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The Autobiography of Gucci Mane
Mane, Gucci
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $6.53
For the first time Gucci Mane tells his extraordinary story in his own words. It is “as wild, unpredictable, and fascinating as the man himself” (Complex).The platinum-selling recording artist began writing his remarkable autobiography in a federal maximum security prison. Released in 2016, he emerged radically transformed. He was sober, smiling, focused, and positive—a far cry from the Gucci Mane of years past.A critically acclaimed classic, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane “provides incredible insight into one of the most influential rappers of the last decade, detailing a volatile and fascinating life...By the end, every reader will have a greater understanding of Gucci Mane, the man and the musician” (Pitchfork).
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Chang, Jeff
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.00 Sale: $7.47
Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop has been a generation-defining global movement. In a post-civil rights era rapidly transformed by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop gave voiceless youths a chance to address these seismic changes, and became a job-making engine and the Esperanto of youth rebellion. Hip-hop crystallized a multiracial generation's worldview, and forever transformed politics and culture. But the epic story of how that happened has never been fully told . . . until now.
Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius
Rakim
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.99 Sale: $5.17
On the heels of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize, as the world begins to recognize the creative side of Hip-Hop, comes a writing guide from a musician and "The greatest MC of all time," Rakim.The musician and Hip Hop legend—hailed as “the greatest MC of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk—reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that incorporates the soulful genius, confidence, and creativity of a master artist.When he exploded on the music scene, musical genius Rakim was hailed for his brilliant artistic style, adding layers, complexity, depth, musicality, and soul to rap. More than anyone, Rakim has changed the way MCs rhyme. Calm on the mic, his words combine in a frenzy of sound, using complicated patterns based on multisyllabic rhymes and internal rhythms. Rakim can tell a story about a down-on-his-luck man looking for a job and turn it into an epic tale and an unforgettable rhyme. He is not just a great songwriter—he’s a great modern writer.Part memoir, part writing guide, Sweat the Technique offers insight into how Rakim thinks about words, music, writing, and rhyming as it teaches writers of all levels how to hone their craft. It is also a rare glimpse into Rakim’s private life, full of entertaining personal stories from his youth on Long Island growing up in a home and community filled with musiciansto the clubs of New York and the studios of Los Angeles during his rise to the top of popular music. Rakim celebrates the influences that shaped his development, including the jazz music of John Coltrane and the spirituality of the streets, and shares anecdotes spotlighting personalities such as L. L. Cool J. and Dr. Dre, among others.Filled with valuable lessons for every writer, Sweat the Technique reveals the heart and mind of an artist and his love for great storytelling, and always, the words.
Grime Kids: The Inside Story of the Global Grime Takeover
Target, DJ
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.99 Sale: $10.19
A group of kids in the 2000s had a dream to make their voice heard - and this book documents their seminal impact on today's pop culture.DJ Target grew up in Bow under the shadow of Canary Wharf, with money looming close on the skyline. The 'Godfather of Grime' Wiley and Dizzee Rascal first met each other in his bedroom. They were all just grime kids on the block back then, and didn't realise they were to become pioneers of an international music revolution. A movement that permeates deep into British culture and beyond. Household names were borne out of those housing estates, and the music industry now jumps to the beat of their gritty reality rather than the tune of glossy aspiration. Grime has shaken the world and Target is revealing its explosive and expansive journey in full, using his own unique insight and drawing on the input of grime's greatest names.
God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop
Iandoli, Kathy
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.99 Sale: $9.25
Every history of hip-hop previously published, from Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop to Shea Serrano’s The Rap Yearbook, focuses primarily on men, glaringly omitting a thorough and respectful examination of the presence and contribution of the genre’s female artists. For far too long, women in hip-hop have been relegated to the shadows, viewed as the designated “First Lady” thrown a contract, a pawn in some beef, or even worse. But as Kathy Iandoli makes clear, the reality is very different. Today, hip-hop is dominated by successful women such as Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, yet there are scores of female artists whose influence continues to resonate.God Save the Queens pays tribute to the women of hip-hop—from the early work of Roxanne Shante, to hitmakers like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot, to the superstars of today. Exploring issues of gender, money, sexuality, violence, body image, feuds, objectification and more, God Save the Queens is an important and monumental work of music journalism that at last gives these influential female artists the respect they have long deserved.
