Liverpool Football Club, in stark contrast to its competitors, remains locally owned, not a conglomerate or media business. Unlike its main rivals, the Liverpool club has been loathe to pursue global markets for merchandizing - though it attracts a huge fandom around the world - and its ambitions remain resolutely fixed on footballing success. No football club has ever had such an extended period of dominance in the English game, nor extended that dominance to Europe so effectively.
Many of the current crop of top young players are locally born and are a central feature of the city's nightlife, as well as national icons in pop/football/youth culture. But there are fears that the Club's great days have now passed. At the height of its powers in the 1980s, Liverpool FC was the site of two catastrophic crowd disasters, which effectively transformed the sport and added to wounding perceptions about the city's alleged sentimentality, fatalism and irreversible decline. The legacy of the Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies continues to shape the self-image of the Club and those who support it. A seething rivalry with nearby corporate giant Manchester United is a constant reminder of football's new order.
Addressing all of these concerns, as well as Liverpool's global reputation as the home of the Beatles and the 'Mersey sound', this book takes an original approach to the study of football by examining its links with other important popular culture forms, especially pop music, but also television and youth styles. In particular, however, it looks at the very special meaning of football in Liverpool.

This book provides an enlightening, representative account of how rappers talk about God in their lyrics-and why a sense of religion plays an intrinsic role within hip hop culture. Why is the battle between good and evil a recurring theme in rap lyrics? What role does the devil play in hip hop? What exactly does it mean when rappers wear a diamond-encrusted "Jesus" around their necks? Why do rappers acknowledge God during award shows and frequently include prayers in their albums? Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta's God tackles a sensitive and controversial topic: the juxtaposition-and seeming hypocrisy-of references to God within hip hop culture and rap music. This book provides a focused examination of the intersection of God and religion with hip hop and rap music. Author Ebony A. Utley, PhD, references selected rap lyrics and videos that span three decades of mainstream hip hop culture in America, representing the East Coast, the West Coast, and the South in order to account for how and why rappers talk about God. Utley also describes the complex urban environments that birthed rap music and sources interviews, award acceptance speeches, magazine and website content, and liner notes to further explain how God became entrenched in hip hop. A bibliography of cited sources on rap music and hip hop culture An index of key terms and artists A discography of rap songs with religious themes

Many books have been written about Tin Pan Alley--the colloquial name assigned to popular music before the advent of rock 'n' roll--yet little is available about the individual songs defining this enormously significant style of American music. This encyclopedia of over 1,200 songs written from the middle of the 19th century through the 1950s provides information and commentary on the music embraced by the American public.

No other single volume contains as much information on the subject. Author Thomas Hischak provides an exhaustive yet highly readable guide to the songs, their periods, their styles, and their performers. His study explains in layman's language how this music survived over time, and how it came to play such an influential role in American popular culture. Ideal for researchers and browsers alike, this encyclopedia is a long overdue examination of an American musical institution.

These songs were not written for stage or screen, but for saloons, singalongs, dance orchestras, sheet music, piano player rolls, recordings, nightclubs, concerts, and radio broadcasts. They colored the fabric of American popular culture for centuries, from early American folk songs to Civil War melodies, 19th-century sentimental ballads, minstrel songs, ragtime, and jazz.

Legendary recording artist Billie Eilish shares an intimate inside look at her life - both on and off the stage - in this stunning, photo-filled book.

Billie Eilish is a phenomenon. With distinctive visual flair and darkly poignant lyrics that are unparalleled among music icons of the 21st century, Billie is a musician who stands out from the crowd. Between her record-shattering, award-winning music and her uncompromising and unapologetic attitude, it's no surprise that her fanbase continues to grow by millions, month after month. She is that rare combination of both wildly popular and highly respected for her prodigious talent, a once-in-a-generation superstar.

Now in this stunning visual narrative journey through her life, she is ready to share more with her devoted audience for the first time, including hundreds of never-before-seen photos. This gorgeous book captures the essence of Billie inside and out, offering readers glimpses into her childhood, her life on tour, and more. A must-have for any fan.

Recommended for ages 14 and over.

