hip hop literature recommendations
alieNDN
2,181 Posts
so what books would y'all say is an accurate depiction of the history/progression of hip hop/rap whatever? i was browsing in chapters and saw "Can???t Stop Won???t Stop", and i think i will pick that up...any ones that u can reccomend that have been intelligently, and not like the book version of ken burns jazz series?no sucking up intended, but this board is one of my greatest education tools in the world of music period(i.e. not just hip hop). even some of those blogs out there, ie coc bluntz and bring my gatt etc, i wish those things were in book form, they are written very intelligent and not just about the typical things u always hear about....one thing i noticed about so called hip hop books i've read so far, none have mentioned stuff like albums by saafir, doc, diamond d,above the law etc, meanwhile i found out about them because they're talked about in these forums continuously and have wondered why haven't they been talked about in book form?cmon, there's phucking courses dedicated to hip hop, dont they have text books out for the general pop? does there have to be a book based soley on 1994 for that sheit to happen? i mean its pathetic, how there are a phucking billion rock documentary style type books and will dedicate multiple pages to artists that dropped one or two albums (sex pistols cough cough), and books on sub genres of rock etc...i guess it has to do with impact, and hip hop is more temporary in nature, but still, its like when u watch little kids get into rock, a lot of times they will start digging backwards till they eventually check out the stones and black sabbath, but with hip hop, artists/pioneers aren't revered as gods...like you see kids wearing zepplin shirts all the time, why can't people be wearing prince paul shirts...phuck it, im crunk/ranting now.anyhow, i guess im looking for something that would talk about stuff more in depth than just public enemy, kool mo dee, rock steady crew and run dmc. maybe you guys need to write a book, i dont know, archive some posts and print that sheit out....heads up to raj on a potential business opportunity. y'all ever drink godfathers? its 1/2 ounce amaretto and 1/2 ounce scotch. kills the brain to another state, you can type properly without typos. its a good punch cause its two liquors and you feel like its only one cause the amaretto sweetens it. peace.
Comments
yes yes y'all
It's an oral type dealy. Spoken by the heads that were there.
For graf history check.
getting up
It is a sociology book. The interview with Lee is...
To quote Zen (aka Jeff Chang 'Can Stop Won't Stop'): In recent years, there has been a flood of hip-hop scholarship???some great, some not so great. For me, there are two foundational texts???Steven Hager's Hip-Hop[/b] and David Toop's Rap Attack[/b]
(Wax Poetics) Andre Torres: Steven Hager has been on the forefront of documenting the counterculture for over three decades, and for those who have been intimately involved in the culture, his work stands as some of the earliest and best of our time. His book on hip hop remains a staple to any hip hop archivist today.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0860914453/domingoyu-20/104-6186752-1258305
i think it's the type of book you're asking about in that it doesn't specifically work within the rigid canon of classic or old school (more often or not: I>new york/I>) hip hop that a lot of these other books do (not that there's anything wrong with that approach either - i love I>Can't Stop/I>, I>Rap Attack/I> and their ilk as well). It covers the big names of LA - cube, eazy, quik, king tee, but also some lesser established fringe/cult artists (the good life is repped HARD, word to archaic)
I would love to read more books of this nature, but sadly I don't think there's too many (other) people foaming at the mouth to read toddy tee interviews.
although it's way out of print, you can probably find one at a good library or pull one off of ebay/half if you're patient.
Not a history, but it contains some interesting Chicago hip-hop history, oral histories, and a few controversial The Source articles are anthologized here.
The Freddy Fresh discography is a useful supplement to any reading on the history of hip-hop.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0791426262/103-8363806-0747025?v=glance
Probably a bit heavier than the average hip-hop book, and certainly one for cultural criticism students and such.
Besides that pretty much cosigns on everything:
Yes yes ya'll
Getting up
Taking the Train
Faith of Graffiti
Last night a dj saved my life
Classic Material
Book of Raplists
Hip Hop Files
Some of them are more photo orientated books.
Dress
Check this shit out...........
Very important to the game.......................
This book has a lot of insight on 60's to 80's sneaker fashion.
I'm very curious to know if anybody here has checked out this book and what the opinions are (I actually have been meaning to start a thread on this but never made it a priority, probably because I doubt that many people here have read or care about a book by Kool Mo Dee).
Foxy Brown and Lil Kim in the top 50............
I agree w/ Melle Mel being #1
Agreed. And stuff like Queen Latifah at #12 all time... I think he just wanted to have female representation near the top of the list, which is commendable, but some of the selections just make it hard to take his list seriously. Although it is the 50 greatest, not neccessarily the 50 best, I guess. At least he does break it down by categories and gives detailed analysis on each rapper and why he rates them where he does, which is more than most of these greatest rapper lists can say. And it's Kool Mo Dee giving this analysis, so you know (or should know) that this somebody who has the credibility to talk about what makes a great emcee.
But getting back to taking the book seriously, how serious can you ultimately take it when the author is putting himself at #5 on the list??? Not that I have a problem with Kool Mo Dee being at #5- unlike a lot of younger dudes, I remember the era pre-Rakim when Mo was pretty much unfukwitable and I understand what an influence he was on all the great rappers that came after him and ended up surpassing him. But still, it's kinda impossible for this to be an objective piece of work. Mo does well to rate LL Cool J at #7 considering that they were mortal enemies back in the late 80's, but he still can't resist taking a lot of jabs at L while giving him his props. The shit is funny, though.
I can't be mad at that choice either. Clearly, Mel's style of rhyming hasn't held up well over the years, but still- this dude basically invented rap as we know it today!!! Put that together with the fact that he did have huge hits and sold millions of records in his era and, as I say all the time, in my opinion there should be huge statues erected in dude's honor. The only reason that Mel isn't more revered today is that his success came before the video era... it seems that any hip hop that came before MTV started showing it doesn't really count to the world at large.
A good stylist (or maybe no stylist at all) probably would've helped those old school dudes to be more beloved by the public, too.
No doubt..............He did lace his opinions of Uncle L w/ some subliminals.
I think those small things make this book a good read.........personal accounts.
It's not so clinical and sterile. I really feels like its from inside the culture.
Word........I remember thinkin' to myself back then " They're on some othershit!!"
Some cats around the way would dress extra flam, but kids werent tryin' to copy that style to much.
real dope comprehensive anthology of essays and literature
also, a book that tries to span 25yrs of hiphop journalism, here
but the latter of course will revolve on the more popular stories of renown artists, still a good read
I duno what to say for the more obscure artists docs of what you're lookin for, you might be better off tryna find out whats up with more regional publications, or back to blog checkin.
and as for your rant on the millions of rock docs, word. I'm pretty sure in some circles hiphop still not music LOL. tons of lit on hiphop out there you just gotta keep your eyes open. peace
"death of R&B" and his hip hop one (name? fuck, I'm so braindead this morning)
co-sign on bomb the suburbs, that book is the ish
it was assighned in college in a black pop culture class
I thought it was gonna suck, but was good.
it reminds me of a short version of and "ya don't stop", in a similar style
cosign "hip hop america," "book of rap lists," "bomb the suburbs" and, more importantly, "no more prisons."
those last two aren't really that hip-hop related as much as they fall in the vague sphere of hip-hop culture, but they're great books and upski is an amazing dude.
Ugggh... this is exactly the type of book that sometimes makes me think the world would be better off without any "hip-hop scholarship" at all.
Great book.
I don't really care what Kool Mo Dee (or anybody else) has to say about Mack 10, but when he speaks on guys like Spoonie G, Melle Mel, Caz and other contemporaries of his, that schitt is priceless.