I should not have to introduce you to Jeff Chang’s book of the above title cause it’s brilliant. Of the good dozen of hip-hop-related books I’ve read, this easily takes the cake and keeps the candles, too. Quite simply, if you know enough English and claim to be a hip-hop head, you should have read this or you will never know what the hell you’re talking about. ;)
Now, I’m not getting into posting e-books, but this is the companion CD to the book, basically a mixtape that takes you back into the history of hip-hop on an audio trip through soundbites and song snippets. Mixed by DJ Sharp and DJ Icewater, and narrated by Quannum Records’ own Chief Xcel, Gift of Gab, Joyo, Lateef and Lyrics Born.
The tracks are a bit tricky, because there’s often more than one song featured on one track of the CD. And I haven’t found a handy way of tagging the files. You figure out how you want that done…
PROLOGUE
1 D-Sharp Just Can’t Stop
SIPPLE OUT DEH
2 Kingston /73 – Lyrics Born
Zen’s in this time mix
3 Ballistic Affair – Leroy Smart
War ina Babylon – Max Romeo
Leggo – Jah Lion
Black Vest – The Upsetters
4 Dub Explosion – Lyrics Born
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
- Augustus Pablo
BLOOD AND FIRE, WITH MORE MUSIC
5 Bronx ‘68 – Lateef the Truth Speaker
6 War and Peace – The Gangs of the Bronx
7 Ghetto Brother Power – Ghetto Brothers
DJ KOOL HERC MAKES A NAME
8 A Creation Myth – Joyo
D-Sharps Back to Sedgewick Mix
9 Fencewalk – Mandrill
I Wouldn’t Change a Thing – Coke Escovedo
You’ll Like It Too – Funkadelic
Son of Scorpio – Dennis Coffey
Give It Up Turnit Loose – James Brown
Kool is Back – Funk Inc.
10 Call Me Herc – DJ Kool Herc
Shaft in Africa – Johnny Pate
11 The Start of Something Big – Joyo
SOUL SALVATION
12 BAM POWER! – Pow Wow & Jazzy Jay
Bambaataa’s Theme – Afrika Bambaataa
13 Bam’s Faith – Afrika Bambaataa & Jazzy Jeff
14 Live at the Bronx River – Lisa Lee
FURIOUS STYLES
15 The Summer of ‘79 at the T-Connection
-Grandmaster Melle Mel
16 Three Anonymous Rappers – Lyrics Born
Good Timing – DJ Icewater
17 Hip Hop on a records?!?!! – Chuck D
D-Sharp’s Hip-Hop on Wax Supreme B-Boy Mix
18 Rapping Ain’t No Thing – The Boogie Boys
Philosophy Rappin’ Spree – Super 3
19 Superappin’ – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Rapping & Rocking the House – Funky 4 + 1 More
At the Party – Treacherous Three
Daisy Lady – 7th Wonder
Expansions – Lonnie Liston Smith
Dance to the Drummer’s Beat – Herman Kelly & Life
It’s Just Begun – Jimmy Castor Bunch
1982 ETERNAL
20 Worldwide Understanding – Crazy Legs
D-Sharp’s at the Roxy Mix
21 At the Dixie – Fantastic Five Freaks
Rapture – Blondie
Jazzy Sensation – Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
Mt. Airy Groove – Pieces of a Dream
22 Going Downtown – Popmaster Fabel
23 The Reagan Era – Kool Lady Blue
Genius of Love – Tom Tom Club
Here Comes That Beat – Pumpkin All Stars
The Message – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
THINGS FALL APART
24 The Other Planet Rock – Chief Xcel
Indio Danca Na Roda – Curumin
(Quannum Exclusive)
25 Cokane in My Brain – Dillinger
26 Rick’s Ready Rock – Chief Xcel
27 The Batteram (Commercial Version) – Toddy Tee
WHAT WE GOT TO SAY
28 The Ultimate Black Melting Pot – Chuck D
D-Sharp’s Whylin’ On The Island Mix
29 Strong Island – JVC Force
Pump That Bass (Get a Little Stupid Yo..) – Original Concept
30 The Name That Changed Everything – Bill Stephney
Don’t Believe the Hype – Public Enemy
Eric B. is President – Eric B. & Rakim
It’s My Thing – EPMD
It’s My Turn – Stezo
Rebel Without a Pause – Public Enemy
I Ain’t No Joke – Eric B. & Rakim
THE CULTURE ASSASINS
31 West Coast Poplock – Ronnie Hudson
32 Uncle Jam’s Army – Gift of Gab
33 Things Done Change – Gift of Gab
34 The New Blues – Gift of Gab
35 Murder Rap – Above the Law
Ya Better Bring a Gun -King Tee & Mixmaster Spade
Gangsta Gangsta – NWA
Rhyme’s Too Funny – Compton’s Most Wanted
