5 comments about Hip Hoptionary TM: The Dictionary of Hip Hop Terminology.

1. I highly recommend this book to scholars, parents, and students. From the very beginning of the intro, Westbrook draws you into "the flowering of Negro expression". Turning our attention to our ancestors, which used slave songs to communicate messages, explaining rap is continuing to do the same. It's play on words are in your face, raw and real. As a result, has brought different cultures together to blend and mix. This book brings it all together.



2. There are numerous problems with this book.
   To start, it is DEFINITELY outdated.
   There are many terms which are missapplied. For example, "coconut" is a term that applies to people of West Indian descent who "act white." In the book, it simply says "hispanic." Another problem with this one is that it is not labeled as being an offensive term, which it most definitely is.
   This is not an isolated incident. There are words all throughout this book that have definitions very different from what is written.
   There are words which are related to each other in definition and/or derivation, but are not noted as such.
   The problems go on.
   Do I, a 20 year old white girl (I will not say caucasion because my descent is not from the Caucus Mountains), know more about the origins of words and phrases in hip hop culture than the writer of this book? Probably not, but I've still been correcting my own copy with what limited knowledge I have.
   Oh, and guess what? My black friends are pissed off that I even payed for it. After reading it, I am too.



3. Disregarding word type (you know -- noun, verb, adjective, and whatnot), full of errors, misspellings, and antiquated expressions, this book is easily the worst hip-hop cash-in I've ever seen. Herein you will find many superfluous definitions of pre-hip-hop parlance such as 'boob tube,' 'nips,' ('Asians: offensive') and 'ticked off.' Absent are such basic expressions as 'acting the fool,' 'be-be kids,' and 'big up.' In just one of many appalling errors, the book defines 'baby daddy' as 'the mother of a man's child.' Avoid!



4. All you have to do is read the good reviews on this book. Notice what the pattern is??? People who have no concept of what Hip Hop is, let alone the terms used in Hip Hop Culture. I should write a book called "Rock and Roll's Killer Dictionary" and get it published immedietly. If the money is on the table, why not grab it?



5. This book is a must have if you want to understand youth today. The Author is right on....

5 comments about Rollin' with Dre: The Unauthorized Account: An Insider's Tale of the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of West Coast Hip Hop.

1. The book has a little of everything, a little Tupac, a little Suga Knight, some Snoop and of course Dre. It you love hip-hip and inside stories then this book is for you!!



2. Though I am normally a fan of either extremely political Tex-Mex music and Indie Music no one buys, I came across this book and I could not put it down. A real insight into the world of Hip Hop. If you hate rap, it will make you hate it even more but if you love it you probably will love it even more. Either way its a great read. Donnell Alexander is a great writer that brings this story to life.



3. 
   VERY GOOD BOOK ABOUT LIFE WITH DR DRE IN THE 1990S
   
   EASY TO READ



4. Bruce Williams was the right hand man of Dr. Dre, of the infamous rap group NWA, as well as one of the most influential hip-hop producers of our time. As the guy who was privy to the ins and outs of Death Row and Aftermath Records, Williams has stories to tell of how life with the man affected him and gives readers an inside view of the working of Dr. Dre. Williams gives you a glimpse at his childhood and how he was able to take the circumstances of his life and turn them into a story worth writing.
   
   Included in this memoir are tales of partying, debauchery and the makings of some great hip-hop music, as well as the good and bad of the music industry. Williams paints a picture of an industry that is about money, but artists such as Dr. Dre are connected to the music. Williams also tells some great tales about the likes of Tupac, Easy E and Suge Knight. What readers will also garner is Dr. Dre is a complicated man who has tunnel vision when it comes to making good music, even when all around him is falling apart. However, Williams also discusses how his relationship with Dr. Dre eventually changed and he realized he wasn't living to his potential or following his initial dreams of becoming actor.
   