The definitive account of Jeff Beck's journey from his childhood in 1940s South London to the world-wide success of 2010's album Emotion and Commotion and beyond.Author Martin Power has talked to former Yardbirds members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty as well as manager Simon Napier-Bell and fellow musicians including Max Middleton, Stanley Clarke, Simon Phillips, Jimmy Hall, Mo Foster, Doug Wimbish and many others. Supported by full album reviews, rare photographs and an up-to-date discography, Hot Wired Guitar is the most complete and comprehensive account of the life and times of Jeff Beck, the man who took the electric guitar and showed the world just what could be done with just six strings and 'one hell of an attitude'.

Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright (b. 1973) is famous around the world for his multi-faceted musical style, shown through both his recorded output and his engaging live performances. In this book, Katherine Williams combines his aspects of his life story with scholarly readings drawn from several methodologies. Popular music studies, opera, queer studies, music and geography, the sound-box: all combine to give a rich biographical and interpretative overview of Wainwright's life and music. Williams brings together close musical analysis with such varied disciplinary perspectives with a tone that is both in-depth and scholarly, and accessible. The book is a must-read for fans, students and scholars alike.

Prince's early albums Dirty Mind, 1999, and Purple Rain, established him as a major force in American pop music. His combination of rock and funk was unique, and drew both critical praise and commercial attention. The 1990s found Prince forming a new group, moving back in the direction of R&B, and eventually adopting an unpronounceable symbol as his moniker. By the end of the millennium, he was again exploring an eclectic collection of musical styles and enjoying a resurgence of interest in his well-known song "1999." Prince is one of the few artists of the entire rock era who successfully bridged the gap between traditional R&B and rock audiences with his musical eclecticism. He now stands among the best-selling pop musicians of the rock era. In this revealing study, author James Perone highlights the complexities and ambiguities of Prince's life work, while at the same time clarifying why it is that Prince remains such a widely popular figure in American music. After a brief introductory biographical treatment, Perone goes on to analyze all of Prince's musical output-both as specific pieces, and as part of a larger body of work. Perone doesn't allow any of the elements of Prince's entertainment career (including his early contractual problems, his series of proteges, his name change, and his views on gender and race) to pass without reflection. As a result The Words and Music of Prince operates as a sort of creative biography for both the man and the artist. The work also includes six illustrations, a bibliography, a discography, and an index.

From 1970 to 1973 Underground Press rock critic Rick McGrath interviewed, reviewed and photographed many of the musicians who visited or lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the alternate newspapers The Georgia Straight, The Grape and The Terminal City Express. In Straight Man Rick revisits those days of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll with interviews with the likes of Led Zeppelin (1971) Van Morrison (1971) Elton John (1971) Fleetwood Mac (1971) Jeremy Spencer's last interview Captain Beefheart (1971, 1973) Chicago (1970) Pentangle (1970) Mitch Ryder (1970) Kim Simmonds (1970) Gordon Lightfoot (1970) Luke Gibson (1972), Crowbar (1971 2X), Al Neil (1972) and Hall of Fame DJ Red Robinson (1972). Straight Man also includes articles of the Rolling Stones' movies Gimme Shelter and C**ksucker Blues, the complete Prisoner TV series and Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor Plus unpublished photographs of Bob Dylan and The Band, Van Morrison, Larry Coryell, Tim Buckley and The Tubes. Straight Man is a revealing, informative and fun trip back to the early formative years of many of today's Rock superstars."

Turn on any classic rock station and you'll soon hear a song that Ken Scott worked on. As one of the preeminent recording engineers and producers of the 20th century, Ken has garnered gold, platinum, and diamond record sales awards; multiple Grammy nominations; and even a Clio award (for his recording of the classic Coke ad "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"). Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust shares Ken Scott's intimate memories of working with some of the most important artists of the 20th century while crafting a sound that influenced generations of music makers.

Ken's work has left an indelible mark on hundreds of millions of fans with his skilled contributions to Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album. As producer and/or engineer of six David Bowie albums (including the groundbreaking Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) as well as other timeless classics, the sound Ken crafted has influenced several generations of music makers that continues to this day. Ken captured the sonic signatures of a who's-who of classic rock and jazz acts, including Elton John, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, America, Devo, Kansas, The Tubes, Missing Persons, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Dixie Dregs, and Stanley Clarke.

