Review by Booklist Review
This engrossing, engaging account bills itself as a history of hip-hop, but it's so much more. Divided into four chronological sections (1969--1982; 1983--1990; 1991--1997; 1998--2020), chapters review social and political history in light of the myriad individuals and influences that created this vibrant culture. East Coast, West Coast, Black lives, brown lives, gang wars, civil unrest--all are framed within the context of how they influenced, and were influenced by, the evolving hip-hop scene. Companies blacklisted artists and cancelled contracts, album releases were delayed, and songs were censored, all in testimony to the growing power of this gloriously defiant art form that gave voice to previously marginalized populations. This young adult version is an update to the 2005 adult edition, and terms that are generally considered to be offensive have been removed. There are also exhortations for young people to work together for positive change, beginning with DJ Kool Herc's introduction and carrying through to the final chapter, "Black Lives Matter." There's new material about the current generation of women rappers and their body-positivity messaging, the #MeToo movement, and the impact of COVID-19 on the hip-hop community. The book ends with age-appropriate discussion questions that will help young readers grasp the tremendous influence hip-hop has had on current society.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--Over a decade and a half after its 2005 publication, the young readers edition of historian/journalist/music critic Chang's seminal Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation seems almost overdue. The enhanced collaboration with historian/journalist/professor Cook adds new generations of makers and shakers, resulting in an enlightening, entertaining, sobering masterpiece. Covering over a half-century of history from the 1960s through the COVID-19 pandemic, Chang and Cook provide a stunning political, socioeconomic, musical melding. The audiobook, unfortunately, is disheartening. The duo alternates voicing the four "Loops," with Chang's steady gravitas making him the stronger narrator. Cook's passionate delivery occasionally hampers his enunciation; mispronunciations ("Sa-I-Gu," for example) loom. The most egregious blunders belong to the production team, with countless jarring insertions reminiscent of spotty cell connections. And why awkwardly embed just phrases--"with its redbrick buildings," "from San Fernando Valley"--instead of re-recording full sentences? VERDICT For sound purists, choose the page.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A 2005 classic charting hip-hop's rise to global prominence--while navigating the entanglements of race, class, politics, and poetics that lie at its heart--gets a long-overdue redux. Two veteran cultural critics bring the history of hip-hop to younger readers in 2021 as the infinite futures of the genre continue to expand. Readers can feel the seeds of Chang's cultural organizing within the storytelling of this tour de force while Cook brings his decades of experience as a pioneering hip-hop journalist to give new color to this edition. They write of hip-hop's birth in the figurative and all-too-literal fires of Kingston, Jamaica, and the South Bronx before becoming the world's most significant youth cultural influence. Hip-hop founding father DJ Kool Herc reminds readers of the dualities of fun and responsibility at its core in the introduction. Chapters comb through the movement's antecedents in the 1960s, traveling from coast to coast, through the South and all around the world. The authors show the oft-underrepresented ways that Black women have shaped hip-hop, and new chapters chart its championing in the 21st century as a lifestyle built around being anti-establishment grappled with commercial success, political influence, and social change during the 2020 summer of Covid and mass protest. In addition to satisfying committed fans, this stellar work could function as a supplementary text within any social studies narration of the post--civil rights--era U.S. Required history for young hip-hop heads--and everyone else. (reader's guide, endnotes, index) (Nonfiction 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