   ROLLIN' WITH DRE actually tells some stories I was not aware of until reading this biography. I didn't even know Williams existed until now. The tales are at times entertaining, and at other times thought-provoking. Williams considers this book a testament to how great an artist and friend Dr. Dre is, but I wonder how Dr. Dre feels about some of the things presented in this book, although not all the situations were surprises. The writing uses a lot of slang and derogatory proclamations for females, which I found a bit trying at times. For a glimpse inside the world of Dr. Dre, especially during the days of Death Row, this book takes you there with some of the antics of the founders. One thing readers will appreciate is Williams loves hip-hop and it resonates throughout the pages.
   
   Reviewed by Cashana Seals
   of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers



5. okay book but seriously we all know about dr. dre's rise see I was a fan of nwa and the whole ruthless era and the drama that wenmt on I heard the beefs coming from nwa and ice cube I remember when dre beat dee barnes I heard how luke dissed him and nwa after that I remember deathrow and all the drama suge knight did we know warren g was beat up and ran off deathrow really we know all thjis I thought thios would bring new tales to the saga we know about the east caost west coast beef how 2pac joined deathrow how him and suge took out orlando, how dre left the row and started aftermath then you hear about 50, game, eve, busta, bishop lamont who's a good rapper by thr way but still not very interesting. west coast rappers are still active but underground but hey I thibnk they'll return things always come back.

No comments about Lil' Wayne (Hip-Hop 2).

No comments about Chicano Rap: Gender and Violence in the Postindustrial Barrio.

3 comments about Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America.

1. I picked up this book because I like hip hop, but didn't really understand the incredibly interesting larger cultural and social context in which it arose and operates. Having read my fair share of books on jazz, I was concerned because I know authors can take great art forms and turn them into boring academic treastises. Thankfully, Jason Tanz has richly and engagingly captured an inner city art form and its often uncomfortable, yet strangely symbiotic, relationship with white middle America. Norman Mailer, Thoreau and Eminem all make an appearance as Tanz entertainingly traces the origins of hip-hop and the way it has influenced, but also been subverted by, the white audience and market.



2. OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY; A SHADOW HISTORY OF HIP HOP IN WHITE AMERICA could also have appeared in our 'Social Issues' section but is reviewed here for its focus on the obstacles that stand between producers and consumers of rap music: a very different approach than your usual music book covering the history of rap and the evolution of rapsters. It blends a personal story of growing up in a racially divided America with cultural analysis and music insights: while this approach might defy easy categorization, it does make for a hard-hitting analysis which will reach not only college-level collections strong in social issues and music, but the general-interest public and libraries with holdings strong in ethnic issues debates.



3. Hip-hop music, what some of us still think of as "rap," isn't easy to sort out these days. It seems to have invaded all aspects of life, even in the seemely far-removed and lilly-white suburbs.
   
   So what counts today as "authentic" hip-hop? Is it necessarily black? If it's commercialized to identify with a product, say Sprite, does that make the rapper a "sellout?"
   
   And if you're white, suburban and, say, over 35, what is hip-hop culture all about?
   
   These, it turns out, are exceedingly complicated questions.
   
   They cut deeply to the root of what was once a raw expression of black realism to a place where, even within hip-hop, debates rage. But Jason Tanz, a rap-loving white kids from suburban Tacoma, Wash., has some surprising and fascinating answers for you in this thoughtful book with a perfect title -- Other People's Property.
   
   Tanz takes us on an illuminating journey from rap's emergence among graffiti artists and break dancers on the streets of the Bronx, through his own experience as a sometimes guilt-ridden rap music lover cocooned in safe, white suburia, to today's wildy diverse and commercially bankable hip-hop scene.
   
   Tanz personal story will, in turns, make you cringe, laugh and cheer. But his look at rap's varied charecters is what will keep you turning the pages.
   
   There's Grandmaster Flash's Rahiem, an icon of rap's roots on New York City's rough streets, now a "Legends of Hip-Hop" tour guide busing white fans through the Bronx for $75 a pop. There's Papa Rich, an authentic NYC street performer who teaches break dancing to the wealthy suburban children of Connecticut's soccer moms. There's Tha Pumpsta, an earnest white rap lover who misses entirely the irony when he DJ's "kill whitie" parties in the Virginia suburbs. And there's MC Frontalot, a comical hip hop anti-hero who excites nerdy white fans with his brand of "Geeksta" rap.
   
