Random House New Releases - Music - Rap

Decoded by Jay-Z

2011-11-01T00:30:00-05:00

Decoded
Written by Jay-Z

Trade Paperback, 352 pages | Spiegel & Grau | Biography & Autobiography - Composers & Musicians; Music - Rap; Biography & Autobiography - Rich & Famous | $25.00 | 978-0-8129-8115-5 (0-8129-8115-4)

Expanded paperback edition of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller features 16 pages of new material, including 3 new songs decoded.

Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time.

Def Jam, Inc. by Brett Ratner

2011-03-30T00:30:00-05:00

Def Jam, Inc. Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Inf
Written by Stacy Gueraseva
Introduction by Brett Ratner

eBook | One World/Ballantine | Music - Rap; Music - Business Aspects; Social Science - African-American Studies | $12.99 | 978-0-307-52039-5 (0-307-52039-0)

In the early ‘80s, the music industry wrote off hip-hop as a passing fad. Few could or would have predicted that the improvised raps and raw beats busting out of New York City’s urban underclass would one day become a multimillion-dollar business and one of music’s most lucrative genres.

Among those few were two visionaries: Russell Simmons, a young black man from Hollis, Queens, and Rick Rubin, a Jewish kid from Long Island. Though the two came from different backgrounds, their all-consuming passion for hip-hop brought them together. Soon they would revolutionize the music industry with their groundbreaking label, Def Jam Records.

Def Jam, Inc. traces the company’s incredible rise from the NYU dorm room of nineteen-year-old Rubin (where LL Cool J was discovered on a demo tape) to the powerhouse it is today; from financial struggles and scandals–including The Beastie Boys’s departure from the label and Rubin’s and Simmons’s eventual parting–to revealing anecdotes about artists like Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Foxy Brown, Jay-Z, and DMX.

Stacy Gueraseva, former editor in chief of Russell Simmons’s magazine, Oneworld, had access to the biggest players on the scene, and brings you real conversations and a behind-the-scenes look from a decade–and a company–that turned the music world upside down. She takes you back to New York in the ‘80s, when late-night spots such as Danceteria and Nell’s were burning with young, fresh rappers, and Simmons and Rubin had nothing but a hunch that they were on to something huge.

Far more than just a biography of the two men who made it happen, Def Jam, Inc. is a journey into the world of rap itself. Both an intriguing business history as well as a gritty narrative, here is the definitive book on Def Jam–a must read for any fan of hip-hop as well as all popular-culture junkies.

From the Hardcover edition.

Decoded by Jay-Z

2010-12-07T00:30:00-05:00

Decoded
Written by Jay-Z

eBook | Spiegel & Grau | Biography & Autobiography - Composers & Musicians; Music - Rap; Biography & Autobiography - Rich & Famous | $14.99 | 978-1-58836-959-8 (1-58836-959-5)

Expanded edition of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller features 16 pages of new material, including 3 new songs decoded.

Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time.

Whatever You Say I Am by Anthony Bozza

2010-08-04T00:30:00-05:00

Whatever You Say I Am The Life and Times of Eminem
Written by Anthony Bozza

eBook, 288 pages | Crown Archetype | Biography & Autobiography - Entertainment & Performing Arts; Music - Rap | $9.99 | 978-0-307-54920-4 (0-307-54920-8)

does eminem matter?

On assignment for his first cover story for Rolling Stone, the very first national cover story on Eminem, Anthony Bozza met a young blond kid, a rapper who would soon take the country by storm. But back in 1999, Eminem was just beginning to make waves among suburban white teenagers as his first single, “My Name Is,” went into heavy rotation on MTV.

Who could have predicted that in a mere two years, Eminem would become the most reviled and controversial hip-hop figure ever? Or that twelve months after that, Eminem would sit firmly at the pinnacle of American celebrity, a Grammy winner many times over and the recipient of an Oscar.

did eminem change or did america finally figure him out?

Whatever You Say I Am attempts to answer this question and many more. Since their first meeting, Bozza has been given a level of access to Eminem that no other journalist has enjoyed. In Whatever You Say I Am, original, never-before-published text from Bozza’s interviews with Eminem are combined with the insight of numerous hip-hop figures, music critics, journalists, and members of the Eminem camp to look behind the mask of this enigmatic celebrity. With an eye toward Eminem’s place in American popular culture, Bozza creates a thoughtful portrait of one of the most successful artists of our time. This is so much more than a biography of a thoroughly well-documented life. It is a close-up look at a conflicted figure who has somehow spoken to the heart of America.

