cover image THE HIP HOP YEARS: A History of Rap

THE HIP HOP YEARS: A History of Rap

Alexander Ogg, THE HIP HOP YEARS: A History of Rap

"Where hip hop once attacked the mainstream, to all intents and purposes, it now is the mainstream.... It has been customised and redefined, not only in the ghettos, but throughout white suburbia and beyond, paying no heed to geographical or linguistic boundaries." Through interviews with more than a hundred MCs, rappers, producers and music writers—some well-known, some obscure—the authors capture the essence of a movement that has lasted for more than 25 years, even longer than the "punk" culture that most rock critics see as the dominant strain of post-Beatles music. Of the many books written about rap music and hip-hop culture, this is the best one-volume introduction to the range, depth and historical trajectory of the music and the artists, from the early days of Afrika Bambaataa's electro-funk Zulu Nation in the Bronx of the 1970s and the early turntable breakthroughs of Grandmaster Flash to the international acclaim given in the 1980s to Run-DMC and Public Enemy (and the derision heaped on popular white artists like Vanilla Ice) and the current obsession with violent gangster images. The latter began in the '80s with Ice-T and N.W.A., and dominated the '90s with high-profile battles between East Coast artists like "Puffy" Combs and Biggie Smalls and West Coast artists like Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. While the authors (journalist Upshal and Ogg, author of Radiohead) tend toward hyperbole, by detailing rap's lasting contribution to global culture they offer a corrective to the way rap is so often covered by the press: as yet another ephemeral phenomenon, like Britney Spears, in an ever-changing music scene. For fans of hip-hop and anyone interested in popular culture, this book is essential. Color photos. (May)