From Pieces to Weight
50 Cent
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $5.17
This violent and introspective memoir reveals not only 50 Cent's story but also the story of a generation of youth faced with hard choices and very few options. It is a tale of sacrifice, transformation, and redemption, but also one of hope, determination, and the power of self. Told in 50's unique voice, the narrative drips with the raw insight, street wisdom, and his struggle to survive at all costs -- and behold the riches of the American Dream.
My Voice
Martinez, Angie
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $5.17
In her nearly twenty years behind the mic at New York City's two biggest hip-hop stations - Hot 97 and Power 105.1 - Angie Martinez has become an entertainment legend. From onetime presidential hopeful Barack Obama to Jay Z and Beyoncé to postprison Tupac, her intimate and candid interviews with the leading names in the music business, hip-hop culture, and beyond have grabbed headlines and changed the conversation.In the same no-holds-barred style of her radio show, Angie shares stories from behind the scenes of her most controversial interviews, opens up about her personal life, and reflects on her climb to become the voice of New York.
Raw: My Journey into the Wu-Tang
Hawkins, Lamont
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $4.24
The explosive, never-before-told story behind the historic rise of the Wu-Tang Clan, as told by one of its founding members, Lamont "U-God" Hawkins.
The History of Gangster Rap: From Schoolly D to Kendrick Lamar, The Rise of a Great American Art Form
Baker, Soren
(Softcover)
List Price: $24.99 Sale: $8.40
The History of Gangster Rap is a deep dive into one of the most fascinating subgenres of any music category to date. Sixteen detailed chapters, organized chronologically, examine the evolution of gangster rap, its main players, and the culture that created this revolutionary music. From still-swirling conspiracy theories about the murders of Biggie and Tupac to the release of the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, the era of gangster rap is one that fascinates music junkies and remains at the forefront of pop culture. Filled with interviews with key players such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, and dozens more, as well as breakout bios of notorious characters, lists, and more, The History of Gangster Rap is the be-all-end-all book that contextualizes the importance of gangster rap as a cultural phenomenon.
The Emperor of Sound
Chambers, Veronica
(Paperback)
List Price: $14.99 Sale: $4.24
Hailed by the New Yorker as “the eminence grise behind half of what is great in the Top Forty these days,” world-renowned producer Timbaland has been a fixture on the pop charts, with more top-ten hits than Elvis or the Beatles. An artist whose fans are multi-racial and multi-generational, Timbaland works with the hottest artists, from Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott to Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Madonna, and his childhood friend, Pharrell Williams. Yet this celebrity is a uniquely private man who shuns parties, stays out of gossip columns, and rarely gives interviews. Deliberately choosing to tour by bus and conspicuously bling-free, he maintains a low-key lifestyle. If he’s not at the recording studio, he is at home with his family.In The Emperor of Sound, Timbaland offers fans an unprecedented look into his life and work. Completely uncensored and totally honest, he reveals the magic behind the music, sharing the various creative impulses that arise while he’s producing, and the layering of sounds that have created dozens of number one hits. Cinematically written, full of revealing anecdotes and reflections from today’s most popular music icons, The Emperor of Sound showcases this master’s artistry and offers an extraordinary glimpse inside this great musical mind.
Gangster Doodles
Sassy, Marlon
(Hardcover)
List Price: $29.99 Sale: $9.25
A collectible full-color illustrated A-Z treasury of gangster rappers, the hip-hop high life, and notorious pop-culture history, all of which is told through a series of graphic doodles on three-by-three-inch sticky notes.
Diary of a Madman: The Geto Boys, Life, Death, and the Roots of Southern Rap
Ingram, Benjamin Meadows
(Hardcover)
List Price: $25.99 Sale: $3.39
One of Rolling Stone’s Best Music Books of 2015 From Geto Boys legend and renowned storyteller Scarface, comes a passionate memoir about how hip-hop changed the life of a kid from the south side of Houston, and how he rose to the top-and ushered in a new generation of rap dominance. 
Scarface is the celebrated rapper whose hits include "On My Block," "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" and "Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta" (made famous in the cult film Office Space). The former president of Def Jam South, he's collaborated with everyone from Kanye West, Ice Cube and Nas, and had many solo hits such as "Guess Who's Back" feat. Jay-Z and "Smile" feat. Tupac. But before that, he was a kid from Houston in love with rock-and-roll, listening to AC/DC and KISS. 