From the Hardcover edition.

Enter the Babylon System by Christian Pearce

2010-06-18T00:30:00-05:00

Enter the Babylon System Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent
Written by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce

eBook | Vintage Canada | Music - Rap; Social Science - Popular Culture | $9.99 | 978-0-307-36846-1 (0-307-36846-7)

A docu-style investigation of our fascination with the gun, from the perspective of the hip-hop generation.

The 2003 shooting death of Toronto community-centre worker Kempton Howard put the spotlight on hip hop’s fixation with guns. Media and police soon blamed rap music and its tales of gang life on bullet-ridden US streets for the rising use of firearms in Canadian crime. Were these songs artful accounts of a terrible truth, or a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce have interviewed many of the major players in the hip-hop world. As publishers of an award-winning magazine of urban culture, they’d watched rap music become a scapegoat for society’s much older and widely spread fascination with guns. What follows is their international adventure to deconstruct modern gun culture in all its manifestations. Bascunan and Pearce seek out hip-hop artists, illegal gun runners, firearms aficionados and manufacturers, museum curators, academics, politicians, video-game creators, activists, victims of gun violence and the family and friends left behind.

Somewhere between Fast Food Nation, No Logo and a Michael Moore documentary, featuring sly sidebar material and original artwork, Enter the Babylon System is part outrageous journalistic pursuit and part passionate cri de coeur for sanity in the face of a society’s obsession.

From the Hardcover edition.

How to Wreck a Nice Beach by Dave Tompkins

2010-04-06T00:30:00-05:00

How to Wreck a Nice Beach The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop, The Machine Speaks
Written by Dave Tompkins

Hardcover, 336 pages | Stop Smiling Books | Music - History & Criticism; Music - Rap; Music - Ethnomusicology | $35.00 | 978-1-933633-88-6 (1-933633-88-3)

The history of the vocoder: how popular music hijacked the Pentagon's speech scrambling weapon

The vocoder, invented by Bell Labs in 1928, once guarded phones from eavesdroppers during World War II; by the Vietnam War, it was repurposed as a voice-altering tool for musicians, and is now the ubiquitous voice of popular music.

In How to Wreck a Nice Beach—from a mis-hearing of the vocoder-rendered phrase “how to recognize speech”—music journalist Dave Tompkins traces the history of electronic voices from Nazi research labs to Stalin’s gulags, from the 1939 World’s Fair to Hiroshima, from artificial larynges to Auto-Tune.

We see the vocoder brush up against FDR, JFK, Stanley Kubrick, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Kraftwerk, the Cylons, Henry Kissinger, and Winston Churchill, who boomed, when vocoderized on V-E Day, “We must go off!” And now vocoder technology is a cell phone standard, allowing a digital replica of your voice to sound human.

From T-Mobile to T-Pain, How to Wreck a Nice Beach is a riveting saga of technology and culture, illuminating the work of some of music’s most provocative innovators.

The Gospel of Hip Hop by KRS-One

2009-10-24T00:30:00-05:00

The Gospel of Hip Hop The First Instrument
Written by KRS-One

Hardcover, 832 pages | powerHouse Books | Music - Rap; Social Science - Popular Culture; Social Science - Sociology Of Religion | $24.95 | 978-1-57687-497-4 (1-57687-497-4)

The Gospel of Hip Hop: First Instrument, the first book from the I Am Hip Hop, is the philosophical masterwork of KRS ONE. Set in the format of the Christian Bible, this 800-plus-page opus is a life-guide manual for members of Hip Hop Kulture that combines classic philosophy with faith and practical knowledge for a fascinating, in-depth exploration of Hip Hop as a life path. Known as “The Teacha,” KRS ONE developed his unique outlook as a homeless teen in Brooklyn, New York, engaging his philosophy of self-creation to become one of the most respected emcees in Hip Hop history. Respected as Hip Hop’s true steward, KRS ONE painstakingly details the development of the culture and the ways in which we, as “Hiphoppas,” can and should preserve its future.

"The Teacha" also discusses the origination of Hip Hop Kulture and relays specific instances in history wherein one can discover the same spirit and ideas that are at the core of Hip Hop’s current manifestation. He explains Hip Hop down to the actual meaning and linguistic history of the words “hip” and “hop,” and describes the ways in which "Hiphoppas" can change their current circumstances to create a future that incorporates Health, Love, Awareness, and Wealth (H-LAW).

