"it's not about a salary: rap, race & resistance in LA" book i just bought

[We Fly High]

this is a book by brian cross..

a preview :

"an early project from brian cross aka urban photographer/historian, this tome about the tumultuous growth of the multi ethnic LA hip hop scene is as hard hitting and socially relevant as it was ten years ago. (written in 1993). starting with a tour thru the cultural,political, and artistic movements that formed the foundation of the LA underground, the book breaks down the uneasy balance between the scene and the overtly racist, near police state in which many of LA's best have thrived. from COINTELPRO in the 60's and 70's to the crack epidemic of the 80's and the fervor during the rodkney king riots of the early 90's, the book is a journey into the atmosphere that gave birth to many of the left coast's best. The text is sprinkle with way too many rap lyrics, poems, and prison rhymes to name here. the photos from shows at now defunct emcee breedgine grounds like the Good Life are invaluable, as are the multitude of early interviews from LA heroes like Captrain Rapp, Kid Frost, Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy E. etc.. Near the end is a mind numbing index of deaths from police brutality in LA, giving the dates, names, ages, race and manner killed for every casualty, followed by a tight discography of songs mentioned throughoug the book.."

just found this book to be very interesting.. found it in the book reviews of a magazine, and decided to buy it. its pretty expensive though, upwards of $60,... on the website it supposedly says it is a textbook like. or some shit.. i dunno...

so its coming in the mail, and im anticipating a good read..
anybody know any other good books to read..
kinda along the same lines of "it aint about a salary" ... is some book called "monster" written by og Kody. crazy ass book to read. recommended.

[Kaidy]

'Westsiders' by William Shaw is pretty good.

It's written by a white English guy, who goes out to LA and basically follows the lives of six underground rappers (one of which is Short Khop, rest are unknowns) for about a year. Also talks to Kokane among others.

the stories in themselves are good, yet he also goes into a lot about LA's history and politics. Covers a lot about race relations and such in a very informative and subjective way. Definitely worth a read.

[Lord Funk]

this is a book by brian cross..

a preview :

"an early project from brian cross aka urban photographer/historian, this tome about the tumultuous growth of the multi ethnic LA hip hop scene is as hard hitting and socially relevant as it was ten years ago. (written in 1993). starting with a tour thru the cultural,political, and artistic movements that formed the foundation of the LA underground, the book breaks down the uneasy balance between the scene and the overtly racist, near police state in which many of LA's best have thrived. from COINTELPRO in the 60's and 70's to the crack epidemic of the 80's and the fervor during the rodkney king riots of the early 90's, the book is a journey into the atmosphere that gave birth to many of the left coast's best. The text is sprinkle with way too many rap lyrics, poems, and prison rhymes to name here. the photos from shows at now defunct emcee breedgine grounds like the Good Life are invaluable, as are the multitude of early interviews from LA heroes like Captrain Rapp, Kid Frost, Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy E. etc.. Near the end is a mind numbing index of deaths from police brutality in LA, giving the dates, names, ages, race and manner killed for every casualty, followed by a tight discography of songs mentioned throughoug the book.."

just found this book to be very interesting.. found it in the book reviews of a magazine, and decided to buy it. its pretty expensive though, upwards of $60,... on the website it supposedly says it is a textbook like. or some shit.. i dunno...

so its coming in the mail, and im anticipating a good read..
anybody know any other good books to read..
kinda along the same lines of "it aint about a salary" ... is some book called "monster" written by og Kody. crazy ass book to read. recommended.

Dude, you'll LOVE this, trust me. I got it when it was published in 93 (it was £10 or so then, so bad luck on the price increase ). But it's the shit, hands down. The first half is a history of black music on the West Coast... starts with be-bop (I think) and moves from there.

But the second half is the treat. Cross interviews damn near every West Coast hip-hopper that was big at the time and the full interview transcripts are there. Dre, Eazy  , Boo-Yaa, Cube, Ice-T, DJ Quik , Pharcyde... fuck man, I got to go find my copy. I'd forgotten all about it.

You won't be disappointed, even at that price.

[Don Seer]

damn never heard of this one.. sounds good.. wonder if i can scoop it cheaper than 60 somewhere.. (update: nope.. found on amazon.com tho )


oh and westsiders is tight, the guy visits kokane, at the time he was broke living in a caravan/trailer just outside pomona

[Lord Funk]

oh and westsiders is tight, the guy visits kokane, at the time he was broke living in a caravan/trailer just outside pomona

I never realised how these guys could go from something to nothing until reading bout Kokane right there...

... fans around the world were willing to pay £100 upwards for a copy of Funk Upon A Rhyme, while the guy who created it was flat broke in a trailer park... there's something wrong with that...

[Don Seer]

sure is.. but i got a bought a brand new copy of that by Rud (who owns dubcnn).. and he paid 15 quid about 6 months ago

[Lord Funk]

What you've got to rely on, in cases like that and that 5150 I got for a fiver, is people who for one reason or another no longer listen to hip-hop and have no idea what their old stuff might be worth, getting rid of it to second-hand record shops who also have no idea what it might be worth.

It's a beautiful combination

[Don Seer]

yup!  

[CRAFTY]

'Westsiders' by William Shaw is pretty good.

It's written by a white English guy, who goes out to LA and basically follows the lives of six underground rappers (one of which is Short Khop, rest are unknowns) for about a year. Also talks to Kokane among others.

the stories in themselves are good, yet he also goes into a lot about LA's history and politics. Covers a lot about race relations and such in a very informative and subjective way. Definitely worth a read.

Cool...I should check that out.

[Don Seer]

my copy came today!  thats 5 days from the US!!


mines a former library copy.. (from janesville wisconsin)

so maybe this guys selling ex library stock..


ohh yeah.. its a lot bigger than expected, and looks like its got a lot of in depth stuff!!


can tell i'm gonna finish this one real soon, most likely before the weekend

[Don Seer]

^ just bumpin to say its real good so far


and reminds me i still need the original version of batterram over roxanne roxanne.. anyone got that?


just wanna mention a few things.. a big chunk of the book is interviews.. ones with dre, cube and others like toddy tee.. tehres a really good section on chicano/latino stuff... and it doesnt mention death row at all apart from the dre interview. but there is a picture of daz + lil style from '92.. not sure how that fits in yet since i'm done with the non interview half of the book

theres barely a mention of snoop.. just that dre working with him. the dre interview was done during the recording of the chronic at solar, by the time the book came out it was triple plat.

[Lord Funk]

theres barely a mention of snoop.. just that dre working with him. the dre interview was done during the recording of the chronic at solar, by the time the book came out it was triple plat.

If I remember, the guy says in his foreword something like "Snoop - I'll get at you when I do this again"...?

Great book... love all those pics of the interviewees' apartments at the end... early version of MTV Cribs without the glamour

[We Fly High]

damnit, im still waiting for my copy. seer how much did you pay for yours?

[Don Seer]

$62, seller was called orion books.

[We Fly High]

yeah i think thats around what i paid.. like 65$. hella expensive.. is the book really worth the price? how many pages is it?