In Diary of a Madman, Scarface shares how his world changed when he heard Run DMC for the first time; how he dropped out of school in the ninth grade and started selling crack; and how he began rapping as the new form of music made its way out of New York and across the country. It is the account of his rise to the heights of the rap world, as well as his battles with his own demons and depression. Passionately exploring and explaining the roots and influences of rap culture, Diary of a Madman is the story of hip-hop-the music, the business, the streets, and life on the south side Houston, Texas.


Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture
Aidi, Hisham
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.95 Sale: $5.17
In this pioneering study, Hisham Aidi--an expert on globalization and social movements--takes us into the musical subcultures that have emerged among Muslim youth worldwide over the last decade. He shows how music--primarily hip-hop, but also rock, reggae, Gnawa and Andalusian--has come to express a shared Muslim consciousness in face of War on Terror policies.This remarkable phenomenon extends from the banlieues of Paris to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, from the park jams of the South Bronx to the Sufi rock bands of Pakistan. The United States and other Western governments have even tapped into these trends, using hip hop and Sufi music to de-radicalize Muslim youth abroad. Aidi situates these developments in a broader historical context, tracing longstanding connections between Islam and African-American music. Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, Rebel Music takes the pulse of a revolutionary soundtrack that spans the globe.
Parental Discretion Is Advised: The Rise of N.W.A and the Dawn of Gangsta Rap
Kennedy, Gerrick D.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $26.00 Sale: $3.39
Discover the stunning rise, fall, and legacy of N.W.A, one of America’s most revered and iconic enduring music groups, who put their stamp on pop culture, black culture, and who changed hip-hop music forever in this comprehensive and authoritative work of music journalism.Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella caused a seismic shift in hip-hop when they decided to form N.W.A in 1986. Suddenly rap became gangsta and relevant on the West Coast. With their hard-core image, bombastic sound, and lyrics that were equal parts poetic, lascivious, conscious, and downright in-your-face, N.W.A spoke the truth about life on the streets of Compton, California—then a hotbed of poverty, drugs, gangs, and unemployment.Their ’hood tales offered a sharp contrast from the cozy, comfortable images of thriving middle-class life emanating from television screens across America. For the group, making music was not about being nice or projecting a false reality. It was all about expressing themselves.Going beyond the story portrayed in the 2015 blockbuster movie Straight Outta Compton, through firsthand interviews, extensive research, and top-notch storytelling, Los Angeles Times music reporter Gerrick Kennedy transports you back in time and offers a front-row seat to N.W.A’s early days and the drama and controversy that followed the incendiary group as they rose to become multiplatinum artists.A riveting and illuminating work of music journalism, Parental Discretion Is Advised captures a special moment in rap music, when N.W.A made it altogether social, freaky, enterprising, and gangsta. They forced us all to take notice. For that alone, their story must be told.
Grime Kids: The Inside Story of the Global Grime Takeover
Target, DJ
(Softcover)
List Price: $15.99 Sale: $5.17
A group of kids in the 90s had a dream to make their voice heard - and this book documents their seminal impact on today's pop culture.DJ Target grew up in Bow under the shadow of Canary Wharf, with money looming close on the skyline. The 'Godfather of Grime' Wiley and Dizzee Rascal first met each other in his bedroom. They were all just grime kids on the block back then, and didn't realise they were to become pioneers of an international music revolution. A movement that permeates deep into British culture and beyond. Household names were borne out of those housing estates, and the music industry now jumps to the beat of their gritty reality rather than the tune of glossy aspiration. Grime has shaken the world and Target is revealing its explosive and expansive journey in full, using his own unique insight and drawing on the input of grime's greatest names.
Dead Precedents: How Hip-Hop Defines the Future
Christopher, Roy
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.95 Sale: $6.11
This book is about is the many ways that the foundations of hip-hop appropriation--allusions and creative language use, as well as technology and sampling--inform the new millennium.Dead Precedents: How Hip-Hop Defines the Future, uses the concerns and conceits of cyberpunk to thoughtfully remap hip-hop's spread from around the way to around the world. Its central argument is that the cultural practices of hip-hop culture are the blueprint to the 21st century, and that an understanding of its appropriation of language and technology is an understanding of the now.
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