VPL - Celebrating Fifty Years of Hip HopLike this list

21 items

• Bedroom Rapper

  Cadence Weapon on Hip-hop, Resistance and Surviving the Music Industry

  Pemberton, Rollie, 1986-

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  "Bedroom Rapper is a book for obsessive music fans who are looking for the definitive take on what's happened in the last two decades of hip hop, from Cadence Weapon, aka Rollie Pemberton: Pitchfork critic, award-winning musician, producer, DJ, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• We Still Here

  Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel

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  "As the editors and essay contributors of We Still Here: Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel well understand, identity in terms of hip hop in Canada has everything to do with the diaspora of cultures across the nation's provinces and cities ……Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Go Ahead in the Rain

  Notes to A Tribe Called Quest

  Abdurraqib, Hanif, 1983-

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  "Memoir meets cultural criticism in this bittersweet appreciation of hip-hop visionaries A Tribe Called Quest...[even] those who know little about the music will learn much of significance here, perhaps learning how to love it in the process. " --…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Born to Use Mics

  Reading Nas's Illmatic

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  "In Born to Use Mics, Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai have brought together the best and brightest writers of the hip hop generation to confront Illmatic song by song, with each scholar assessing an individual track from the album. The…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bad Fat Black Girl

  Notes From a Trap Feminist

  Bowen, Sesali

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  "This colloquial debut weaves memoir with cultural studies to illuminate genuine stories of surviving and thriving—and necessary lessons in between...[direct], driven, occasionally dirty, and undeniably fresh." -- Kirkus Reviews

• The Book of Jose

  a Memoir

  Fat Joe

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  "The Book of Jose is more than just a book about my career. It explores the darkest moments of my life — brushes with death, being locked up, losing friends, and dealing with depression — that shaped me as a man. I overcame significant adversity,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Breaks in the Air

  the Birth of Rap Radio in New York City

  Klaess, John, 1990-

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  "In Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City (Duke UP, 2022), John Klaess tells the story of rap's emergence on New York City's airwaves by examining how artists and broadcasters adapted hip hop's performance culture to radio." --…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• God Save the Queens

  the Essential History of Women in Hip-hop

  Iandoli, Kathy

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  "Iandoli (Commissary Kitchen) explores the role of women in hip-hop from its inception in the early 1970s up to the present in this insightful music history...[music] lovers will celebrate this much-needed exploration of the overlooked experiences…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Come Up

  An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-hop

  Abrams, Jonathan P. D., 1984-

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  "Firsthand accounts from more than 300 interviewees provide a vivid picture of how the sound of hip-hop changes with the times and regions in Abrams's (All the Pieces Matter) essential oral history of the genre. Each chapter presents a time capsule…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bring That Beat Back

  How Sampling Built Hip-hop

  Patrin, Nate, 1977-

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  "Bring That Beat Back centers on four groundbreaking artists: Grandmaster Flash, Prince Paul, Dr. Dre, and Madlib, but it also gives ample coverage to DJs/producers including Q-Tip, RZA, J Dilla, Marley Marl, the Bomb Squad, 187um, and a laundry…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Motherlode

  100+ Women Who Made Hip-hop

  Hope, Clover

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  "The Motherlode highlights more than 100 women who have shaped the power, scope, and reach of rap music, including pioneers like Roxanne Shanté, game changers like Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, and current reigning queens like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Changes

  An Oral History of Tupac Shakur

  Pearce, Sheldon

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  Pearce "[tracks] down unfamiliar voices, including doctors, journalists and a jury member, to elaborate the broader context of gang warfare, racist policing and moral hysteria around hip-hop." -- The Guardian

• Dilla Time

  the Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm

  Charnas, Dan

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  "The book's heart is its rich, evocative musicological analysis, complete with rhythm diagrams, of Dilla's beats ("The hyperactive kick drum raced ahead of the samba sample, which in turn seemed to be racing ahead of the snare drum--which gave the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• From the Streets of Shaolin

  the Wu-Tang Saga

  Fernando, S. H., Jr

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  "Music journalist Fernando (The New Beats) meticulously recounts the career of legendary hip-hop supergroup Wu-Tang Clan (WTC) in this sprawling biography. He explores the group's origins, starting with the "all-star lineup" of its nine founding…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Breakbeat Poets

  New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-hop

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  "The BreakBeat Poets is not concerned with proving that hip-hop is poetry but rather with documenting the positive impact this musical form has had on poetry. As editor Kevin Coval explains in the introduction, hip-hop has dusted off the cobwebs…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Split Decision

  Life Stories

  Ice-T (Musician)

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  "Two paths diverge to beget staggeringly different tales in this potent dual narrative about the cost of living dangerously. With the help of journalist Century, rapper Ice-T and his former, literal partner-in-crime Spike deliver a propulsive…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• What's Good

  Notes on Rap and Language

  Levin Becker, Daniel

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  "Written in short, savorably dense chapters, What’s Good manages to be many kinds of books at the same time. It’s exhaustive — in its command of rap lyrics, in its ear for modulations in meaning and tone, in its ability to straddle the complexities…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Sweat the Technique

  Revelations on Creativity From the Lyrical Genius

  Rakim (Musician), 1968-

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  "From his first exposure to hip-hop as a boy to being universally recognized as a contender for the greatest MC of all time, Rakim makes his love of rap manifest throughout the book. Whether rapping “from 10 in the morning to midnight, every day,”…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Freedom Moves

  Hip Hop Knowledges, Pedagogies, and Futures

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  "Artists, educators, and activists discuss how hip-hop goes beyond music in this prolific and illuminating book. Conversations with U.S. rappers and international hip-hop artists detail how their music informs audiences about their country's social…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop

  View on the50thanniversaryofhip-hop.com

  Legends Recordings is a group of artists and industry professionals who are determined to uplift and honor all those who made the last 50 years of Hip Hop culture possible.