3 comments about How to Draw Hip Hop (How to Draw (Watson Guptill)).

1. I got this mainly for the Daimon Scott artwork,and its loaded with it. Some of the subject matter left me me a little distant. But over all a interesting read.



2. The instructions were easy to follow, and the illustrations are awesome. I'm having alot of fun with this book. The dialogue between the two characters keeps readers entertained.



3. this book was a very good find on my part not that i didnt know how to draw urban characters but it's always good to see how someone else does it,this book is a great tool to actually growing in a style of comics thats transcending just hip hop but comics all together,check out work by humberto ramos,skottie young,chris buchelo and many others use very similar styles so it's not just about hip hop...more about urban culture slipping it's way into the mainstream

5 comments about Rebel for the Hell of It: The Life of Tupac Shakur.

1. Ever since the first time I heard 2pac rapping with Digital Underground. I feel in love with the lyrics he put out from Brendas got a baby, to Got keep your head up! And so many more. No matter what people though of him as being the THUG N***** he was somebody real. When others never understood where 2pac was coming from he made music that everybody could groove to and understand. He's the one who put potery to its most. The day he passed a way felt like I had lost some one I knew and loved. I'am a true Tupac lover and only wish he was still here blessing everyone and even ME with his True words of wisdom. It's been almost six years since his death and no matter if he's dead or alive he'll continue to put out the music he so muched loved to do and the music everybody loved. This is a man that should've e still been here and listening to his new ablum makes me think if he is still alive and if you are may GOD be with you and you with him in your deepest glory. Bury me as a "G" RIP I LOVE YOU TUPAC. L-Boogie, OKC



2. Ever since the first time I heard 2pac rapping with Digital Underground. I feel in love with the lyrics he put out from Brendas got a baby, to Got keep your head up! And so many more. No matter what people though of him as being the THUG N***** he was somebody real. When others never understood where 2pac was coming from he made music that everybody could groove to and understand. He's the one who put potery to its most. The day he passed a way felt like I had lost some one I knew and loved. I'am a true Tupac lover and only wish he was still here blessing everyone and even ME with his True words of wisdom. It's been almost six years since his death and no matter if he's dead or alive he'll continue to put out the music he so muched loved to do and the music everybody loved. This is a man that should've e still been here and listening to his new ablum makes me think if he is still alive and if you are may GOD be with you and you with him in your deepest glory. Bury me as a "G" RIP I LOVE YOU TUPAC. L-Boogie and S Loc OKC



3. a dude like pac only come around once (maybe twice) a life. get this book. it have pictures too.



4. A great x-ray of Tupac and a much better book than Michael Eric Dyson's foolish cashing-in on a dead rapper's tattooed body. A lot of stupid stuff has been written by the VIBE and Village/Stone people who just want to make money off 'Pac. REBEL makes you understand Tupac's confusion and the analysis of the rap lyrics are the best I've ever read about a rap star. (The chapter on "Dear Mama" should be included in every school literature class.) I recommend this book to anybody who loves 'Pac and loves hiphop. When Dyson's stupid book goes the way of the dodo, REBEL will still be read. It's the most serious and amazing Tupac book anyone could want.



5. this book was not well thought out. it was just an attempt to sound intelligent, but failed. the purpose of a book the should be to enlighten your readers not with big sounding words but with good ones that best describe the situation you are trying to get across. to me the book had nothing to do with tupac, it dealt with the author's lack of ability to put words together to form a sentence that could capture his audience. he just used the icon's name to sell his book, and true we fell for it, the true fans of tupac. we try so hard to grasp hold on anything and anyone that can give us more facts than we already have, so it pains me when people do things like this book which was so so so poorly written. i would hate to have a face to face conversation with him. PAC will always be in our hearts, thoughts and thanks to the real Gs he will be on our radios, TVs, VCRs & DVDs. as PAC would say, "NEVER IGNORANT GETTING GOALS ACCOMPLISHED."

5 comments about Never Drank the Kool-Aid: Essays.