   Tanz travels to Green Bay to explore a rap radio experiment in one of America's whitest cities and to a garage studio in suburban L.A. where a group of goofy white losers play act the part of black gangsters.
   
   More than anything, this is a smart book. The anecdotes carry the story, but Tanz peppers in sharp analysis and displays a deep understanding of the delicate balances -- and sometimes blatant contradictions -- of race, culture, commerce and sincerity (or a lack of it) in hip-hop.
   
   And if you ever wondered how we got here, to an America where hip-hop music and style dominate the mainstream, Tanz's book takes you through it all with both unblinking criticism and fond affection.
   
   In a brilliant chapter on the marketing of hip-hop, Tanz concludes rap has has the potential, perhaps untapped, to be a cultural bridge between white and black America:
   
   "Inner city black kids, seeking a modicum of respect and financial security, create a point of entry into the commerical world that has ignored them for so long. We white kids, drawn to the implicit escape that their music and lifestyles represented, bought it. Hip-hop is where we meet, we on our way out of the system, they on their way in. Is hip-hop a door that swings open between our two cultures, letting us mix freely with each other, or is it a revolving door, endlessly spinning, allowing us to pass in opposite directions without ever actually touching?"

2 comments about Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child: The Stories Behind Every Song.

1. My 3 star rating isn't really a put-down. 3.5 is probably more accurate. The overall content and presentation are fine and there's alot of useful information in here. My problem with it is that I'd hoped to read a bunch of stuff I'd never seen elsewhere. But in fact, I didn't find much of anything that I hadn't already read elsewhere. Of the stuff that is here, some isn't even as detailed as you'll find in other books like Setting The Record Straight or Shadwick's Musician.



2. I am a huge fan of Jimi Hendrix. I listen to his music every day, and it never gets old. I've listened to all of the essential albums (and many more) but have never actually read any book on him and his music. I saw this book in the music part of the book store. I quickly looked through the pages, and was very intrigued, since I'd never heard where he got his inspiration from. And I must say this book will intrigue you as well. It really fills in the gaps on some of Jimi's songs, such as on Castles Made of Sand. I didn't know that the first verse was about Jimi's mom and dad fighting and eventually splitting up. Or the second verse was about his troubled brother Leon. And the third verse was about Jimi's mom dying. These interesting facts and more are in this book. If you own a lot of Jimi Hendrix CDs out there, and you're asking yourself: How did he do that? Where did he get that idea for a song? or Who is that song about? Then buy this book. It's a very informative and an interesting read.

5 comments about Yes Yes Y'All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop's First Decade.

1. This beautiful book attempts to trace the formation of hip-hop culture through interviews with those who were around for the first ten years. Fricke (a curator at the Experience Music Project museum) and Ahearn (photographer and director of the seminal hop-hop film Wild Style), attempt to document the New York City scene from about 1974-84 (right up to the formation of DefJam and Run-DMC) through photos, original party flyers, and the words of the DJs, MCs, b-boys (breakdancers), graffiti artists, and promoters who were there.

   The early portion shows how DJ sound-system battles emerged in the early to mid '70s against the backdrop of a decaying Bronx, attracting youths to more or less impromptu parties in parks, streets, and playgrounds. Competition was fierce as to who had the loudest sound system and the best records, and tough security (gang members) was a necessity. One thing that gets disappointingly glossed over is how this copied what happened in Kingston, Jamaica ten years earlier. It was exactly the same: competing street sound systems, with competing DJs who would take the labels off records so spies couldn't find out what they were playing, gangs, violence-all the same. DJ Kool Herc, who lived in Jamaica until 1967, makes a fleeting reference to it, but that's all.

