Any good Hip Hop Books?

tomred1

Just wondering if anybody would recommand any Hip Hop Autobiographies or Books. I have read DMX auto which was great.

Boom_Bap

This is supposed to be really good, just haven't gotten around to it:

http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Stop-Wont-History-Generation/dp/B001AVGCKU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231515895&sr=8-5

godspal

Heard this is good:
http://www.amazon.com/Wu-Tang-Manual-Enter-Chambers-One/dp/1594480184

don't like biography books anymore. (Foucult will do that to you.)

GhostfaceKillah

I'm not a fan of 50 Cent, but his autobiography "from pieces to weight" is a great read.

Jay Ru

Boom_Bap wrote: »

This is supposed to be really good, just haven't gotten around to it:

http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Stop-Wont-History-Generation/dp/B001AVGCKU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231515895&sr=8-5

thats an amazing read

Parrish_Crooks

Have Gun Will Travel: The Violent Rise and Fall of Death Row records is a good read, if a bit one sided. Gives a comprehensive history of Death Row and he artists, and Suge Knight's antics. Scary stuff.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Rap-Tupac-Shakur-Life/dp/1844497275/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233261498&sr=1-7

The above one is good if you're into Graphic novels, not much reading in it though.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fight-Power-Race-Reality-Yusuf/dp/0862417678/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233261576&sr=1-1

This is also supposed to be decent.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ice-Vanilla-Story-His-Words/dp/0859651681/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233261682&sr=1-2

Just joking bout the last one :pac:

Camac Hibs

This one is worth reading

http://www.amazon.com/New-Beats-S-H-Fernando/dp/038547119X

Peyton Manning

Frank Alexander's "Got Your Back" is a great read from a guy who was a bodyguard at Death Row Records, and more importantly, Tupac Shakur's personal bodyguard.

DMX's and 50 Cent's autobiographies were also enjoyable.

StevieG

"Can't stop won't stop" and "the New Beats" are both class


It's not about a salary from the mid 90's by Limerick man Brian Cross, the most famous photographer in hip-hop and a man who knows EVERYONE, is unreal too

Might be out of print now

Horno

LAbyrinth..not sure who the author is..its all about the murders of pac and biggie...and loads of stuff about death row and their connections to the lapd...good read!

ItsNugget

The ronin ro book mentioned above is really good.

The rough guide to hiphop is a great reference tool.

Andrew emerys book of hiphop cover art is also great.

Parrish_Crooks

ItsNugget wrote: »

The rough guide to hiphop is a great reference tool.

I have that myself, I think the reviewer is a bit of an idiot. He is overly critical of all the artists, and makes out like every one of them are all an end in themselves. He writes off artists as fads and phases and skips over some important ones that should be given more time. Don't bother with it!

StevieG

Parrish_Crooks wrote: »

I have that myself, I think the reviewer is a bit of an idiot. He is overly critical of all the artists, and makes out like every one of them are all an end in themselves. He writes off artists as fads and phases and skips over some important ones that should be given more time. Don't bother with it!

agreed

His piece on Dilla and Slum Village was a disgrace

Think i threw out the book in disgust after reading it, such was his ignorance on the subject


It's a shame because it has it's moments, I got give it and the Rough guide to reggae once as presents but the reggae one is far superior

Boom_Bap

StevieG wrote: »

agreed

His piece on Dilla and Slum Village was a disgrace

Think i threw out the book in disgust after reading it, such was his ignorance on the subject


It's a shame because it has it's moments, I got give it and the Rough guide to reggae once as presents but the reggae one is far superior

a buddy of mine loves the one on Drum n bass, he refers to it as the bible

ItsNugget

Parrish_Crooks wrote: »

I have that myself, I think the reviewer is a bit of an idiot. He is overly critical of all the artists, and makes out like every one of them are all an end in themselves. He writes off artists as fads and phases and skips over some important ones that should be given more time. Don't bother with it!

I found the majority of it to be fair enough. Theres a lot of fads in hiphop. I agree that certain artists dont get enough space but its hard to cover everyone and hes mostly going to cover the more famous ones the best.

Parrish_Crooks

ItsNugget wrote: »

I found the majority of it to be fair enough. Theres a lot of fads in hiphop. I agree that certain artists dont get enough space but its hard to cover everyone and hes mostly going to cover the more famous ones the best.

It's not even the coverage though, it's the way he sees every artist as a beginning middle and an end. Example, Jay-Z: Starts out as a great rapper, but nobody cared about him by 2000 (According to the review). 2pac, overhyped average rapper, whose best album he picks as 'All Eyez on Me'. I'm not even a big Dre fan myself, but he criticises 2001 as having the same themes and subject matter as Dre's Chronic. Eh, it's gangsta Rap, there's only a certain number of themes there to rap about! Every artist is downplayed and written off as 'they had potential but fell off', and it's just not that simple. I just think the guy doesn't know much about hip-hop. That, coupled with the fact that it is an almost impossible task to write detailed, comprehensive and objective book on every artist ever on the hip-hop scene.

StevieG

ItsNugget wrote: »

I found the majority of it to be fair enough. Theres a lot of fads in hiphop. I agree that certain artists dont get enough space but its hard to cover everyone and hes mostly going to cover the more famous ones the best.

Yup all you want is an over-view
My main problem was his reaction to one of the most important producers in hip-hop, a man who has been producing classics for the likes of Pharcyde and Tribe since the mid 90's, and he basically dismissed him as being boring and one dimensional

Lazy journalism/writing from a guy who generally knows his stuff

He dismisses "Champions Sound", one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time IMO, as underwhelming, Slum Village as a boring crew who people who don't like hip-hop love

Very poor

denashpot

Horno wrote: »

LAbyrinth..not sure who the author is..its all about the murders of pac and biggie...and loads of stuff about death row and their connections to the lapd...good read!

Randall Sullivan as the author. Great read alright.

Notorious

Hip Hop America by Nelson George is an excellent read. N. George is a man who really knows his music and is a true fan of hip hop. I'd put it down as the definitive guide.

Nolanger

Got a good one: Old school rap & hip hop - A to Z of short articles about rap albums from the '80s and early '90s. The second ½ of the book is called 'Digging in the crates' and discusses the funk albums that were sampled. Good reference guide.

GodlessInfidel

Where You're At by Patrick Neath

http://www.spannered.org/books/443/

and Wesiders by William Shaw

http://www.amazon.com/Westsiders-William-Shaw/dp/0747552509

both books are fantastic reads and i can't recommend them high enough

sarabroderick

like most people who feel 50 has gone downhill since his first album loved the book 'pieces to weight' - it is so gritty and hardcore and cheap as chips to buy, I got my copy for 4 euro or something?

Jayz book was ok in parts but I wished it was more conventional autobiography and less preachy as it seemed to jump all over the place

There is a pretty decent beastie boy book the name of which escapes me which was kinda interesting

evil_seed

I have this. I think it's brilliant

http://www.amazon.com/Hip-Hop-Story-Heru-Ptah/dp/0743483235