1. I was entertained from the first page. I thought I knew Toure' but now I understand so much more. I want to hear more stories. Please keep writing!!!!!



2. This is a must-have for anyone interested in hip-hop culture and it's impact on society at large. Toure's writing is smart, witty and incisive. I'm back on Amazon to purchase copies for my friends. They can't have mine!



3. It's rare to come across a writer able to both entertain and educate at the same time. I've read all three of Toure's book's, and have yet to be disappointed. Much like Kurt Vonnegut's brilliant short story collection "Bagombo Snuff Box," Never Drank the Kool-Aid, will both enlighten and have you laughing out loud. It's refreshing to come across a writer with the ability to effortlessly engage and challenge the readers pre-existing thoughts on society. Though much of "Never Drank..." consists mostly of Toure's encounters with Hip-Hop celebrities, he also manages to include various figures one wouldn't normally expect. As a whole, "Never Drank..." is the kind of book that will make you want to turn the television off, leave the phone at home, and find a park bench to allow yourself-if for a moment, the pleasure of losing yourself in the lost art of the written word. Never Drank, as well as the Portable Promised Land by Toure, are two books that will always have a home on my book shelf.



4. Never Drank the Kool-Aid is full of virtuoso performances, but the reason you must buy it and read it is "What's Inside You, Brother?," a personal essay in which Toure invents a first person narrator to describe a third- (and, for nearly half the essay, a second-) person Toure as he tries on a new persona, making himself over as a boxer not unlike Sonny Liston, well-acquainted with "the body English of the back alley, the backroom, the back corner of the prison's back cell." And even as he remakes his body into something lean and strong and fast, he is grappling with notions harder to pin down: blackness and whiteness, poverty and privilege, who I am and who they say I am. No one, not David Remnick, not Joyce Carol Oates, not Gay Talese, has ever written better about boxing, and boxing's not even Toure's main concern.



5. You will find in this book very cleverly written articles. Toure shares his candid opinion on topics as well as sharing experiences he's had with many pop-culture icons. Very interesting read!

5 comments about Hip Hop Decoded.

1. This is a great book. The author has put together a good work. For hip hop fans with their 3rd eyes open, this book will be like talking to a friend. This book is more like a conversation to the enlightened reader. It's a good piece to add to your library.



2. I believe this writer should win an oscar. This is one of the best books I've, ever read on the truth about hip hop. I know this writer personally. I am a huge fan. He really shows the spritual side of hip hop. Black Dot is one of the greatest griots, of true hip hop today.



3. A most acurately and informative view of the culture of Hip Hop as it relates to today's America and its African ancestry. If you consider yourself to any kind of Hip Hop or "rap" fan you have got to purchase this masterpiece.



4. Being from the "old school" it was somewhat difficult for me to get with 'Hip Hop". However,I had been in search for it's origin. After reading a few chapters I have truly been enlightened. The information and presentation was right on point. One can sense the passion shown by the author in understanding the true value of something great being plagiarized, destorted, and corrupted.
   I strongly reccomend this book to anyone who want to know the "TRUTH" about "Hip Hop"



5. Never before have I encountered a work of literature that approaches Hip-Hop from this unique perspective. The Black Dot examines the current state of Hip-Hop and determines that the culture that was once a true and honest expression of Black life in the inner city is now just a mere facsimile (although distorted) of that expression. The idea that the art-form has been purposely co-opted is not new, however, The Black Dot utilizes an analogy to the movie "The Matrix" to creatively show readers the depth of the proverbial "rabbit hole" that is "The Matrix of Hip-Hop".
   
   Hip-Hop Decoded consists of essays that range from pure research to highly speculative in nature. There are several eyebrow raising summaries that might be just at home in a science fiction anthology suggesting that readers be equipped with an open mind before taking the plunge into this imaginative work. Those already familiar (even slightly) with some of the ideas of the NOI or the 5% Nation(Nation of Gods & Earths) will find The Black Dot's essays ideologically reinforcing, but you don't have to be a subscriber to the above mentioned beliefs to fully embrace his ideas.
   