   For the first few years, the DJs were the "stars" of the scene, offering an alternative to disco music. But as DJs started to learn how to manipulate their turntables to extend the "beats" from a song, eventually MCing started to become more vibrant. What had initially only been calls to the crowd to keep the party's energy up evolved into more and more sophisticated catchphrases, freestyle rhymes, and soon MCs were writing and memorizing lines. Again, it's a bit puzzling that no mention is made of Jamaican"toasting" which emerged in the mid to late '60s. This was the practice of DJs who would talk and rhyme over the records they played, and soon progressed to a point where they would have instrumental versions of popular songs laid down for them to rhyme over-often in a boasting style, talking about how they were the "#1", "champion", and so on. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

   The other two legs of hip-hop culture are given somewhat less space. The material on breakdancing (aka "b-boying" to the true old-schoolers) seems to indicate that the "b-boy " crews filled a kind of competitive void left by the waning of street gang culture. And while there was some of this dancing at the parties, music was the focus, rather than the dancing-which didn't get big until the early '80s. Graffiti, on the other hand, was clearly a prominent feature of the NYC landscape from the early '70s on. But, what's most interesting here is that while the graffiti artists often went to parties and knew some of the music people, the idea that graffiti was part of a larger hip-cop culture didn't emerge until late in the game. It wasn't until the downtown Manhattan art scene started getting interested that the music, breakin', and graffiti were packaged-by the white art scene-a unified "street" culture.

   The book is lavishly put together, with tons to look at-however, the oral history structure isn't the greatest. From a historical perspective, it's great to hear all these unknown voices from the past telling about their roles, but at times it does get tedious. Especially when it comes to details on how so and so met so and so and that led the the formation of this or that. Even more so late in the book, when record companies get in the mix, and then all kinds of resentments come pouring out. There could have been a little more editing, as well as a little more context to fill in some of the gaps. For example, there are a lot of references to gangs being involved in the early scene, and shootings, and violence, but there's never any unified discussion of it. The same for the role of drugs in the scene, at one point someone (I think Spoonie Gee) talks about how everyone was totally coked up all the time, and that's something that could have been explored a little more. In any event, it's still a great book for anyone with an interest in the days of hip-hop, giving proper space and voice to all the unknowns who deserve to be known.




2. I got the coolest book this passed Christmas, entitled �Yes! Yes! Yall! The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop�s First Decade � by Jim Fricke. This book focuses on Hip-Hop, and Black culture in America through oral history. Black urban culture gave birth to hip-hop and is the source of influence for today�s American culture. �Yes! Yes! Yall!� is a true period piece focusing on the growth of a new artistic movement. The book is very clear and is written as if you�re really listening to someone talk about Hip-Hop�s old school beginnings. This was a relaxing book to read, and very simplistic in form. As I was reading I felt as if I was sitting in a recreation center or classroom listening to the forefathers, and mothers of this great Black music culture.
   The book starts by panting a picture of New York�s inner city in the early 1970�s to the mid 80�s. Each chapter focuses on all four elements of Hip-Hop, such as: d.j-ing, brake dancing, emceeing/rhyming or raping, and graffiti art. Looking at some of the old photos of B-boys and girls break dancing, the airbrushed clothing, party flyers, and old record jackets was very nostalgic.
   The book highlights the fact that the whole subculture came out of unequal systematic conditions in the late 1970�s into the 80�s. This is a real honest approach to the history of the newest, and highly co-modified cultures. It�s filled with first hand accounts, stories of back stage antics, tours, emcee battles, dance battles, club fights, and groupies.
   In chapter two titled, �The Forefathers�, many people interviewed gave his or her respects to the godfather of Hip-Hop (d.j Kool Herc). They would talk about how d.j Kool Herc would play all the best brake beats at that time. D.j Kool Herc was Jamaica borne and his homeland would be the source that inspired his d.jing style.
   Kool Herc was the one who coined the term B-boy/B-girl, because boys and girls that would dance to brakes of different songs. The brake was the favorite part of the song, it was known as the get down part of the record. The other reason for calling the party people B-boys and girls was because they were all from Brooklyn also known as the �Boogie Down Bronx�.
   Kool Hrec changed and revolutionized the whole music form, once he started toasting, what we call rapping or rhyming today. Toasting started in the Jamaican dance halls, or yard parties. The Selecta or D.j would chant out two or three bare rhymes to get the crowd hyped. Herc added the style toasting from his homeland, and the New York street style of d.jing, to cerate his own style. Thus giving birth to a new sound and genre of music.
   �Yes! Yes! Yall!� lastly focuses on the gangs, graffiti, emceeing, and brake dancing and how they intertwine within hip-hop and black culture. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in finding more information on the history of Hip-Hop and how it stems from Black culture.