Committed to fervently promoting self-reliance, dedicated study, peace, unity, and truth, The "Teacha" has drawn both criticism and worship from within and from outside of Hip Hop Kulture. In this beautifully written, inspiring book, KRS ONE shines the light of truth, from his own empirical research over a 14-year period, into the fascinating world of Hip Hop.

It's Just Begun by Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeno

2009-04-28T00:30:00-05:00

It's Just Begun The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop's First Latino DJ
Written by Ivan Sanchez and Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeno

Hardcover, 180 pages | powerHouse Books | Biography & Autobiography - Entertainment & Performing Arts; Social Science - Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies; Music - Rap | $22.95 | 978-1-57687-494-3 (1-57687-494-X)

It’s Just Begun: The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop’s First Latino DJ is a gritty and gripping tale of one man’s struggles to not only survive, but to triumph over adversity and abuse that will make your blood run cold. By conquering unimaginable obstacles, Wiz offers inspiration to anyone who has ever wondered, “Why me?”

Check the Technique by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

2009-03-12T00:30:00-05:00

Check the Technique Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies
Written by Brian Coleman
Introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

eBook, 528 pages | Villard | Music - Rap; Music - Ethnomusicology; Biography & Autobiography - Composers & Musicians | $14.99 | 978-0-307-49442-9 (0-307-49442-X)

A Tribe Called Quest • Beastie Boys • De La Soul • Eric B. & Rakim • The Fugees • KRS-One • Pete Rock & CL Smooth • Public Enemy • The Roots • Run-DMC • Wu-Tang Clan • and twenty-five more hip-hop immortals

It’s a sad fact: hip-hop album liners have always been reduced to a list of producer and sample credits, a publicity photo or two, and some hastily composed shout-outs. That’s a damn shame, because few outside the game know about the true creative forces behind influential masterpieces like PE’s It Takes a Nation of Millions. . ., De La’s 3 Feet High and Rising, and Wu-Tang’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). A longtime scribe for the hip-hop nation, Brian Coleman fills this void, and delivers a thrilling, knockout oral history of the albums that define this dynamic and iconoclastic art form.

The format: One chapter, one artist, one album, blow-by-blow and track-by-track, delivered straight from the original sources. Performers, producers, DJs, and b-boys–including Big Daddy Kane, Muggs and B-Real, Biz Markie, RZA, Ice-T, and Wyclef–step to the mic to talk about the influences, environment, equipment, samples, beats, beefs, and surprises that went into making each classic record. Studio craft and street smarts, sonic inspiration and skate ramps, triumph, tragedy, and take-out food–all played their part in creating these essential albums of the hip-hop canon.

Insightful, raucous, and addictive, Check the Technique transports you back to hip-hop’s golden age with the greatest artists of the ’80s and ’90s. This is the book that belongs on the stacks next to your wax.

“Brian Coleman’s writing is a lot like the albums he covers: direct, uproarious, and more than six-fifths genius.”
–Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

“All producers and hip-hop fans must read this book. It really shows how these albums were made and touches the music fiend in everyone.”
–DJ Evil Dee of Black Moon and Da Beatminerz

“A rarity in mainstream publishing: a truly essential rap history.”
–Ronin Ro, author of Have Gun Will Travel

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Triksta by Nik Cohn

2009-03-12T00:30:00-05:00

Triksta Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Written by Nik Cohn

eBook, 256 pages | Vintage | Music - Rap | $11.99 | 978-0-307-54827-6 (0-307-54827-9)

Acclaimed music writer Nik Cohn’s love of hip-hop goes back to its beginnings, and his love of New Orleans even further, to when he passed through the Big Easy on tour with The Who and discovered a place with a magic that never failed to seize him. On the surface he’s the least likely candidate for a rap impresario. But with his signature charm and passion, he plunges headfirst into the wards, clubs, and projects of New Orleans, opening up a world closed to most outsiders: a journey into the heart of the hip-hop dream, and into larger question of racial identity in America. Written before Hurricane Katrina struck (and published here with an afterword that chronicles how Katrina altered the lives of those he met) Triksta now stands as an elegy to a city, its music, and its people.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Living Proof by Uptown