How Ya Livin’ – Low Profile
Ruthless Villain – Eazy E & MC Ren
F– Tha Police – NWA
GONNA WORK IT OUT
36 Risking it All – Joyo Velarde
37 A Vision of Peace – Daude Sherrills
38 Peace Treaty (White Label Mix) – KAM
NEW WORLD ORDER
39 The First Coast – DJ Kool Herc
40 Revelation Time -Lateef The Truth Speaker
41 Cell Therapy – Goodie Mob
42 A New Generation – Lateef The Truth Speaker
Icewater’s Better World Mix
43 If – Maroons
44 Last Trumpet Remix – Lyrics Born
(Quannum Exclusive)
45 Cade O Mocoto (Essa Coisa) – Curumin
(Quannum Exclusive)
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop – The Next Lesson – DJ D-Sharp & DJ Icewater (2005)
140 MB, encoded at VBR 254 kbps
Peace!
9@home
3 March 2009 at 1:19 am
Woohooh!!
“I could kiss you, monkey man.”
“Okay, but you’re so darn ugly.”
Cheers, man. I had almost forgotten about this.
3 March 2009 at 2:52 am
My pleasure. We watched that flick the other night, with baby 1 on the edge of the sofa, quivering with excitement. ;)
3 March 2009 at 11:10 am
Thanks man. I bought the book @ Amazon and didn´t get the CD so it´s really cool to find out about this mix.
By the way, I don´t think the book is that great. Chang overinterprets a lot and takes faktors into account that (at least to me) don´t seem very relevant. It´s more of a book for the university than for the HipHoppers themselves. But the chapter on the gang origins of old school HipHop is really great.
peace out
13 March 2009 at 10:51 am
In that case the book should be perfect for you, seeing from where you posted your comment? ;) And don’t you guys have hip-hoppers who’ve been to uni?
13 March 2009 at 1:34 pm
Shure, man. That´s where I work. But I like to separate business and hobbies. So when discussing elements of hiphop I don´t look for “scholarly” attitudes, super deep insights or far fetched connections. For example when discussing graf writing then I am not interested in the art historical context or in the use of calligrafic terms but rather look for a “streetwise” approach which might fit the subject better. Also overanalysing something tends to take away the fun and enjoyment in a thing.
In that respect I felt that Changs book went a little to far especially concerning the analysis of gangsterrap. I just don´t believe that a significant amount of gangster rappers reflected their surroundings in a way that would legitimise Changs lengthy description of the political climate in the US during the early nineties.
13 March 2009 at 1:47 pm
I agree with you to a certain point. Although that was the first time someone went as deep as he did, and I thought it put things into a wider context for me. And while a Schooly D or MC Eiht may not have been aware of why they were saying things they said (or were they?), for the curious onlooker (and the history student in me) it’s interesting to read what might have created the environment that got them to do what they did. (Example: the crack epidemic.)
Yeah, it’s a pretty cerebral approach to the subject matter, but I’ve read other, way more superficial accounts of how hip-hop culture developed and I was in fact looking for something more substantial, cos I can pretty much figure out the simple stuff myself. Plus, I think the CD really puts back some of the immediate fascination for it. For those who read all the names and song titles and can’t hear the music in their head. Like Frank Zappa’s famous line about dancing about architecture… ;)
18 March 2009 at 10:40 am
Yeah, the book is quite dope. It´s just that I bought “The Art and Aesthetics of HipHop” afterwards and that book sucked so hard, that I also felt rather negative about Changs first book.
But the mixtape is really incredible. In hindsight the mixtape would have been enough for me. Just the basic facts presented in a classic HipHop format with short narration interludes. That´s how it should be done!