3. Anyone into Hip Hop must own this book. It's a seminal work. Like Toop's The Rap Attack or Nelson George's Hip Hop America...it must be owned. The most detailed Old School study ever and great visuals.



4. I am the original King LaBrue out of the camp of Kool Herc and the Herculoids. Before there was Sugar Hill and 50 Cent, there was King LaBrue--to this day still represents true hip-hop. I plan to write my own account of the true pioneers that should be respected for dedication and commitment for all these years.



5. As many other people, I consider myself a fan of true hip-hop but as they say, you must know where it came from before you can see where it is headed. This book perfectly recollected the beginning of hip-hop, breakdancing and DJ'ing that many of us have grown to know and love. It also has tons of pictures that also capture the essence of Hip Hop in its infancy! Definitely a collector's item!

5 comments about Have Gun Will Travel.

1. What should have been a fascinating book, at the very least as a voyeuristic experience, fails to deliver largely due to its poorly written pages. The text stumbles along from incomprehensible link to allusive derailment, making the mistake of huge chunks of repetitive material which inevitably detract from the fascinating subject matter. Perhaps more of an editng disaster than an author's failure.....at the heart of which lies a story deserving a more coherent telling.



2. Ronin Ro's "Have Gun Will Travel" is probably one of the most entertaining books ever written on the subject of Suge Knight's Death Row Records. However, a good deal of the information in this book should be taken with a grain of salt. Ro paints Knight as a thuggish bully who used violent tactics to extort his way into the music industry and helped create a feared "gang presence" behind the scenes at Death Row. It explores his partnership with Dr. Dre, a talented music producer who Knight pulled from rival Ruthless Records only to knock out of the picture when he was able to acquire an even-larger artist, Tupac Shakur. It goes into detail about the reported beatings of Dre production assistant, Sam Sneed and the infamous boat party where Warren G and his crew were assaulted. Ro tends to have a personal vendetta with some rappers, most noteably Tupac Shakur and DJ Quik. Shakur is written as a loud-mouthed, arrogant gangsta rapper who was falsely praised as a "revolutionary" because of his mother's fabricated past as a member of the Black Panthers. Quik is also written about in a less flattering way as Ro takes a biased look at his feud with MC Eiht, accussing him of hiding behind gang tactics and using violent threats while Eiht attempted to reconcile the problem. It fails to mention that Quik's diss record was a lyrical retaliation to a series of diss tracks called "Def Wish" where Eiht verbally punked Quik or that following the death of Biggie, Quik began recording positive anti-gang records including "You'z A Gangsta" where he made a call to end his problems with Eiht. Still, the star of the show, Suge Knight, takes the brunt of the beating in an editorial assault that makes Michael Moore's portrait of George W. Bush in "Farenheit 9/11" look kind in comparison. When he's not being accussed of assaulting record executives, promoting violence within the recording industry, or setting up rappers to be murdered, Knight's sexuality is also questioned as Ro explores a "supposed" homosexual relationship between Suge and his label's R&B crooner, Danny Boy, who is also his adopted son. If you were even a slight fan of West Coast rap music in the 90's, "Have Gun Will Travel" is one hell of an entertaining read, though most of its information is more "National Enquirer" than LA Times.



3. This book gives you an inside look at one of the most powerfull companies in history. Its not just contracts and courtrooms, its murder, shooting and violence. It keeps your interest from start to finish. You see what a true gangsta Suge Knight was, doing anything to get what he wanted. It covers Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, N.W.A., the DOC, Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and many more. Ronin Ro puts direct quotes and doesnt altar or change anything, its raw, real, true. The language is definatly for 16+ but its great regarless. Go behind the scenes of the biggest indusry in music, and go inside the East Vs. West Coast Rap Battle. Once it arrives you will never put it down.