2007-12-01T00:30:00-05:00

Living Proof
Text by Ruckus and Uptown
Photographed by David Allen Harvey

Hardcover, 112 pages | powerHouse Books | Photography - Portraits; Music - Rap; Social Science - Popular Culture | $29.95 | 978-1-57687-403-5 (1-57687-403-6)

Hip hop, which first began on the streets of the South Bronx in the early 1970s, has traveled the globe, finding a home in every corner of the planet. Remade by local cultures in their own language and regional style, hip hop’s versatility speaks to its accessibility and universality. The lyrics, the look, and the lifestyle could easily be a cultural anthropologist’s best example—or worst nightmare—of America’s influence and cultural dominance.

In 2005, Magnum Photographer David Alan Harvey began photographing local emcees in the Bronx River Projects, home of hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, whose legendary Zulu Nation parties of the 70s inspired a new generation of b-boys and b-girls. It is their descendants that Harvey has captured in Living Proof, a glimpse into hip hop in its many forms.

Boogie Down thugs Uptown and Ruckus, unsigned artists whose lyrics are presented here, became Harvey’s trusted friends and self-appointed guides, bringing him inside their homes, their families, and their lives. Harvey soon realized that the code of the streets would bring one of three fates: jail, death, or success. And so he traveled from the 'hood" to Hollywood, gaining access to Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Nelly—artists who went through the system and came out kings. Keepin’ it real becomes a little surreal when gold records and semi-automatics mix like gin and tonics.

Going global to document the regional manifestations of a culture a mere three decades in existence, Harvey discovered conversations with DAM in East Jerusalem sounded just like the ramble with Uptown and Ruckus. Hip hop, for all its pop-pop-pop, for all it’s and ya don’t stop, for all its rise to the top, has always been about speaking to the guy on the corner and the girl at the club—because skills and styls come from a hard love.

Enter the Babylon System by Christian Pearce

2007-11-20T00:30:00-05:00

Enter the Babylon System Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent
Written by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce

Trade Paperback, 368 pages | Vintage Canada | Social Science; Music - Rap; Social Science - Popular Culture | $19.00 | 978-0-679-31389-2 (0-679-31389-3)

The Breaks by Tom Terrell

2007-08-01T00:30:00-05:00

The Breaks Stylin' and Profilin' 1982-1990
Text by Bill Adler and Tom Terrell
Photographed by Janette Beckman

Hardcover, 144 pages | powerHouse Books | Photography - Subjects & Themes - Celebrity; Music - Rap; Social Science - Popular Culture | $35.00 | 978-1-57687-397-7 (1-57687-397-8)

“These images, which span music, street culture, and hip hop icons from 1982 to 1990, feature entertainers at the breaking point of their careers. The pictures manifest the genius of underground scenes and highlight their influence on today's music scene.”
—Paper

In the fall of 1982, celebrated photographer of the British music scene Janette Beckman moved to New York City, where she found Hip Hop on the edge of explosion. After a decade underground, the DJs, MCs, b-boys, fly girls, and graff writers were finally getting their due from the downtown crowd. While trains were covered in graffiti and boomboxes were blasting on the corners, DJs were up in the clubs while the dancers rocked the floor. Artists were getting signed and local legends were born. And while others called hip hop a fad, Beckman knew better.

Her photographs transport us back to a time before music videos, marketing departments, and über-stylists took control. The queen of the 80s album cover, Beckman shot the icons of the era: Afrika Bambaataa, GrandMaster Flash and the Furious Five, the Fearless Four, the World Famous Supreme Team, Lovebug Starski, Salt-n-Pepa, Run-DMC, Stetsasonic, UTFO, Roxanne Shante, Sweet T, Jazzy Joyce, Slick Rick, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. and Rakim, EPMD, NWA, Ice-T, 2 Live Crew, Tone Loc, Gang Starr, Ultramagnetic MCs, Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, Special Ed, Leaders of the New School, Jungle Brothers, Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, and countless others. The era was as original as it was innocent, and Beckman’s images remind us of a culture that brought forth The Message before it got Paid in Full.

