Saturday, October 17, 2015

Books on Hip Hop


A while back, I created a list chronological list of books on hip hop over on Rap Genius. I decided to place the list here on Cultural Front as well. Folks into hip hop will quickly recognize that this list is not exhaustive. However, I mainly wanted to give a sense of the continuity of books about the art form and culture. You can check an annotated version of the list here.


• 1984: Hip Hop By Steven Hager
• 1984: The Rap Attack: African Jive to New York Hip Hop By David Toop
• 1985: Fresh: Hip Hop Don’t Stop By Nelson George, Sally Banes, Susan Funker, Patty Romanowski
• 1987: Tougher Than Leather By Bill Adler
• 1990: Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present By Mark Costello, David Foster Wallace
• 1991: Nation Conscious Rap: The Hip Hop Vision Edited by Joseph D. Eure and James G. Spady
• 1991: Rap!: Portraits and Lyrics of a Generation of Black Rockers By Bill Adler
• 1991: Bring The Noise: A Guide to Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture By Havelock Nelson and Michael A. Gonzales
• 1992: Fresh Fly Flavor By Fab 5 Freddy
• 1992: As Nasty As They Wanna Be By Luther Campbell and John R. Miller
• 1992: Rap music in the 1980s By Judy McCoy
• 1993: It’s Not About a Salary By Brian Cross
• 1993: Black Studies, Rap, and the Academy By Houston A. Baker, Jr.
• 1994: The New Beats By S.H. Fernando
• 1994: The Rap on Gangsta Rap By Bakari Kitwana
• 1994: Black Noise By Tricia Rose
• 1994: Microphone Fiends: Youth Music and Youth Culture Edited by Tricia Rose and Andrew Ross
• 1994: The Ice Opinion: Who Gives a F—k? By Ice T as told to Heidi Siegmund
• 1994: The Guinness Who’s Who of Rap, Dance and Techno By Colin Larkin
• 1995: Spectacular Vernaculars By Russell A. Potter
• 1995: Rap on Rap: Straight-Up Talk on Hiphop Culture By Adam Sexton
• 1996: Droppin' Science Edited by William Eric Perkins
• 1998: Hip Hop America By Nelson George
• 1998: Have Gun Will Travel By Ronin Ro
• 1999: The Vibe History of Hip Hop Edited by Alan Light
• 1999: The Rose That Grew From Concrete By Tupac Shakur
• 1999: Street Conscious Rap By James G. Spady, Charles G. Lee, H. Samy Alim
• 1999: Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists By Sacha Jenkins, et al.
• 2000: When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost By Joan Morgan
• 2000: Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity By Adam Krims
• 2001: Life and Def : Sex, Drugs, Money, and God By Russell Simmons with Nelson George
• 2001: Holler If You Hear Me: Searching For Tupac Shakur By Michael Eric Dyson
• 2001: The Hip Hop Years: A History of Rap  By Alex Ogg with David Upshal
• 2002: Rap Music and Street Consciousness By Cheryl L. Keyes
• 2002: Hip Hoptionary™ By Alonzo Westbrook
• 2002: The Hip-Hop Generation By Bakari Kitwana
• 2002: Yes Yes Y'all By Jim Fricke and Charlie Ahearn
• 2003: There’s a God on the Mic By Kool Mo Dee
• 2003: Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem By Anthony Bozza
• 2003: Hip-hop Rhyming Dictionary By Kevin M. Mitchell
• 2004: That's The Joint: The Hip-hop Studies Reader Edited by Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal
• 2004: Making Beats: The Art of Sample-based Hip-hop By Joseph G. Schloss
• 2004: Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop By Imani Perry
• 2004: Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere By Gwendolyn D. Pough
• 2005: Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation By Jeff Chang
• 2005: Rakim Told Me By Brian Coleman
• 2005: The Wu-Tang Manual By The RZA and Chris Norris
• 2005: Five Percenter Rap By Felicia Miyakawa
• 2006: Why White Kids Love Hip Hop By Bakari Kitwana
• 2006: Hip Hop Matters By S. Craig Watkins
• 2006: Tha Global Cipha : Hip Hop Culture & Consciousness By James G. Spady, H. Samy Alim, Samir Meghelli
• 2007: Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies By Brian Coleman
• 2007: The Five Percenters By Michael Muhammad Knight
• 2007: Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop Edited by Jeff Chang