   One might describe this book as a Hip-Hop collection of conspiracy theories quite possibly along the same lines as Francis Cress Welsing's "The Isis Papers". The Black Dot exercises IMAGINATION with a sampling of history and research to illustrate the hyper-reality that has consumed Hip-Hop with fake thugs, pimps, gangstas, ho's and the whole nine. Only those with an open mind need apply. "Hip-Hop Decoded" is definitely another salvo in the assault of Afrofuturist theory, but it's NOT to be pigeon-holed into an un-evolving creatively stagnant collection that fails to add anything new to speculative thought and imaginative theory.
   
   I highly recommend approaching this book with the aim of gaining a unique perspective on the reason for the staleness of today's Hip-Hop music. Factually speaking, most of The Black Dot's ideas have yet to be proven, but there is no doubt that SOMETHING is killing the music that used to have some redeeming qualities to it. Hip-Hop Decoded is designed to "unplug" your attachment to what is represented as Hip-Hop on the radio, tv and magazines and inject a fresh creative outlook on the circumstances we find ourselves in in relation to the music.

No comments about And It Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years.

No comments about DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop.

3 comments about 50 X 50: 50 Cent in His Own Words.

1. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND THE PHOTOS OF CURTIS AND HIS FAMILY MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I KNOW HIM MORE.I FEEL THIS SHOWS YOU THAT 50 IS JUST AN EVERY DAY MAN I LOVE THE BOOK



2. This is one of the most awesome and upclose and personal looks at any star i have ever seen published..
   When reading this.. I could almost hear the words coming outta fifty's mouth...



3. Can you imagine feeling what 50 cent (the rapper) felt when he got shot nine times, his struggles, and what he had to go trough just to be where he is today?
   
   This is an autobiography about Curtis 50 cent Jackson's life, childhood, struggles, and what he had to do to get where he is today. He explained in great detail of his childhood and why he sold drugs and what he had to do because he sold drugs (he went to rehab). He sold drugs because he said that he never had the things that most young kids have today including: sneakers, cool shirts and other clothing, so he just wanted to have those things. He explained how it felt when his grandmother caught him selling drugs. He said that he blamed his grandparents because if he didn't have to hide it from them, his school wouldn't have found it in his sneakers. He also explained what happened the day that he got shot, and how the guy waited for 50 cent to get out of his house.
   
   Even though 50 cent is a rapper I never know that he could write such a good book like this, he explained everything that happened to him in great detail. There was one passage in the book where he talks about himself going to rehab. He said that he had never did crack, but he said that he handled, cooked, and sold it so much that he came up positive when they tested him. He told about his time in rehab and how he thought it was funny (not haha funny) how a guy was in there for doing the same drugs 50 cent sold to people.
   
   I would like to share an insert from the book, where 50 cent explains how he got shot. He puts you in his mind of what was going on and how he felt, and that what I like about his style of writing.
   
   "Suddenly this guy runs up on our car and starts unloading like BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm splayed out all over the back seat of the car, but since I'd grabbed my gun I threw my hand up and stared shooting back out the window. He starts to back up and tacks two more shots. One of them goes through my hand."

3 comments about All Music Guide to Hip-Hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap and Hip-Hop.

1. This is the real kind of rap music, not just the kind you hear on the radio. This book goes into detail not just the mainstream artists of rap, but also underground favorites. It also rates each artists albums out of five stars. It provides a (usually)small biography on the artist as well as who he/her worked with in the past. The book also gives you a well rounded vision of hip-hop in general by showing you where all the different genres of rap originated, and what distinguishes them. Every time I go to buy an album I look it up here first. It is also very recent, going all the way up to the summer of 2003. Overall, well worth your money.



2. Just to reiterate what was mentioned earlier, this book goes nicely in depth, going back to originating artists as well as current mainstream as well as underground heavy hitters. I have alot of fun looking through this guide. Any big Hiphop fan should love this book. There were a few artists I felt should definitely have been included in the book, but were not. However, there was a good effort put into this book.



