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Amid rising gang violence, the crack epidemic, and police brutality, a group of unlikely voices cut through the chaos of late 1980s Los Angeles: N.W.A. Led by a drug dealer, a glammed-up producer, and a high school kid, N.W.A gave voice to disenfranchised African Americans across the country. And they quickly redefined pop culture across the world. Their names remain as popular as ever--Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. Dre soon joined forces with Suge...
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"From pop culture critic and music journalist Miles Marshall Lewis comes a book about the power and poetry of Kendrick Lamar! Kendrick Lamar is one of the most influential rappers, songwriters and record producers of his generation. Widely known for his incredible lyrics and powerful music, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Promise That You Will Sing About Me explores Kendrick Lamar's life, his roots, his music, his lyrics,...
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Biggie Smalls was right. Things done changed. But that doesn't mean Quadir and Jarrell are cool letting their best friend Steph's music lie forgotten under his bed after he is murdered—not when his rhymes could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a party, not after years of having each other's backs. With the help of Steph's younger sister, Jasmine, who is eager to see justice for her brother, Quadir and Jarrell come up with a plan to promote Steph's...
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Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip-hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral—for all the...
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Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview, and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told with this kind of breadth, insight, and style. Based on original interviews...
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"Words burn bright in this joyful celebration of rap, creativity, and self-expression. “Welcome to the cypher! Now huddle up nice and snug. You feel that circle around you? Well, that’s a hip hop hug!” Starting with beatboxes and fingersnaps, an exuberant narrator introduces kids in his community to the powerful possibilities of rap, from turning “a simple phrase/into imagery that soars” to proclaiming, “this is a voice that represents...
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Examining rap history's most memorable lyricists and their inimitable techniques, literary scholar Adam Bradley argues that we must understand rap as poetry or miss the vanguard of poetry today. Book of Rhymes explores America's least understood poets, unpacking their surprisingly complex craft, and according rap poetry the respect it deserves.
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"I Am Restored is the heartbreaking yet liberating journey that led award-winning hip-hop artist and bestselling author Lecrae to face the unhealed wounds of his past. With a hard look at common sources that cause us pain, Lecrae offers the practices he's found for healing the pain we all carry, and stepping into the freedom God calls us to"--
18) Hip-Hop
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Hip hop began as a form of expression for black Americans living in urban areas, but today has spread throughout the world. The genre has changed greatly throughout the years. Rappers, emcees, and disc jockeys create the music, but hip hop also encompasses other disciplines, such as dance and art. Today, hip hop is popular with people of all ages and backgrounds, both in the United States and internationally. People listen to it in their homes and...
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JAY-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson's decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he's sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he's been for so long. This book wrestles with the biggest themes of JAY-Z's career, including hustling, and it recognizes the way that he's always...
20) Teenage dream
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Katy Perry was so serious about music that she obtained a GED in her freshman year of high school so she could chase her dream. In 2008, the world heard her debut album One of the Boys, and they liked it. Now she's back on a release that features the chart-topping single California Gurls.