• 2007: Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip-Hop By Michael Eric Dyson
• 2007: Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap By Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar
• 2007: Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland, and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing By Roni Sarig
• 2007: The Beat of Urban Art By Justin Bua
• 2008: The Nightmare and the Dream: Nas, Jay-Z.... By Dax-Devlon Ross
• 2008: The Hip Hop Wars By Tricia Rose
• 2008: The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash By Grandmaster Flash and David Ritz
• 2008: It's Bigger Than Hip Hop By M. K. Asante.
• 2009: Nas' Illmatic By Matthew Gasteier
• 2009: Hip Hop World: A Groundwork Guide By Dalton Higgins
• 2009: Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic Michael Eric Dyson, Sohail Daulatzai, with others
• 2009: The Gospel of Hip Hop: The First Instrument By KRS-ONE
• 2009: How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC By Paul Edwards
• 2009: Hip Hop Underground By Anthony Kwame Harrison
• 2009: The Tao of Wu By The Rza
• 2009: It's Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop's First Latino DJ Ivan Sanchez and Luis Cedeño
• 2009: Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop By Adam Bradley
• 2010: Decoded Jay Z with dream hampton
• 2010: The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip Hop By Dan Charnas
• 2010: The Anthology of Rap Edited by Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois
• 2011: One Day It'll All Make Sense Common with Adam Bradley
• 2011: I Am Hip-Hop By Andrew J. Rausch
• 2011: Hip-Hop Culture in College Students' Lives By Emery Petchauer
• 2011: The Tanning of America By Steve Stoute
• 2011: The Legends of Hip Hop By Justin Bua
• 2011: Empire State of Mind By Zack O'Malley Greenburg
• 2011: Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop's Philosopher King Edited by Julius Bailey
• 2011: Def Jam Recordings By Bill Adler, Cey Adams, and Dan Charnas
• 2011: Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers...  By Ben Westhoff
• 2011: BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family By Mara Shalhoup
• 2011: Hip Hop Genius: Remixing High School Education By Sam Seidel
• 2012: Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ By Mark Katz
• 2012: Jay-Z: The King of America By Mark Beaumont
• 2012: Bounce: Rap Music and Local Identity in New Orleans By Matt Miller
• 2012: Hip Hop's Li'l Sistas Speak: Negotiating Hip Hop Identities and Politics in the New South By Bettina Love
• 2013: Hip Hop Family Tree Book 1: 1970s-1981 By Ed Piskor
• 2013: Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson with Ben Greenman
• 2013: How to Rap 2: Advanced Flow and Delivery Techniques By Paul Edwards
• 2013: Rhymin and Stealin: Musical Borrowing in Hip-hop By Justin A. Williams
• 2013: The Hip Hop Movement By Reiland Rabaka
• 2013: Bun B's Rap Coloring and Activity Book By Shea Serrano
• 2013: 2pac vs. Biggie By Jeff Weiss and Evan McGarvey
• 2013: Unbelievable By Cheo Hodari Coker
• 2014: The Dirty Version By Buddha Monk and Mickey Hess
• 2014: Check the Technique: Volume 2 By Brian Coleman
• 2014: Hip-Hop within and without the Academy By Karen Snell and Johan Söderman
• 2014: Rap and Hip Hop Culture By Fernando Orejuela
• 2014: Rapper's Delight: The Hip Hop Cookbook By Joseph Inniss, Ralph Miller, and Peter Stadden
• 2014: The Hip-Hop Underground and African American Culture By James B. Peterson
• 2014: The Extensive Hip Hop Rhyming Dictionary By Gio Williams
• 2014: Unruly: The Highs and Lows of Becoming a Man By Ja Rule
• 2015: The Rap Year Book By Shea Serrano
• 2015: Rhymecology: Using Hip-Hop to Heal: The Therapist Guide by Jeffrey T. Walker
• 2015: The Hip Hop & Obama Reader edited by Travis L. Gosa and Erik Nielson
• 2017: Best Damn Hip Hop Writing: The Book of Yoh Travis Yoh Phillips

Note: Thanks to Mr. Varnell on the assists.

Related:
Coverage of books, authors & special topics 
Timelines

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