Wild Style by Charlie Ahearn

2007-07-01T00:30:00-05:00

Wild Style The Sampler
Written by Charlie Ahearn

Hardcover, 200 pages | powerHouse Books | Art - Graffiti & Street Art; Photography - Subjects & Themes - Lifestyles; Music - Rap | $35.00 | 978-1-57687-364-9 (1-57687-364-1)

“I mean love is love. Recognize the Hip Hop culture, cause that’s what we are doing. We’re having fun with it. We spread love. There’s no animosity. There’s no prejudice in our culture. None of that. It’s red black green orange. We all in it. We come from Japan. You ever hear them rapping in Japanese? You ever hear them rapping in Swahili? I want you to know Charlie Ahearn has done his thing. The cast of the movie, I love you all. We all did our thing. We are history. Wild Style is all over the world.”
—The Chief Rocker Busy Bee, 2006

In 1982, a small, independent movie written, produced, and directed by Charlie Ahearn was released, first in Germany, Japan, and Cannes, then finally in Times Square. Wild Style, the first film to unite the underground urban art forms of nascent Hip Hop culture—DJing, MCing, b-boying, and graff writing—was filmed on location in the South Bronx without permits or pretensions. Some 25 years after its release, Wild Style is truly a classic, having inspired countless artists, musicians, and writers with unforgettable scenes starring the era’s most memorable personalities.

To celebrate the film’s silver anniversary, Wild Style The Sampler provides an inside look at the making of the film, its release, and the reverberations it caused around the world. Narrated by Ahearn, the book introduces us to a cast of characters and outrageous adventures through a carefully curated collection of never-before-published photographs, original artwork, production stills, archival materials, and personal stories from stars Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quinones, LADY PINK, ZEPHYR, Patti Astor, Busy Bee, Grandmaster Caz, and Glenn O’Brien, as well as insights into the film’s influence by artists and writers including Sacha Jenkins, Melle Mel, Biz Markie, Cut Chemist, and DJ Krush. Recounting the film’s influence over the past quarter century, Wild Style The Sampler offers incomparable insight into Hip Hop’s most indelible film.

Check the Technique by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

2007-06-12T00:30:00-05:00

Check the Technique Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies
Written by Brian Coleman
Introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Trade Paperback, 528 pages | Villard | Music - Rap; Music - Ethnomusicology; Biography & Autobiography - Composers & Musicians | $20.00 | 978-0-8129-7775-2 (0-8129-7775-0)

Beats Rhymes & Life by Michael Eric Dyson

2007-05-15T00:30:00-05:00

Beats Rhymes & Life What We Love and Hate About Hip-Hop
Written by Ytasha Womack
Edited by Kenji Jasper
Foreword by Michael Eric Dyson

Trade Paperback, 320 pages | Three Rivers Press | Music - Rap | $19.00 | 978-0-7679-1977-7 (0-7679-1977-7)

Our generation made hip-hop. But hip-hop also made us. Why are suburban kids referring to their subdivision as “block”? Why has the pimp become a figure of male power? Why has dodging the feds become an act of honor long after one has made millions as a legitimate artist? What happens when fantasy does more harm than reality?—From the Introduction

Hip-hop culture has been in the mainstream for years. Suburban teens take their fashion cues from Diddy and expect to have Three 6 Mafia play their sweet-sixteen parties. From the “Boogie Down Bronx” to the heartland, hip-hop’s influence is major. But has the movement taken a wrong turn? In Beats Rhymes and Life, hot journalists Kenji Jasper and Ytasha Womack have focused on what they consider to be the most prominent symbols of the genre: the fan, the turntable, the ice, the dance floor, the shell casing, the buzz, the tag, the whip, the ass, the stiletto, the (pimp’s) cane, the coffin, the cross, and the corner. Each is the focus of an essay by a journalist who skillfully dissects what their chosen symbol means to them and to the hip-hop community.The collection also features many original interviews with some of rap’s biggest stars talking candidly about how they connect to the culture and their fans. With a foreword by the renowned scholar Michael Eric Dyson, Beats Rhymes and Life is an innovative and daring look at the state of the hip-hop nation.

