'This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius' - QUESTLOVE Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century. He wasn't known to mainstream audiences, and when he died at age thirty-two, he had never had a pop hit. Yet since his death, J Dilla has become a demigod, revered as one of the most important musical figures of the past hundred years. At the core of this adulation is innovation: as the producer behind some of the most influential rap and R&B acts of his day, Dilla created a new kind of musical time-feel, an accomplishment on a par with the revolutions wrought by Louis Armstrong and James Brown. Dilla and his drum machine reinvented the way musicians play. In Dilla Time, Dan Charnas chronicles the life of James DeWitt Yancey, from his gifted Detroit childhood to his rise as a sought-after hip-hop producer to the rare blood disease that caused his premature death. He follows the people who kept Dilla and his ideas alive. And he rewinds the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of Motown soul to funk, techno, and disco. Here, music is a story of what happens when human and machine times are synthesized into something new. This is the story of a complicated man and his machines; his family, friends, partners, and celebrity collaborators; and his undeniable legacy. Based on nearly two hundred original interviews, and filled with graphics that teach us to feel and "see" the rhythm of Dilla's beats, Dilla Time is a book as defining and unique as J Dilla's music itself. Financial Times Music Book of the Year 2022

Chefs across the globe have honed an incredible system for working with efficiency called "mise-en-place." In this book, Dan Charnas reveals how to use those principles in any kind of work, outside the kitchen. Culled from dozens of interviews with culinary professionals and business executives, Work Clean offers a simple system and elegant metaphor for organizing one's life and accomplishing one's work. Work Clean spells out the 10 major principles of mise-en-place or "putting in place" for chefs and nonchefs alike: 1) preparation is prime; 2) arranging spaces; 3) cleaning as you go; 4) making-the first moves; 5) Finishing actions ; 6) slowing down to speed up; 7) call and callback; 8) open ears and eyes; 9) inspect and edit; 10) total utilization. One by one, charnas shows readers how each of these principles work in the kitchen but most importantly, demonstrates how they can be used in offices, homes, and other settings.

"The Big Payback" takes readers from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, "The Big Payback" tallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC's crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/ entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

300 industry giants like Def Jam founders Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before-seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes, and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance.

Night after night, chefs and their crews multitask in a way that puts deskbound workers to shame. Have you ever wondered how they do it? In Work Clean, Dan Charnas uncovers their secret: mise-en-place ('putting in place' to you and me) - the organizational system that transforms the lives of its practitioners through focus and self-discipline. Through interviews with top chefs working in professional kitchens all over the world, culinary students, line cooks and restaurant employees, Charnas reveals the ten major principles of mise-en-place, including: 'Arranging spaces', 'Finishing actions' and 'Slowing Down to Speed Up'. Demonstrating how to put the method into practice, Work Clean is your guide to boosting productivity in all aspects of life.