This is his story, complete with funny, provocative, and oh-so-honest tales of the studio, stage, and even an infamous swimming pool incident. Never-before-seen photographs and technical details make this book a must-have for every music fan.
"This is easily the best book of its sort I've ever read, and it works on so many levels?it's got great stories that give us insights into some of the biggest names in music; it offers a history of recording technology and techniques from the late '60s to the present; and coursing through it all is an unflinching and often self-deprecating biography of our hero as he negotiates the perils, pitfalls and triumphs of a life in the m

A tour-de-force history of Jews, blues, and the birth of a new industry. On the south side of Chicago in the late 1940s, two immigrants, one a Jew born in Russia, the other a black blues singer from Mississippi met and changed the course of musical history. Muddy Waters electrified the blues, and Leonard Chess recorded it. Soon Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry added a dose of pulsating rhythm, and Chess Records captured that, too. Rock & roll had arrived, and an industry was born. In a book as vibrantly and exuberantly written as the music and people it portrays, Rich Cohen tells the engrossing story of how Leonard Chess, with the other record men, made this new sound into a multi-billion-dollar business aggressively acquiring artists, hard-selling distributors, riding the crest of a wave that would crash over a whole generation. Full of absorbing lore and animated by a deep love for popular music, Machers and Rockers is a smash hit.

'WHICH IS THE BEST BAND I'VE BEEN IN? THE SMALL FACES WERE THE MOST CREATIVE, THE FACES WERE THE MOST FUN,THE WHO WERE THE MOST EXCITING. THESE WERE ELECTRIFYING DAYS IN MUSIC. WE WERE ALL UNTRIED, UNTESTED. WHAT WAS STOPPING US? NOTHING.' As drummer with the Small Faces, Faces and later The Who, Kenney Jones' unique sense of rhythm was the heartbeat that powered three of the most influential rock bands of all time. Beginning in London's post-war East End, Kenney's story takes us through the birth of the Mod revolution, the mind-bending days of the late-1960s and the raucous excesses of the '70s and '80s. In a career spanning six decades, Kenney was at the epicentre of many of the most exciting moments in music history and has experienced everything the industry has to offer. He jointly created some of the world's most-loved records, hung out with the Stones, Beatles, David Bowie, Keith Moon and Rod Stewart, and suffered the loss of close friends to rock 'n' roll excess and success. The legacy created by Kenney and his band mates has influenced acts as diverse as Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols and Oasis. Now, for the very first time, Kenney tells the full story of how a young Cockney Herbert played his part in the biggest social transformation in living memory - the people, the parties, the friendships, the fall-outs, the laughter, the sadness, the sex, drugs, and a lot of rock 'n' roll, while also opening up about his own deeply personal battles and passions, too. This is a vivid and breath-taking immersion into the most exciting era of music history and beyond.

Fueled to the max by bubblegum power chords, skyscraper backcombed hairdos, eyeliner, and spandex, artists such as Quiet Riot, Ratt, Motley Crue, Skid Row, Dokken, Guns N' Roses, Warrant, Slaughter, L.A. Guns, Great White, W.A.S.P., and Bon Jovi reigned supreme in the 1980s. Established bands too fully embraced the "image is everything" culture and Kiss, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Whitesnake, and Heart all enjoyed renewed flushes of success. This book chronicles every cheap thrill and maps out every mascara-caked moment. Each and every band, whether able to pack out Wembley or Wigan, is documented with full biographies and global discographies direct from the world's biggest rock-devoted database--Rockdetector.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon described him as the Beatles' "favorite group," and yet no figure in popular music is as much of a paradox as Harry Nilsson. A major celebrity at a time when stadium rock was in its infancy and huge concerts and festivals were becoming the norm, Nilsson's instrument was the studio, his stage the dubbing booth, his greatest technical triumphs were masterful examples of studio craft, and he studiously avoided live performance. He was a gifted composer of songs for a wide variety of performers, having created vivid flights of imagination for the Ronettes, the Yardbirds and the Monkees, yet Nilsson's own biggest hits were almost all written, ironically, by other composers and lyricists. He won two Grammies, had two top ten singles, and numerous album successes. Once described by his producer Richard Perry as "the finest white male singer on the planet," near the end of his life, his career was marked by voice-damaging substance abuse and the infamous deaths of both Keith Moon and Mama Cass in his London flat. His music remains prevalent today, through the 1995 tribute album For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson (featuring performances of Nilsson's hits by Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Fred Schneider and others) and recent covers, such as Aimee Mann's recording of "One" (popularized as the main track on the Magnolia soundtrack) and Neko Case's arrangement of "Don't Forget Me" on her album, Middle Cyclone. In this first ever full-length biography of Nilsson, author Alyn Shipton traces Nilsson's life from his Brooklyn childhood to his Los Angeles adolescence, and charts his gradual move into the spotlight as a talented songwriter. With interviews from Nilsson's friends, family and associates, and material drawn from an unfinished draft autobiography Nilsson was writing prior to his death, Shipton probes beneath the enigma and the paradox to discover the real Harry Nilsson, and thereby reveals one of the most creative talents in 20th century popular music.