Triksta by Nik Cohn

2007-04-10T00:30:00-05:00

Triksta Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Written by Nik Cohn

Trade Paperback, 256 pages | Vintage | Music - Rap | $13.95 | 978-1-4000-7706-9 (1-4000-7706-0)

How Long Will They Mourn Me? by Dawn Marie Daniels

2006-08-29T00:30:00-05:00

How Long Will They Mourn Me? The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur
Written by Candace Sandy and Dawn Marie Daniels

Paperback, 176 pages | One World/Ballantine | Biography & Autobiography - Entertainment & Performing Arts; Music - Rap; Biography & Autobiography | $6.99 | 978-0-345-49483-2 (0-345-49483-0)

“Buried as a g while tha whole world remembers me”
–Tupac Shakur, from “Until the End of Time”

Tupac Shakur was larger than life. A gifted rapper, actor, and poet, he was fearless, prolific, and controversial–and often said that he never expected to live past the age of thirty. He was right. On September 13, 1996, he died of gunshot wounds at age twenty-five. But even ten years after Tupac’s tragic passing, the impact of his life and talent continues to flourish. Lauded as one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time, Tupac has sold more than sixty-seven million records worldwide, making him the top-selling rapper ever.

How Long Will They Mourn Me? celebrates Tupac’s unforgettable life–his rise to fame; his tumultuous dark side marked by sex, drugs, and violence; and the indelible legacy he left behind. Although Tupac’s murder remains unsolved, the spirit of this legendary artist is far from forgotten. How long will we mourn him? Fans worldwide will grieve his untimely death for a long time to come.

A Time Before Crack by James "Koe" Rodriguez

2005-06-01T00:30:00-05:00

A Time Before Crack
Text by Charlie Ahearn and Terence Jennings
Afterword by James "Koe" Rodriguez
Photographed by Jamel Shabazz
Introduction by Claude Grunitzky

Hardcover, 152 pages | powerHouse Books | Photography - Portraits; Social Science - Minority Studies; Music - Rap | $35.00 | 978-1-57687-213-0 (1-57687-213-0)

“Deeply unpretentious and undistracted by the trendy new aesthetics or technologies, Mr. Shabazz is the best kind of photojournalist: one driven simply by curiosity about other human beings.”
—Ken Johnson, The New York Times

Once upon a time before crack, inner city communities were blighted by poverty and unemployment—but not by the drug wars that tore families apart, destroying lives with needless violence and mindless addiction. Once upon a time before crack, pride and style were as inseparable as a beatbox and mixtape, or as a pair of shoes and matching purse. Once upon a time before crack, Jamel Shabazz was on the scene, working the streets of New York City, capturing the faces and places of an era that have long since disappeared.

Best known as Hip Hop’s finest fashion photographer for his blockbuster best-selling monograph, Back in the Days (powerHouse Books, 2001), Shabazz revisited his archive and unearthed an extraordinary collection of never-before-published documentary photographs collected for his third powerHouse Books release, A Time Before Crack, a visual diary of the streets of New York City from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties, Shabazz’s distinctive photographs reveal the families, the poses, and the players who made this age extraordinary.

Beastie Boys Anthology by Beastie Boys

2004-11-01T00:30:00-05:00

Beastie Boys Anthology The Sounds of Science
Written by Beastie Boys

Hardcover, 88 pages | powerHouse Books | Photography - Subjects & Themes - Celebrity; Music - Rap | $45.00 | 978-1-57687-105-8 (1-57687-105-3)

From 1982’s Pollywog Stew to 1998’s Hello Nasty and 2004's To The 5 Boroughs, Beastie Boys have pushed, bent, and molded the boundaries of music and pop culture worldwide. Starting out as a punk band from New York City, they mutated into the first Hip Hop act to hit number one on the pop charts, and went back to live instrumentation, while always drawing on a wide array of musical sources—from funk to hardcore, from Hip Hop to afro-cuban jazz.

Compiled by the band, Beastie Boys Anthology: The Sounds of Science takes you through the lives of MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D as they chronicle the creation of "Fight for Your Right", "Shake Your Rump", "Hey Ladies", "Pass the Mic", "Jimmy James", "So What’cha Want", "Sure Shot", "Sabotage", "Intergalactic", "Body Movin’" and more—all in their own words. The anthology also includes two CDs packed with their greatest hits and B-sides, making this the ultimate Beastie Boys collector’s item.

With photographs taken by Spike Jonze, Ari Marcopoulos, Ricky Powell, Glen E. Friedman, Danny Clinch, Nathanial Hörnblowér, and Sean Mortenson, to name a few, Beastie Boys Anthology provides the most insightful look to date into the trio that has defined cutting edge hip hop and alternative music and culture for more than two decades.

