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Title: Hip Hop America by Nelson George ISBN: 0-14-028022-7 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (25 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Needs more insight
Comment: I received this book as a Christmas gift and wasn't dissapointed at all. I wish that Mr. Nelson would have been more in depth in his book because I was still a child when hip hop blossomed and lived in upstate New York so I have no firsthand knowledge of what hip hop was like back in the day. All I knew was what MTV allowed me to see on Yo! MTV Raps. So for the people who were not old enough to go to Run DMC,LL or other pioneers' concerts and who didn't live in the South Bronx a more in depth look at hip hop's beginning is needed. Also a lot of the musical industry terminology and speak should've been elaborated for those of us who are not in the music industry. Despite these shortcomings the book was still a decent read. The quality of the book will force me to read a more in depth book about hip hop to fill in the blanks. Overall this is a good book and anyone who claims they are interested in hip hop should read it. To the reader who says that if you don't play your old records or are a trendy fan you shouldn't read that who are you to judge anyone's musical taste and loyalty to hip hop? I believe the trendy fans album sales count also. Peace
Rating: 4
Summary: Thorough, exciting and involving.
Comment: I am one of those people who claim to be a hip hop fan, but being only 22 years of age, and British, I can hardly say that I was around 'back in the day'. I felt that I owed it to myself to do some research into the subject so I was extremely happy to come across this book. Nelson George had interested me since I saw him on a Channel 4 hip hop documentary. After reading the book I'm still not a font of all rap knowledge, but I am onsiderably more learned in one of my favourite styles of music. It is obvious that Nelson loves hip hop more than anything else. The book is written with power and insight, as well as emotion. This emotion can sometimes blur the facts, but this is bound to happen in a book written by someone who is so close to their subject matter. The only real criticism I could level at the book is that it tails off a bit at the end, it doesn't really end with a bang. Then again, there is no real end to the story seeing as how rap is still thriving and reinventing itself. Maybe it's best to see this book as an extract, plucked from the movement at particular moments in time. And, looked at in this way, this book is a wortrhwhile read for anyone remotely interested in hip hop music. It is an absolutely essential purchase for people out there who believe that rap music begins and ends with Eminem and Tupac.
Rating: 4
Summary: Especially good on the early days of hip hop
Comment: I read this book for an African-American Studies class at UNC. At first I did not like it at all. I did not connect with George's choice of language, which seemed outdated and out of touch with current hip hop lingo.
But as I got into the book, I realized that this outdated language was not George's fault. After all, as George himself points out in a section about hip hop movies, trends and lingo in hip hop change too quickly for anyone to keep up without a very detailed scorecard. So if you can get past him using somewhat outdated language, this is a great book.
George manages to discuss a wide array of topics, from graffiti to break dancing to production and distribution of records to hip hop themed movies to hip hop lingo to the proliferation of hip hop around the world. Despite the very diverse topics, George manages to tie everything to a common theme, the impact of hip hop on American culture.
If I had to pick one aspect of the book that was especially good, I would have to choose his discussion of the roots of hip hop and its early days. As a native of New York during hip hop's formative years, George is very well informed on the topic and indeed was a witness to many key events in the early days of hip hop. He also has connections with many key figures, throughout the time period covered in the book, and he is able to recall these connections to tell unique stories you cannot find anywhere else.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of hip hop. It is a quick, enjoyable, and informative read.
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Title: The Vibe History of Hip Hop by Vibe Magazine ISBN: 0609805037 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 26 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture by Bakari Kitwana ISBN: 0465029795 Publisher: BasicCivitas Books Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture) by Tricia Rose ISBN: 0819562750 Publisher: Wesleyan Univ Pr Pub. Date: 15 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop's First Decade by Jim Fricke, Charlie Ahearn, Experience Music Project, Nelson George ISBN: 030681224X Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Droppin' Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (Critical Perspectives on the Past) by William Eric Perkins ISBN: 1566393620 Publisher: Temple Univ Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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