Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1

Yes yes, y'all! Acclaimed young cartoonist Ed Piskor (WIZZYWIG) schools you on the old school in this essential, explosively entertaining, encyclopedic cultural chronicle of an American art form that changed the world. Hip Hop Family Tree (originally serialized at Boing Boing) takes you from the parks and rec rooms of the South Bronx to the night clubs, recording studios and radio stations where the scene started to boom, in panels bursting with obsessively authentic detail.

The vivid personalities and magnetic performances of early stars like Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, DJ Kool Herc, The Sugarhill Gang, and Funky 4+1 come to life, as do the no-less-charismatic players behind the scenes like Russell Simmons, Sylvia Robinson and Rick Rubin. And graffiti master Fab 5 Freddy meets Debbie Harry, Keith Haring, and Lean-Michel Basquiat as the music and culture begin to penetrate downtown Manhattan and the mainstream at large.