Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip Hop Culture

Hip Hop music encompasses several art forms: MC-ing or rapping, B-boying or break-dancing, deejaying and graffiti. This encyclopedia examines all four elements of Hip Hop culture, providing students, scholars, and music fans with a complete history of the thirty-year music genre. Tracing its early roots from black DJs talking over music in the 1960s, the B-boy dancers in the 1970s, and the scratching and sampling techniques of the '80s to the founding of Def Jam productions, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, and superstars such as Eminem and 50 Cent, Hip Hop fans and students of popular culture will find this an indispensable resource. The Encyclopedia includes approximately 100 photographs, discographies after each entry, and a "for further listening" list at the end of the volume. Also included is the "Hip Hop Declaration of Peace."