What is experimental music today? This book offers an up to date survey of this field for anyone with an interest, from seasoned practitioners to curious readers. This book takes the stance that experimental music is not a limited historical event, but is a proliferation of approaches to sound that reveals much about present-day experience. An experimental work is not identifiable by its sound alone, but by the nature of the questions it poses and its openness to the sounding event. Experimentation is a way of working. It pushes past that which is known to discover what lies beyond it, finding new knowledge, forms, and relationships, or accepting a state of uncertainty. For each of these composers and sound artists, craft is developed and transformed in response to the questions they bring to their work. Scientific, perceptual, or social phenomena become catalysts in the operation of the work. These practices are not presented according to a chronology, a set of techniques, or social groupings. Instead, they are organized according to the content areas that are their subjects, including resonance, harmony, objects, shapes, perception, language, interaction, sites, and histories. Musical materials may be subject, among other treatments, to systemization, observation, examination, magnification, fragmentation, translation, or destabilization. These restless and exploratory modes of engagement have continued to develop over recent decades, expanding the scope of both musical practice and listening.

Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992) is a foundational keystone of the musical and aesthetic vision of the notorious Norwegian black metal scene and one of the most beloved albums of the genre. Its mysterious artwork and raw sound continue to captivate and inspire black metal fans and musicians worldwide. This book explores the album in the context of exoticism and musical geography, examining how black metal music has come to conjure images of untamed Nordic wildernesses for fans worldwide. In doing so, it analyzes aspects of musical style and production that created the distinctly "grim" sound of Darkthrone and Norwegian black metal.

Trance events have an uncanny ability to capture an era, and captivate an audience of travellers occupying the eternal theatre of the dance floor. As this book shows, the tendency within psytrance is to thwart the passage of time, to prolong the night, for those who adopt a liminal lifestyle. Amid the hustle and hubris of the psytrance carnival there is a peaceful repose that you sometimes catch when you've drifted into a sea of outstretched limbs, bodies swaying like a field of sunflowers in a light breeze. And you feel intense joy in this fleeting moment. You are the moment. You are inside the flow. You are all. Embodying the poetry of dance, you are living evidence that nothing lasts. And this is a deep revelation of the mystical function of trance. It is difficult to emerge from this little death, because one does not want the party to end. But it must end, even so that it can recommence - so that one can return to repeat the cycle. The result of fifteen years of research in over a dozen countries, this book applies a sharp lens on a little understood global dance culture that has mushroomed all over the world since its beginnings in the diverse psychedelic music scenes flourishing in Goa in the 1970s and 1980s. The paramount expression of this movement has been the festival, from small parties to major international events such as Portugal's Boom Festival, which promotes itself as a world-summit of visionary arts and trance, a "united tribe of the world". Via first-hand accounts of the scenes, events and music of psychedelic trance in Australia, Israel, Germany, Italy, the UK, the US, Turkey and other places, the book thoroughly documents this transnational movement with its diverse aesthetic roots, multiple national translations and internal controversies. As a multi-sited ethnography and an examination of the digital, chemical, cyber and media assemblage constituting psytrance, the book explores the integrated role that technology and spirituality have played in the formation of this visionary arts movement and shows how these event-cultures accommodate rites of risk and consciousness, a complex circumstance demanding revision of existing approaches to ritual, music and culture.

