Overview

2007 Arts Club of Washington’s National Award for Arts Writing - Finalist SEE ALSO: Pimps Up, Ho’s Down: Hip Hop’s Hold on Young Black Women by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting. An inside look into the beats, lyrics, and flow of hip-hop's history With roots that stretch from West Africa through the black pulpit, hip-hop emerged in the streets of the South Bronx in the 1970s and has spread to the farthest corners of the earth. To the Break of Dawn uniquely examines this freestyle verbal artistry on its own terms. A kid from Queens who spent his youth at the epicenter of this new art form, music critic William Jelani Cobb takes readers inside the beats, the lyrics, and the flow of hip-hop, separating mere corporate rappers from the creative MCs that forged the art in the crucible of the street jam. The four pillars of hip hop—break dancing, graffiti art, deejaying, and rapping—find their origins in traditions as diverse as the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira and Caribbean immigrants’ turnstile artistry. Tracing hip-hop’s relationship to ancestral forms of expression, Cobb explores the cultural and literary elements that are at its core. From KRS-One and Notorious B.I.G. to Tupac Shakur and Lauryn Hill, he profiles MCs who were pivotal to the rise of the genre, verbal artists whose lineage runs back to the black preacher and the bluesman. Unlike books that focus on hip-hop as a social movement or a commercial phenomenon, To the Break of Dawn tracks the music's aesthetic, stylistic, and thematic evolution from its inception to today's distinctly regional sub-divisions and styles. Written with an insider's ear, the book illuminates hip-hop's innovations in a freestyle form that speaks to both aficionados and newcomers to the art.

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9780814716700

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Reviews

With poetic passion and surgical precision, Cobb's engaging exploration of the hip hop aesthetic lovingly demonstrates that when it comes to beats and rhymes the beauty of the (bass) god resides in the details. - Joan Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost Finally, a hip hop study that captures the verve and swagger that marked the work of our critical forebears Albert Murray and Amiri Baraka. In his brilliant new tome, Cobb bridges the gap between the majesty of the Blues and the gully regality of hip hop. - Mark Anthony Neal, author of New Black Man At a time when academics are just beginning to recognize hip hop as a legitimate form, Cobb, a child of rap himself, brings an unparalleled level of understanding to the music. His historically informed yet hip to the tip viewpoint roots readers in the art form rather than the hype. - Chuck D

Author Information

William Jelani Cobb is Assistant Professor of History at Spelman College and editor of The Essential Harold Cruse: A Reader. He is a contributing writer at Essence magazine, and his music criticism and essays have also appeared in the Washington Post, Emerge, and the Progressive. His website can be found at www.jelanicobb.com. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

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