Customer Reviews
the best academic Hip-Hop Book you will find 
2006-09-20
Jeff has doen an amazing job chronicling the culture from a academic perspective with the right amount of authenticity. He is not some egghead in a tower. He has started his own label and grinded it out in Hip-Hop. But he still has the intellectual desire to examine Hip-Hop with the proper historical angle.
I have read a lot of books on Hip-Hop and this is best. Amateurs - start here. Vets - brush up on your knowledge here.
lots of primary sources & great voice 2006-08-30
While I don't know much about Chang's authority, he must have some sort of rep or he wouldn't have access to so many of the most important people in hip-hop to give their verbatim accounts of & reactions to the events in hip-hop and potential changes it will undergo. His language is lively and he is on point with all of his propositions and observations. I also included this material in my work for Icons of Hip-Hop (Greenwood Press). Great style, and just like Nelson George, he is unafraid, eager even, to explore the ramifications of hip-hop in both its original and commercial forms. A great book, pretty comprehensive, with many useful and interesting details.
Sigh 
2006-07-15
It's truly unfortunate that a book of this magnitude was written by someone so seemingly obsessed by race, race, race. The first thing I did after reading this was look the author up and read his blog and there again -- race, race, race. There's no faulting the research or effort of this book but it's too heavily flavored by a narrow, angry point-of-view. Hip-hop is many things to many people but I guess it's really just ONE thing according to the author.
A Book Beyond Hip-Hop 2006-06-03
Hip-Hop is such a diverse culture, with colorful personalities and artists, and perspectives that it is impossible to write a definitive book in just one volume. Jeff Chang doesn't attempt that. He goes beyond style, production, and lyrics. He delivers the much needed perspective that, even tho' it didn't give birth to it, it solidified the genre to music critics. That perspective is the Message.
I read an interesting quote somewhere, which I will paraphrase, statin' that "To some 'Rapper's Delight' marked the end of the beginning and to others it was the beginning of the end." An interesting point of view since, in the beginning chapters, Jeff Chang actually echoes the latter part of that phrase. We all know the four elements - DJing, breakdancin', graffiti and MCing - but with the introduction of the emcee, the other elements have taken a backseat and, over time, have been forgotten. Chang recounts the lives of graf writers and b-boys who helped push the envelope, the party scene and art galleries, only to walk away empty handed and failed to be given the recognition they deserve. Same goes for DJs.
Chang also tackles other topics, but there's three very interesting subjects that he touches on. (1) is the Ghetto Brothers, one of the gangs that formed in the South Bronx after Robert Moses' highway program altered the landscape of the borough. The gangs illustrated not only the gang culture but the politicization of young Latino and black minds that molded future phenom Afrika Baambaata. The Ghetto Brothers even recorded an album, which would be a golden listen (Chang, if you're reading, swing a copy my way). (2) was the controversy and political pressure on Public Enemy and Ice Cube, two prominent artists that held a massive amount of influence to their fans. (3) was how hip-hop crossed over to middle America with the help of YO! MTV Raps and The Source, along with the decade defining opus, "The Chronic" by Dr. Dre, which is similar to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson in many aspects, since it is an album that's universally liked, even by people who are not really into hip-hop. And since hip-hop crossed over, the politics and the monopolization that drive the industry (Telecommunications Act) and to whom the genre is packaged to.
This is a must read for any hip-hop fan since it would open a broader perspective for the reader. It does have a main focus on Kool Herc, Crazy Legs, Afrika Bambaata, Public Enemy, Ice Cube & Ice-T, but it is not here to break down the lyrics to an album. It breaks down the profround effects the LA riots, the blatant racism, the influence of gang culture, the devastating impact of the crack epidemic, the peace treaties, etc., have had on the genre. You do not know hip-hop until you read this book. I thank Jeff Chang for the recollections of individuals and the refreshing of minds to those whom have gone forgotten. I love hip-hop... no matter how much I say I hate it.
The Soul of a Hustla/ G Publishing 2006-04-07
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Jeff keep doing your thing baby, the book is hot. Check this out:
G Publishing is leading the way in the Urban Self Help and True Crime Literature, with it's just released book the Soul of a Hustla, The Ultimate How to Book for using your mind to make a fortune, Ata Gonzalez sets the bar very high with this educational and motivational book. Highly endorsed by major hip hop figures. With it's first True Crime publication the company brings to you the real Scarface of the Miami 80's scene. Castor Gonzalez authors his book to share his experiences and mistakes with the world so that hopefully he could educate people on why they should weigh diffrent options to suceed in life besides living a life of crime. Mr. Gonzalez is serving a life sentence in federal prison for drug smuggling.