'Shadowman is an emotional and powerful read, deeply honest and very personal, and at times made bearable only by Johnny Daukes' ability to find comedy in horrific circumstances. An astonishing piece of work' - David Quantick This is no ordinary autobiography. In 2003 Johnny Daukes acknowledged to himself and confessed to his younger brother that he had been sexually abused as a child. This was by a man in charge of a boys' club in Oxford, run by the Catholic organisation Opus Dei. In 1984 the abuser married their older sister and the couple went on to have ten children. In 1992 Johnny formed the band FIN and they released records, toured extensively and received a great deal of press and national airplay. He also went on to become a successful voice-over artist, screenwriter and director. Later in life Johnny came to realise that these projects his lyrics, sketches and scripts were in fact the documents, or records, of a life that had been corrupted. Shadowman is an extraordinary memoir about childhood abuse and one man's unwitting attempt to examine and understand the past through creativity and art. 'What a unique book Johnny Daukes' Shadowman is. On the surface it's memoir but at its heart it's a book that wrestles with big questions about pain, art, memory and love' - Mat Osman 'Johnny Daukes' compelling memoir navigates both darkness and exhilaration with intensity and painful candour but also joy and wit. This is a book that is often melancholy but never mawkish and at its heart is an affirming appetite for life.' - Stuart Maconie AUTHOR: Johnny Daukes is a writer, musician, film editor, voice artist. He was the singer/songwriter of 90s indie-band FIN, became a comedy writer with sketch shows on BBCR4 (Radio9 & The Scanner), BBC3TV (The Message) and voiced 16 series of C4's Eurotrash. He wrote and directed the 2011 feature film Acts of Godfrey (starring Simon Callow), released solo albums including Promise that was album of the week in The Sunday Times and Rough Trade. His sitcom Cracking Up ran for two series on BBCR4 and he has latterly cut feature films including Finding Your Feet, Fisherman's Friends and Settlers.

A brilliant new biography of the extraordinary, outrageous performer who helped open the floodgates of Rock'n'Roll

In June, 2007, Little Richard's 1955 Specialty Records single, "Tutti Frutti," topped Mojo "magazine's list of "100 Records That Changed the World." But back in the early 1950s, nobody gave Little Richard a second glance. It was a time in America where the black and white worlds had co-existed separately for nearly two centuries. After "Tutti Frutti," Little Richard began garnering fans from both sides of the civil rights divide. He brought black and white youngsters together on the dance floor and even helped to transform race relations.

Little Richard: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll "begins by grounding the reader in the fertile soil from which Little Richard's music sprang. In Macon, Georgia, David Kirby interviews relatives and local characters, who knew Little Richard way back when, citing church and family as his true inspiration. His antics began as early as grade school, performing for his classmates every time the teacher would leave the room, connecting to an age-old American show biz tradition of charade and flummery. On the road, Little Richard faced competition from his peers, honing his stage show and making it, too, an act that could not be counterfeited.

Kirby sees Little Richard as a foxy warrior, fighting with skill and cunning to take his place among the greats. In the words of Keith Richards (on hearing "Tutti Frutti" for the first time), "it was as though the world changed suddenly from monochrome to Technicolor." Those sentiments have consistently been echoed by the music-listening world, and the time is ripe for a reassessment of Little Richard's genius and legacy.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

aTo the Break of Dawn marks a crucial turning point in hip-hop writing. . . . By opening the discourse on hip-hopas aesthetic, Cobb spearheads a new sub-genre, and perhaps a return or revolution in hip-hop aesthetics.a
--"Black Issues Book Review"

a[P]eels back the many digitized layers of hip-hop to explore the evolution of the MC, from African folkloric traditions to the global (and often hypercommercial) phenomenon it is today.
a--"Utne"

SEE ALSO: "Pimps Up, Hoas Down: Hip Hopas Hold on Young Black Women" by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting.

aTo the Break of Dawn is smart, funny, conversational -- a book to touch off serious study of the modern MC.a
--"The Austin Chronicle"

aUpon finishing To The Break of Dawn any objective fan will acknowledge that Cobb has done a commendable job in chronicling rapas evolution and explaining its multiple influences and impact.a
--"City Paper"

aTo the Break of Dawn dissects the evolution of hip hop lyricism from its most primitive beginnings to its current manifestation as a global phenomenon. Author Jelani Cobb examines issues of race, geography, genre and bravado in this overview of hip hopas lyrical art. Covering words from B.I.G., Cube, Obie Trice and Pimp C, Cobb offers an intellectual and up-to-date report on hip hopas most powerful elementa
--"The Source Magazine"

aWhat makes William Jelani Cobb's To the Break of Dawn so refreshing is that it centers on what hip-hop is, rather than on what it does. Eschewing the common practice of treating rap lyrics as just another way to talk about race, politics or the self, Cobb treats them as art. His aim is ambitious: toarticulate hip-hop's aesthetic principles while tracing its roots back to the aancestral poetic and musical traditionsa of black oral culture, from Sunday sermons to gut-bucket blues. To the Break of Dawn celebrates lyrical invention, the artists and even the particular rhymes that make hip-hop great. For the uninitiated, it is Hip-Hop 101, offering a rich overview of rap's verbal artistry. For the aficionado, it alternately affirms and challenges deeply held beliefs of what is valuable in hip-hop.a
--"Washington Post Book World"

