Day 4 of my Hip Hop Week. Check out the links at the bottom of this post if you haven’t read any of the previous posts.
One of the things I love about Hip Hop is the culture associated with it. And by that I’m not particularly meaning the West Coast gang culture. I certainly do enjoy a lot of gangsta rap but by the culture I’m more talking about 80s East Coast rap with bands like Run DMC and The Beastie Boys. I love how they both embraced Adidas and made it into an even cooler label. They even had their own shoe that they championed. Run DMC started wearing the Superstar shoes while the Beastie Boys later showcased the Adidas Campus. I just think it’s such a cool look and I would have loved to have been a skateboarder or breakdancer in Queens or The Bronx in the mid-80s. As I mentioned in my Time Travel Week article last year it’s one of the places I would travel back to if I had a time machine!
I also love the whole undercurrent of politics that ripples through the hip hop world like a drama or crime thriller. Not just the feuds and people dying, that’s not cool, but the more complex business world with labels like Death Row Records and the goings on behind the scenes. There are several books and documentaries that really bring this to life. I’ve not seen or read them all but I certainly have them on my list and will get to them all at some point. There are also so many interesting interviews and clips on YouTube about the Hip Hop world and I love hearing more stories about NWA or Death Row Records, or Suge Knight or Rick Rubin, or how Warren G who is Dr Dre’s stepbrother got to experience all the NWA craziness as a young boy etc. There are so many interesting stories. You just don’t get that as much in pop or rock I find. Hip Hop is really locked into a certain culture and a certain way of life and I find that fascinating. Hip hop interviews and documentaries is one of my main YouTube rabbit holes that I often find myself falling down late at night when I should really be in bed.
So, in today’s post I wanted to explore all the other avenues there are to enjoy and explore the culture of Rap and Hip Hop.
BOOKS
I’ve only read one of the books below but the others have been recommended and I currently have them on my wish list.
The Big Payback – The History of the Business of Hip Hop – On the Nerd Lunch drill down into Run DMC this one was recommended by Matt Ringler
Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop – this one was recommended by Tim Lybarger on the same episode.
Raising Hell – and this Run DMC biopic is on Paxton Holley’s wish list and now it’s on mine.
The Boombox Project – Another book that is kind of related, which I do currently own, is the excellent The Boombox Project with some beautiful images of ghettoblasters and their place in the history of hip hop.
DOCUMENTARIES
I’m a big documentary fan and I realised I haven’t actually watched any Hip Hop documentaries. So I made sure I watched one for this blog post and it’s one that I had had on my list ever since it came out last year.
Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap – This is a cool, relaxed documentary which follows Ice-T while he chats with some influential names in the rap world and talks to them about their writing process in particular. Very interesting to see how people approach the art of rap in very different and personal ways.
Scratch – I haven’t watched this yet but I’ve had it on my list for a while. I’ve heard good things about it. Focussing on the DJs and the art of scratching and mixing.
The Show – Def Jam’s Russell Simmons introducing lots of big name artists and including a lot of archival concert footage. I’ve got to check out this one.
Rhyme & Reason – I don’t know much about it but I’ve heard it’s very good.
Welcome to Death Row – There seem to be a lot of documentaries about Death Row Records, some of them probably unofficial. I think this one seems to be the best, so I will check it out.
MOVIES
And again something I missed out on by only being on the cusp of hip hop as a white middle-class boy from Scotland I never knew about the existence of the two movies Krush Groove and Tougher Than Leather. I only heard about these on the Nerd Lunch podcast. I can’t believe they escaped me for so long!
Krush Groove – I only watched this film this week and I loved it! It’s a really fun movie based, fairly loosely, on the early days of Def Jam records. It stars an all star East Coast rap cast including Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, The Fat Boys, LL Cool J and The Beastie Boys. Great fun and real snapshot in time of the early days of Hip Hop.
Tougher Than Leather – This one looks very different to Krush Groove but I don’t think anyone involved in the making of it wants people to see it any more, because I couldn’t find any way to watch it! It’s not for sale as far as I can see and I only found one full YouTube link and it has had its audio removed. Hopefully I’ll track down a copy one of these days.
Straight Outta Compton – Obviously this is the big movie that spurred me on to write this Hip Hop Week on the blog. Come back tomorrow for my review of this.
PHOTOGRAPHY
And like any good genre of music there is a wealth of awesome photography of 80s hip hop. I love the black and white ones in particular. I’m still trying to decide which one to get printed and framed on my wall. I’m thinking it has to involve Run DMC and Adidas trainers but if I can get a photo with some other artists in there with them then that would be a bonus. Here are some cool photos I spotted on the internet. I’ve cited the sources where I found them via Google images but I don’t testify as to who owns the rights to the photography. When I find an image I like and want to own to frame on my wall I will try to track down the original source.
Source: https://www.7thboro.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/tumblr_mp6m5gSqKS1qlmdtco1_1280.jpg
Source: http://www.beastieboysgallery.com/albums/userpics/normal_85841752.jpg
Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_EjhRZaWbz4/maxresdefault.jpg
Source: http://llcoolj.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/LL+Cool+J++1986.jpg
Source: https://www.clashmusic.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_feature/public/field/image/beastie-boys.jpg?itok=KAl_oQq8
Source: https://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/gallery/c9daa00a1efab68b0b8a64e1478601228ff47cf1.jpg
Once again, please let me know if you think I’ve missed any good movies or books etc.
Check out the past Hip Hop Week articles
Day 1 – My Introduction to Rap
Day 2 – My Run-DMC Top Ten
Day 3 – My Hip Hop Top Ten
Day 4 – Hip Hop in Other Media
Day 5 – Straight Outta Compton Review