost its way--if you believe it has. There's a lot of folk who sat in that chair, folk in the hip-hop industry, who complained and cast aspersion on the industry because it's really gotten away. The music in particular has gotten away from what it started out as, and that is a--our friend Chuck D once called hip-hop, as you know, the CNN for black America. The CNN for these young people. It's gotten away from that, so much of the lyrics, so much of what they talk about is really not about anything socially redemptive. So to what extent is bling to blame for hip-hop not being what it started out as?

Kennedy: Well, I think that has to do with economics, you know, because 20 years ago, hip-hop music wasn't a subculture, it was an underground thing. But now it's like a billion-dollar industry. You know, it's run by corporate entities and labels and they want things to sell. And that's what's selling, you know, is the rapper with the diamond earrings and the car and the Bentley and the girls in the bikini and the Cristal in the videos. So people just keep doing that, they keep copying it because people want to make money from it, and it's like a money-making venture now.

But all hip-hop is not like that. And that's why the book also... Because I'm fascinated by hip-hop music, but at the same time I think a lot of it is absurd. The whole notion of bling is absurd. And part of the reason I wrote this book is because I was a free-lance journalist sitting at home, you know, writing, and I would have MTV on in the background and I see these videos, and sometimes they don't look any different from a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch. And so that's the kind of thing I'm satirizing in the book, you know, because to me sometimes it's just foolish.

Tavis: Let me flip it, then. So what's right about hip-hop? What makes sense about the bling?

Kennedy: To me the most positive thing to come out of the hip-hop culture is the example of entrepreneurship. You know, somebody like P. Diddy has made hard work cool for a kid. You know what I mean? He's not just somebody who's standing at a microphone rapping. He's somebody who's running businesses. You know, Sean John 5 years ago--I used to work at Tommy Hilfiger in P.R., and Sean used to come up and ask Tommy all these questions about the fashion industry, and I think Tommy thought he was just making conversation. You know what I mean? 6 years later, he's a competitor!

Tavis: He was plotting a plan.

Kennedy: Yeah! He didn't realize that, you know? And to me, that's the beauty of the hip-hop world. These are guys--they're all Horatio Alger stories. They're people who came from nothing, you know, and 5-10 years later, they're running these huge companies and, you know, that's a great example. That's a positive example, not just to black kids, but to all kids.

Tavis: It is a positive example for the few people that get a chance to do that. P. Diddy is still in the minority of folk in the hip-hop industry who've made money and become entrepreneurs. Most of the folk making money in this business, to your earlier point, ain't folk who look like you and me.

Kennedy: They aren't, but I think it's an example for him. I mean, I think if you asked a young black kid 10 years ago, 'What's your fantasy? Who would you like to be?' He would've said Michael Jordan. The chances of him being in the NBA are one in a billion. But the chances of him maybe running--having his own business, like P. Diddy-- he's not going to be on the Forbes/Fortune 500 list, but he could start his own company, he could be in the entertainment world, he could do something. He could be an entrepreneur because he sees these other people who are young guys who look like him and dress like him and talk like him doing it for themselves.

Tavis: Not that a novel has to be socially redemptive to the point that I raised earlier, but if there is a message in here, what's the message?

Kennedy: I think there is a message in there for women, because actually the other part of the book is that it's about a young girl who gets into the industry. And most--I've heard this story many times when I've interviewed people: Women who get into the music industry, you know, there's a man who's telling them what you should look like and how you should be. And the young girl in the story, Mimi, who gets into the industry, she sort of has to find her own voice, you know. She does at the end of the book.

Tavis: All right. Power to the sisters.

Kennedy: Ha ha ha!

Tavis: The book is her first novel. Critical acclaim. Being made into a movie as we speak. They're writing the movie--writing the screenplay, I guess.

Kennedy: Right.

Tavis: 'Bling' is the new book by Erica Kennedy. Erica, nice to see you.

Kennedy: Thank you.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. As always, you can catch me on the radio on NPR. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, thanks for watching. Good night from Los Angeles. Keep the faith.