Alright maybe it’s not, but one can find a lot Hip-Hop shit while doing so (not talkin’ about Source magazine and the like). Idly walking up and down the isles of a local Borders scouring the shelves for the very popular book by Jeff Chang to reference for an academic paper, I found this jewel.

“Yes Yes Yall” by Jim Fricke & Charlie Ahearn is the outstanding history of Hip-Hop and its founding. What set’s this bad boy apart from its counter, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” is that it’s based on oration. Other than the intro of every chapter, most of the book is a collection of quotes and testimonies from all the prominent figures from the golden age Hip-Hop that you can think of. I can’t say that I know Jim Fricke, but the name Charlie Ahearn may ring a bell as he was the director and writer of the classic “Wild Style”, already a signifying factor a legit book on Hip-Hop.

Although I wasn’t able to read the entire book during that one session, I paid particular attention to the section on B-boying. Not only is that my bread and butter, it’s usually the most signifying element on whether or not the author got their shit straight. To my surprise however, not only did the authors accurately depict the origins of the dance, they prominently described the very important gang influence on B-boying’s ‘Rocking’ roots. Just like one of the posts from your boys over at Fobbdeep! Needless to say, being a stickler on that type of historical shit got my instant thumbs up.

So next time you’re inside a Borders, Barnes & Nobles or any other mega corporate book store and you need an actual book to legitimate your magazine browsing with a Starbuck’s in your hand (don’t trip I do it too), head on over to the music section and peep game!

P.S. For those still on that ‘Hyphy’ shit and also on the Cool Kids hype like I am, here is somethin’ one time for your mind.

Stunnas On (Remix) - The Cool Kids

-MAD Merc

This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under Hip-Hop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.