aThis book makes an important contribution to hip-hop history. . . . Cobbas writing style is engaging, and the book benefits from the legitimacy provided by the authoras background: he is a former MC who grew up with the culture.a
--"Choice"

aOn literally every page [Cobb] displays a tremendous command of language and history as he aexamines the aesthetic, stylistic, and thematic evolution of hip hop from its inception in the South Bronx to the present era.a But make no mistake: this groundbreaking work is an artfully constructed and vividly written look at athe artistic evolution of rap music and its relationship to earlier forms of black expression.a Much of the book's pleasure also comes from Cobb's ability to afreestylea serious and humorous insights-from how artists such as Tupac and Nas sometimes astepped outside the conventions of hip-hop to pen sympathetic narratives about the sexual exploitation of young women, a to how LL Cool J's pioneering aI Need a Beata sounded alike he'd raided every entry in an SAT book.a aa
--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)

aVital stuff for hip hop fans eager to know more about their favorite culturalidiomas development and underpinnings.a
--"Booklist"

aAt a time when academics are just beginning to recognize hip hop as a legitimate form, William Jelani Cobb, a child of rap himself, brings an unparalleled level of understanding to the music. His historically informed yet hip-to-the-tip viewpoint roots readers in the art form rather than the hype.a
--Chuck D

aWith poetic passion and surgical precision, William Jelani Cobb's engaging exploration of the hip hop aesthetic lovingly demonstrates that, when it comes to beats and rhymes, the beauty of the (bass) god resides in the details.a
--Joan Morgan, author of "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost"

aFinally, a hip hop study that captures the verve and swagger that marked the work of our critical forebears Albert Murray and Amiri Baraka. In his brilliant new tome, William Jelani Cobb bridges the gap between the majesty of the blues and the gully regality of hip hop.a
--Mark Anthony Neal, author of "New Black Man"

"Wow! "To the Break of Dawn" is a crucial contribution to hip hop history. I'm thrilled that William Jelani Cobb has documented hip hop's relationship to the blues. If you want to truly understand how hip hop was born, read this booka
--MC Lyte

"aTo the Break of Dawn" tells the serious story of hip hop's artistic roots, and in the process revels in the great MCs who stand at the crossroads of music and literature. In a crowded field of hip hop scholars, pundits, and journalists, "To the Break of Dawn" puts William Jelani Cobb way out in front.a
--Ta-Nehisi Coates

aUpon finishing To the Break of Dawn, any objective fan will acknowledge that Cobb has done a commendable job in chronicling rapasevolution and explaining its multiple influences and impact. Hereas a fresh look at a music that continues to electrify, confound, alienate, and fascinate.a
--"Nashville City Paper"

"He'll idle with some prelim scratches to let the crowd know what's coming next. And if his boy got skills enough, if the verbal game is tight enough, that right there will be the kinetic moment, that blessed split-second when beat meets rhyme."

With roots that stretch from West Africa through the black pulpit, hip-hop emerged in the streets of the South Bronx in the 1970s and has spread to the farthest corners of the earth. To the Break of Dawn uniquely examines this freestyle verbal artistry on its own terms. A kid from Queens who spent his youth at the epicenter of this new art form, music critic William Jelani Cobb takes readers inside the beats, the lyrics, and the flow of hip-hop, separating mere corporate rappers from the creative MCs that forged the art in the crucible of the street jam.

The four pillars of hip hop--break dancing, graffiti art, deejaying, and rapping--find their origins in traditions as diverse as the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira and Caribbean immigrants' turnstile artistry. Tracing hip-hop's relationship to ancestral forms of expression, Cobb explores the cultural and literary elements that are at its core. From KRS-One and Notorious B.I.G. to Tupac Shakur and Lauryn Hill, he profiles MCs who were pivotal to the rise of the genre, verbal artists whose lineage runs back to the black preacher and the bluesman.

Unlike books that focus on hip-hop as a social movement or a commercial phenomenon, To the Break of Dawn tracks the music's aesthetic, stylistic, and thematic evolution from its inception to today's distinctly regional sub-divisions and styles. Written with an insider's ear, the book illuminates hip-hop's innovations in a freestyle form that speaks to both aficionados and newcomers to the art.