28 March 2009 at 11:41 pm
yo, the book sounds pretty interesting to me. i ain’t know where to cop that shit, so if you guys have the ebook for that, hook your boy up
28 March 2009 at 11:50 pm
Yo be honest: When was the last time you read a 465-page book as an ebook? You’d pay more for the printout than you would just buying the frickin book. ;)
In case you don’t have such a thing called “book shop” in your vicinity, get your greasy mitts on it here, seeing you are from above the 45th parallel: http://tinyurl.com/djvp4z
Trust me, you’ve spent 15 quid worse than for this.
3 April 2009 at 11:13 pm
http://sharebee.com/f8715a2d
3 May 2009 at 2:26 pm
guess who’s back homie? :D
12 May 2009 at 12:37 am
So i’m kinda preparing a Chino XL collection, and I’m missing 2 tracks: 1 I don’t really know if it exists, and the other is Main One “Bring the Drama”, which is really really rare and I couln’t find it anywhere, EXCEPT, a dead link in a blog called “Peace, Prosperity and Paper” which I noticed that you were member. After I left you a message I found Wasteland Drifter’s email and sent him a mail requesting it, but I was thinking that you might have it, or at least have Wasteland Drifter’s contact and ask him for it if I don’t get a response.
Thanks in advance homie
16 May 2009 at 6:33 pm
yo i cant wait to listen to this. i want to get this book too because i trust your judgement. i might go to the library today. thats whats up! peace!
24 May 2009 at 6:39 pm
Looking forward to listening to the music, thanks.
As for the book – it’s good until it comes to Public Enemy, then the author gives up telling the story and starts political propaganda. Instead of wasting pages on a meeting between Angela Davis and Ice Cube, how about talking about Nas? Not even mentioned. Neither is Gang Starr (what??), Stetsasonic, or the ‘Roxanne wars’, or Tupac, or Cypress Hill, or… the list of people left out is long, way too long for a book which claims to be the ‘definitive history of hip hop’
What annoys me about Chang, is that he name drops some artists, like KRS One, just so they will appear in the index at the end, but does’t really cover them in the book. I find that dishonest. And that final chapter about the activist tour in South Africa – WTF???
A disappointing book. Shame, because the first half is brilliant.
3 November 2009 at 8:56 pm
chang never told that the book is “the definitive history of hip-hop”. as a matter of fact, he always insisted on a more humble approach which found the way even to the subtitle of the book – “A history of the hip-hop generation”. also, his book is not a book on hip-hop music or hip-hop culture it’s a book on hip-hop generation. you can say that it’s a theoretical construct, that there is no such thing as “hip-hop generation” but that’s the thing chang questions himself at the very beginning of the book (see prelude) and afterwards tries to find some arguments for in those 465 pp. of history. chang’s book is literally “bigger than hip-hop” if you take hip-hop to be just rap music or even the whole culture. can’t stop won’t stop goes deeper and wider and tries to bring to the fore the concrete whole of hip-hop from the perspective of its historical development, not just the expressions which we usually call “hip-hop arts/elements” but something like hip-hop conceptual framework which unites the youth on a global scale, forming the foundation for the global generational movement.
that’s why this book is the best book on hip-hop thus far.
3 November 2009 at 9:00 pm
My sentiments exactly. Did I make a claim to the contrary?
3 November 2009 at 9:32 pm
you didn’t address my criticism – i.e.:
that he gives up telling the story after Public Enemy;
and that he gets completely sidetracked with political issues, like the Angela Davis stuff and the anti-Corean riots (obviously an issue for him, being of Asian ancestry);
that the list of artists he leaves out is far too long – you simply can’t have a credible book on the history of hip hop if you don’t mention Gang Starr, Nas, and all the others he left out;
that he’s dishonest for namedropping people he doesn’t actually write about, just so that they appear in the index at the end.
As for ‘the definitive history of hip hop’ you are right, it’s not his claim, must have got confused with some review I read.
I would call it the best book on the origin of hip hop thus far.
4 November 2009 at 12:39 am
Are you talking to me now or to Lou? Cos I don’t feel I need to defend Chang for his choices. There are passages in the book that I wouldn’t have drawn out that much (Benzino etc.) and artists I would have liked to see in there (too many to mention), but at the end, it’s his book and even if it’s not perfect, it’s still the best I know of.