EXCELLENT NARRATIVE 2008-01-04
From Jamaica to Public Enemy all the way to The Source and beyond, this book is just chock-full of really gripping narratives which help hiphop fans really see what shaped the music we all love. My favorite part is the Public Enemy narratives simply because it shows, very clearly, the struggle artists go through. or when Tipper Gore and her gang go from attempting to censor heavy metal to rap. Just goes to show how powerful of a catalyst music is.
A MUST READ FOR ANY MUSIC LOVER.
Rocky
Killer, meng 2007-05-24
As a literate college graduate who loves hiphop and reading, this book bridges the gap by bringing a history of the movement and the place that, more or less, made hiphop. The initial chapters about NYC and Jamaica from the sixties onward really clarified the scene for me: white flight, the major NYC highway projects and the civil strife in Jamaica created a cauldron of creative activity in the center of the greatest city in the world, among its poorest citizens. This book rules, quite simply. I read it over a weekend, while downloading a lot of the music along with it, immersing myself in an epoch and a movement that I have only begun to truly appreciate in the last 3-4 years. Excellent and highly recommended.
a complete history 
2007-03-21
Chang's history of hip-hop starts at the beginning (in the 70s) and examines the phenomenon from musical, cultural, and political viewpoints. His main strength is that he refrains from discussing "current" events, lest the book become dated too quickly. Indeed, only the last couple of chapters deal with the last ten years, and at that it's a cursory look. Chang's writing is outstanding, if a little too focused on certain acts (Public Enemy seems to take up the entire mid-section of the book), but his depth of knowledge of his subject matter and his manner for conveying it are excellent. His primary weakness is that he has a definite political slant to his work, occasionally dropping his journalistic guard to take shots at right-wing causes/politicians. It doesn't get in the way of the text, but it does get annoying. It's hard to write a history of a person/event/phenomenon that is ongoing that actually seems like a history, but Chang has done an excellent job doing just that.
Quilting threads of Hip Hop 2007-02-25
After reading Chang's book Can't Stop Won't Stop it is amazing how all the pieces come together. He writes with an amazing breadth that captures politics, sociology, history, economics, globalization, exploitation, capitalism, racism, media tricks, etc. and how they have all contributed to the formation of hip-hop and the resulting culture. As I came of age in the mid 90's I became transfixed with gangsta rap and inner city culture, I never realized how all the afore mentioned concepts made up an entire culture that connects with audiences all around the globe or the economics that helped regenerate a struggling economy and an evaporating job landscape. As the new century comes into full swing it is astounding to think of the power hip hop still holds and the mouths it feeds.
As I dig deeper into the sociology of this last statement I can't help but think while hip hop has revived industries like music, fashion, and film and laced corporate pockets with green the conditions that breed hip hop still have not changed. The current Bush Administration is continuing where Reagan and his pops left off by gutting social programs and destroying education while offering hope through the army only to die for a country that doesn't give a damn about a better tomorrow only a richer, whiter one. Hip Hop heads are still seen as criminals in broader society, still harassed by police and still followed around the stores their culture helps feed.
Perhaps Hip Hop can be the vehicle that delivers a unified front to reclaim this country from corporate interests and the carnivorous capitalist system. It has the power to reach audiences of every creed and the prophets to deliver the message.
Jeff Chang is a prophet of history. Thanks for writing this book and teaching me about my past. Because if you love hip hop this history is a part of you.
Overall an excellent book 2006-10-22
Previous reviewers have already brought out the strengths of the book, so I won't extensively repeat them. For me, it was important that he located the development of hip hop in socio-economic contexts of the last few decades. Some were disappointed that this book was not a mindlessly celebratory litany of great artists, but a critical history of great art made by real people with real conflicts. I think we need less cheerleaders and more thoughtfulness.
While everyone has topics that they would like to see addressed, I was surprised that the author overlooked a major controversy in hip hop: the shootings of Tupac and Biggie. I am not nitpicking here, this was more important than the KRS-ONE/MC Shan dispute, y'know? This caused a great deal of anguish within hip hop and reverberated outside of it. Besides refocuing the question of violence in hop hop, it re-raised questions about the relationships between art, race, communitty and commerce.
Perhaps in future editions, something could be added?