Random House New Releases - Music - Rap

Decoded by Jay-Z

Decoded Written by Jay-Z

Def Jam, Inc. by Brett Ratner

Def Jam, Inc. Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most InfWritten by Stacy Gueraseva Introduction by Brett Ratner

Decoded by Jay-Z

Decoded Written by Jay-Z

Whatever You Say I Am by Anthony Bozza

Whatever You Say I Am The Life and Times of EminemWritten by Anthony Bozza

Enter the Babylon System by Christian Pearce

Enter the Babylon System Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 CentWritten by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce

How to Wreck a Nice Beach by Dave Tompkins

How to Wreck a Nice Beach The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop, The Machine SpeaksWritten by Dave Tompkins

The Gospel of Hip Hop by KRS-One

The Gospel of Hip Hop The First InstrumentWritten by KRS-One

It's Just Begun by Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeno

It's Just Begun The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop's First Latino DJWritten by Ivan Sanchez and Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeno

Check the Technique by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Check the Technique Liner Notes for Hip-Hop JunkiesWritten by Brian Coleman Introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Triksta by Nik Cohn

Triksta Life and Death and New Orleans RapWritten by Nik Cohn

Living Proof by Uptown

Living Proof Text by Ruckus and Uptown Photographed by David Allen Harvey

Enter the Babylon System by Christian Pearce

Enter the Babylon System Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 CentWritten by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce

The Breaks by Tom Terrell

The Breaks Stylin' and Profilin' 1982-1990Text by Bill Adler and Tom Terrell Photographed by Janette Beckman

Wild Style by Charlie Ahearn

Wild Style The SamplerWritten by Charlie Ahearn

Check the Technique by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Check the Technique Liner Notes for Hip-Hop JunkiesWritten by Brian Coleman Introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Beats Rhymes & Life by Michael Eric Dyson

Beats Rhymes & Life What We Love and Hate About Hip-HopWritten by Ytasha Womack Edited by Kenji Jasper Foreword by Michael Eric Dyson

Triksta by Nik Cohn

Triksta Life and Death and New Orleans RapWritten by Nik Cohn

How Long Will They Mourn Me? by Dawn Marie Daniels

How Long Will They Mourn Me? The Life and Legacy of Tupac ShakurWritten by Candace Sandy and Dawn Marie Daniels

A Time Before Crack by James "Koe" Rodriguez

A Time Before Crack Text by Charlie Ahearn and Terence Jennings Afterword by James "Koe" Rodriguez Photographed by Jamel Shabazz Introduction by Claude Grunitzky

Beastie Boys Anthology by Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys Anthology The Sounds of ScienceWritten by Beastie Boys

Decoded
Written by Jay-Z

Def Jam, Inc. Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin, and the Extraordinary Story of the World's Most Inf
Written by Stacy Gueraseva
Introduction by Brett Ratner

Decoded
Written by Jay-Z

Whatever You Say I Am The Life and Times of Eminem
Written by Anthony Bozza

Enter the Babylon System Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent
Written by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce

How to Wreck a Nice Beach The Vocoder from World War II to Hip-Hop, The Machine Speaks
Written by Dave Tompkins

The Gospel of Hip Hop The First Instrument
Written by KRS-One

It's Just Begun The Epic Journey of DJ Disco Wiz, Hip Hop's First Latino DJ
Written by Ivan Sanchez and Luis "DJ Disco Wiz" Cedeno

Check the Technique Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies
Written by Brian Coleman
Introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Triksta Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Written by Nik Cohn

Living Proof
Text by Ruckus and Uptown
Photographed by David Allen Harvey

Enter the Babylon System Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent
Written by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce

The Breaks Stylin' and Profilin' 1982-1990
Text by Bill Adler and Tom Terrell
Photographed by Janette Beckman

Wild Style The Sampler
Written by Charlie Ahearn

Check the Technique Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies
Written by Brian Coleman
Introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Beats Rhymes & Life What We Love and Hate About Hip-Hop
Written by Ytasha Womack
Edited by Kenji Jasper
Foreword by Michael Eric Dyson

Triksta Life and Death and New Orleans Rap
Written by Nik Cohn

How Long Will They Mourn Me? The Life and Legacy of Tupac Shakur
Written by Candace Sandy and Dawn Marie Daniels

A Time Before Crack
Text by Charlie Ahearn and Terence Jennings
Afterword by James "Koe" Rodriguez
Photographed by Jamel Shabazz
Introduction by Claude Grunitzky

Beastie Boys Anthology The Sounds of Science
Written by Beastie Boys