4. Before I start this review, I'd like to defend Ronin Ro for his writing. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way this book was written: the author carefully weaved in each character who was essential in the Death Row scandal. I saw no editorial mistakes and it was organized sufficiently. If a reader does not like the experiences in the book, that's one thing; but to insult the writer is ridiculous, especially since this was such an interesting and well-researched book.
   
   On to the book:
   I'm not quite sure how the topic of Suge Knight came up between a friend and I, but we were both shaking our heads about the man being shot in the leg. With all the rumored hits out on him, we were thinking "How could the shooter have such bad aim?" She told me about this book and I am so glad she did. I knew Suge Knight was an alleged dangerous man, and from an interview I saw of him challenging a journalist on a Tupac documentary, it was pretty obvious that he liked to intimidate people. But I was not expecting it to be this dramatic.
   Death Row had everything from gun fights, gangs, rape, holding people out of balconies, locked doors to hear desperate screams, drugs, disgruntled rappers, terrified employees, scared delivery people, Crips, Bloods, women being beaten, boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, boyfriend/boyfriend relationships, East Coast artists being forced into West Coast artists, "thugs" turning into grown men, grown men trying to figure out how to connect to the streets but be peaceful, business conflict, etc. Anything that could possibly go wrong in a business happened at Death Row. I didn't grow up in the safest neighborhood, so about half of this didn't even make me flinch, but when the story got into beating up women; jailhouse rapes; balcony scenes, etc., I was like "Okay, enough is enough."
   Although it is commendable that Suge Knight gave back to his community with food and money to the homeless/lower income, it does not justify all of the things he DID do. Honestly, I'm extremely surprised he's alive today, and definitely understand why he rolled with such a thick crew. Had he not, he'd have been dead long ago.
   While I was reading this book, I couldn't stop giggling thinking about the "Gangstalicious" episode of the "Boondocks." So much of what I thought was a mocking of 50 Cent seemed more like it related to Tupac, and the guy chasing Gangstalicous reminded me of Suge. Although there were definitely humorous scenes throughout the story (from my own morbid mind) and it was definitely an entertaining read, it was extremely disturbing to see so many grown men acting like teenagers. When is it time to decide to stand on your own two, fight your own battles ALONE, stop killing your own race, and bullying people every time you don't get your way? It's one thing to want to be a grown man; it's another to be a grown bully. I ponder over whether many of these people actually enjoy the lifestyle; or is it just a matter of survival in the ghettoes? I know so many young men who were BEATEN into gangs, and then forced to participate to show their loyalty. But how can you show loyalty to a group that you NEVER wanted to be a part of? Why would someone be so happy to get out of jail, if they were just going to return to the jail lifestyle regardless of the bars?
   If anything, this book definitely relates to the streets and brings up excellent questions. It also brings more information to cases that were only browsed over (i.e. how Tupac became a part of Death Row, the REAL relationship between Tupac and Dr. Dre, the murder trial for Snoop Doggy Dogg, Puffy's relationship with Suge Knight, Biggie's murder, Biggie's relationship with Tupac, the incidents of Tupac's being shot, robbed, and killed, etc.) Ro touches on SO many topics that the news glossed over or magazines didn't pay enough attention to.
   
   I was very impressed with this book and think he did a great job for research--and is one brave guy for putting all this information out there. Be safe, Ro!



5. This book and author are fantastic! Ro provides a detailed and free flowing view of Death Row Records. The text was very detailed and not drawn out. I highly recommend Ro's biography of Dr. Dre.

1 comments about Toby Keith (Blue Banner Biographies) (Blue Banner Biographies).

1. Toby Keith (Blue Banner Biographies) (Blue Banner Biographies)
   I LOVE THIS BOOK! IT'S SIMPLE, BUT IT COVERS A LOT ABOUT TOBY KEITH'S FAMILY LIFE(BOTH EARLY & RECENT),HIS CAREER AS A SINGER/SONGWRITER, & WHAT IT TOOK TO GET WHERE HE IS! IT'S A MUST FOR ANY FAN OF TOBY'S OR EVEN FOR A YOUNG PERSON POSSIBLY INTERESTED IN MAKING A CAREER IN MUSIC.

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