Hip Hop Hits

Books about hip hop and by hip hop artists.
Updated September 19, 2022
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Mo' meta blues : the world according to Questlove
Questlove (Musician)
Paper Book
"You have to bear in mind that [Questlove] is one of the smartest motherf*****s on the planet. His musical knowledge, for all practical purposes, is limitless." --Robert Christgau A punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone's Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of...
The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop--and Why It Matters
Tricia Rose
Paper Book
Hip-hop is in crisis. For the past dozen years, the most commercially successful hip-hop has become increasingly saturated with caricatures of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and 'hos. The controversy surrounding hip-hop is worth attending to and examining with a critical eye because, as scholar and...
Go ahead in the rain : notes to A Tribe Called Quest
Abdurraqib, Hanif
Paper Book
A New York Times Best Seller 2019 National Book Award Longlist, Nonfiction 2019 Kirkus Book Prize Finalist, Nonfiction A February IndieNext Pick Named A Most Anticipated Book of 2019 by Buzzfeed, Nylon,...
Decoded
Jay-Z
Paper Book
Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time. Praise for Decoded "Compelling . ....
Can't stop won't stop : a hip-hop history
Chang, Jeff
Paper Book
The American Book Award winner, now completely adapted for a young adult audience! From award-winning author Jeff Chang, Can't Stop Won't Stop is the story of hip-hop, a generation-defining movement and the music that transformed American politics and culture forever....
Beastie Boys book
Mike D
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book as unique as the band itself--by band members ADROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more. The...
The big payback : the history of the business of hip-hop
Charnas, Dan.
Digital file
An original journalist for The Source, Dan Charnas built a celebrated career in the rap industry. In The Big Payback, he chronicles the rise of the hip-hop culture and shows how it became so powerful in a matter of decades. Charnas also profiles many of the movers and shakers in this burgeoning...
Check the technique : liner notes for hip-hop junkies
Coleman, Brian
Paper Book
A Tribe Called Quest . Beastie Boys . De La Soul . Eric B. & Rakim . The Fugees . KRS-One . Pete Rock & CL Smooth . Public Enemy . The Roots . Run-DMC . Wu-Tang Clan . and twenty-five more hip-hop immortals It's a sad fact- hip-hop album liners have always been reduced to a list of...
Contact high : a visual history of hip-hop
Tobak, Vikki
Paper Book
ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST ART & PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS 0F 2018 AN NPR AND PITCHFORK BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2018 PICK ONE OF TIME'S 25 BEST PHOTOBOOKS OF 2018 NEW YORK TIMES, ASSOCIATED PRESS,WALLSTREET JOURNAL, ROLLING STONE,AND...
How to rap : the art and science of the hip-hop MC
Edwards, Paul
Ebook
Examining the dynamics of hip-hop from every region and in every form--mainstream and underground, current and classic--this compelling how-to discusses everything from content and flow to rhythm and delivery in relation to the art and craft of rap. Compiled from the most extensive research on...
Original gangstas : the untold story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the birth of West Coast rap
Westhoff, Ben
Paper Book
"Raw, authoritative, and unflinching ... An elaborately detailed, darkly surprising, definitive history of the LA gangsta rap era." -- Kirkus, starred review A monumental, revealing narrative history about the legendary group of artists at the forefront of West Coast...
The rap year book : the most important rap song from every year since 1979, discussed, debated, and deconstructed
Serrano, Shea
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller - Washington Post Bestseller - Pitchfork Book Club selectionThe Rap Year Book takes readers on a journey that begins in 1979, widely regarded as the moment rap became recognized as part of the cultural and musical landscape, and comes right up to the present. Shea Serrano...
When chickenheads come home to roost : my life as a hip-hop feminist
Morgan, Joan.
Paper Book
In this fresh, funky, and irreverent book, a new voice of the post-Civil Rights, post-feminist, post-soul generation has emerged in Joan Morgan: a groundbreaking and unflinching author who probes the complex issues facing African-American women today. "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost" is a...
Yes yes y'all : the Experience Music Project oral history of hip-hop's first decade
Fricke, Jim.
Paper Book
That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader
Murray Forman
Paper Book
That's the Joint: The Hip-HopĀ Studies ReaderĀ brings together the best-known and most influential writings on rap and hip-hop from its beginnings to today. Spanning nearly 25 years of scholarship, criticism, and journalism, this unprecedented anthology showcases the evolution and...
The Tao of Wu
RZA (Rapper)
Paper Book
The RZA, the Abbot of the Wu-Tang Clan and hip-hop culture's most dynamic genius, imparts the lessons he learned on the journey that took him from the Staten Island projects to international superstardom, all the while a devout student of knowledge in every form he's found it - on the streets, in...

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