While it's readily apparent that hip-hop has gone light years beyond it's humble beginnings ("Big Bank" Hank from the Sugar Hill Gang worked in a pizzeria and auditioned during one of his 15 minute breaks in the back seat of Joe and Sylvia Robinson's car), at times it seems striking that I can actually recall a time when there was NO hip hop at all...that's trippy, yo. Bearing the genres appropriation into the mainstream, it's not all good...but it ain't all bad 'niether -- there's just so much of it now you don't find the good shite 'til like a year after it's dropped, unless you've got a grip of people also on the search (big ups Moggers), work at a radio station/ label (but even then, who's got the time to separate all of that chaff?)...
Having said all of that, I'd like to admit to the fact that sometimes rap Old schoolers seem to always want to scream on younger heads for 'not being there' at the beginning, just like in certain jazz circles (Stanley Crouch, who can be caught player hating on those Ken Burns Jazz documentaries, comes to mind). I say that's a pile of rubbish, we're not here to selfishly stuff everything we learn into our mental mattresses, we're supposed to pass it on, if I may quote the original Wailers (Peter, Bunny & Bob)...I've got a shite load of music books I've used over the years but only a few that really cut to the quick in their respective genres...one that's on my bookshelf is a joint called Bring The Noise :A Guide to Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture (pub. 1991) by Havelock Nelson and Michael A. Gonzalez it's a fine, fine read and not only do the authors know their shite, it's written with an authority and tone that any music head would slide right into, so check it if you have the time, I think it's out of print (I found my copy in a used book store over on Melrose and La Brea) but there's cheap copies to be found out there...Too, B-boy bookworms might also want to check out this phat ass Hip Hop Bibliography I found at Cornell U...
In the words of Spike Lee's fictional hip-hopper Mars Blackmon: "Peace, two fingers!"
-cP
My Trusted MOGs
How does that book compare to Can't Stop Won't Stop, in terms of covering that time period?
My Trusted MOGs
Can't Stop, won't Stop dives deep too, if I'm not confusing what I read by Jeff Chang with Faria Chideya's stuff... Farai Chideya's stuff really gripped me in BTN was the authors' proximity to the subject matter (timewise and geographically b/c I know that Havelock was an NYC scenester/ writer); Chang, on the other hand cut straight the chase and brought e: up to today...it's a toss up now that I think about it...I gotta re-read it...
My Trusted MOGs
_Can't stop, Won't Stop_ really opened hip-hop for me in a brand new way. I was never deep into the music, but I'm old enough to remember when it was still new. Being so young at the time, I just accepted it as something that was always there and always would be, but wasn't concious at the time of just what ramifications hip-hop would have on American culture. That book helped frame what I knew from the time into a cultural and artistic context. I highly recommend that book...
My Trusted MOGs
WORD