3. This is one of the best music books I have ever purchased it has reviews on almost every hip hop album ever made for all the Youngsters of the rap game that have no education in hip hop buy this book at once and find something out on Kool DJ Herc-Grandwizard Theodore-Grandmaster Caz the originators if you dont know the Message you dont know rap-Good day

4 comments about U2 -- The Best of Propaganda: 20 Years of the Official U2 Magazine.

1. As the title indicates, this book is a must-have for those of us who are passionate about U2. The photos are great, the articles cover a wide range of styles, authors, perspectives, etc....it is especially interesting to read interviews with the band at vastly different stages of their career. However, I wouldn't suggest this book as an introduction to U2. Unless you know the history of the band quite well, most of these articles would be confusing to you because they are highlights from U2's magazine, and background knowlege is assumed--sometimes very little context is given. But as I said, for those of us who know U2 well, context is not necessary. My only complaint is the editing, or lack thereof. There are so many typos in this book you would think that it wasn't proofread at all; or perhaps it was simply produced very quickly. Overall though, an essential addition to any fan's collection.
   I am adding a p.s. to this review after reading Ian Gittins' (the editor himself!) response to mine and others' complaints about the typos. I thank Mr. Gittins for explaining; the fact that the typos were present in the original articles did not occur to me. If I had thought a little harder about it, maybe it would have occured to me, or maybe it wouldn't. At any rate, though the typos are still distracting, they are not as irritating now that I know why they're there. I am dutifully chagrined for any implications about Mr. Gittins' editing abilities...



2. This book is a great insight into the world of U2, great reading for the U2 fan although i think Ian Grittins forgot to proof read this material and also forgot to hit spell check because there is alot of spelling and grammer mistakes, still a fantastic buy, lots of stuff here that you wont find anywhere else.



3. I'm glad readers are enjoying this U2 compendium. A word, though, about the typos and spelling errors. This book is a snapshot in time, a record of U2's Propaganda magazine, warts and all. The very earliest magazines were punky and rough around the edges, and occasionally contained grammatical errors. We made a conscious decision to keep them in to make the book a truer guide to the journal's development. To correct them would have been to airbrush history. I hope this helps to explain matters.

   (By the way, apologies for my appalling arrogance in awarding the book five stars here - Amazon don't allow you to post a review without awarding the book a star rating!).




4. This book contains only the best of the best of U2. You can understand some of the decitions of the band or event the songs just to take a look to the book. The best book of U2 ever.

4 comments about Thru My Eyes: Thoughts on Tupac Shakur in Pictures and Words.

1. I was given this book as a gift by a Tupac fan (I'm not a huge fan myself). However, as a music fan and someone who is interested in pop culture, I found the book to be engaging because of the descriptions that come with the photos. Gobi traveled with Tupac for a few years up to his death, and has great insight about this man who is deified by his fans. . . this book (Gobi is a huge fan himself) gives you some "under the surface" perspective about why people think so highly of Tupac. This book is as good as the Kurt Cobain "Letters" book. I would highly recommend to any music fan.



2. I bought a copy and finished it by the end of the day; I didn't want to stop reading and
   discovering more. I had no idea Gobi shared such an intimate
   relationship with the fallen prince. I have the cds and Resurrection
   and other documentaries, but, honestly, this book was the first work
   that actually humanized 'Pac for me and painted him as a person. I
   think it was the first person perspective of a close colleague of his
   that made the piece very effective. I got choked up when Gobi
   described visiting him in the hospital. Congratulations. Very nice
   work.



3. I bought this book just to see what this book was about. This book should never been printed! Who puts out of focus photos in a book, has his lawyer put a review on this website raving about it and then sells it?! It's a disgrace to photography of any sort. This guy is just making money off 2Pac fans and laughing his way to the bank. You can download better stuff on the web. His storytelling is not fluid or sincere. Anyone can add made up stories to pictures. It's a joke!!!



4. THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD BOOK. YOU REALLY GET TO GET INTO TUPAC HEAD AND SEE WHAT HE SAW AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT MORE OF WHO AND WHAT HE WAS ABOUT