American Hip-Hop: Rappers, DJs, and Hard Beats
About this ebook
A DJ scratches a record back and forth against a turntable needle.
Fans' feet stomp along to a stiff beat.
These are the sounds of hip-hop.
Hip-hop music busted out of New York City in the 1970s. Many young African Americans found their voices after stepping up to the mic. In the decades afterward, rappers and DJs took over the airwaves and transformed American music. In the twenty-first century, hip-hop is a global sensation.
Learn what inspired hip-hop's earliest rappers to start rhyming over beats, as well as the stories behind hip-hop legends such as Run-D.M.C., 2Pac, Lauryn Hill, and Jay-Z. Follow the creativity and the rivalries that have fueled everything from party raps to songs about social struggles. And find out how you can add your own sounds to the mix!
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About the author
Nathan Sacks is a writer and journeyman scholar born and raised in Ames, IA. He graduated from Cornell College in 2009 with departmental honors in English and received his MA in English Literature from NYU in 2012. His areas of interest include literature, music, culture, politics and film. You can read his writings about music (along with contributions from fellow Lerner music author Aaron Mendelson) at the Rockaliser blog (http://rockaliser.blogspot.com). He also enjoys playing guitar, comic books and matching wits with his rebellious cat Uzi. His first book American Hip-Hop: Rappers, DJs and Hard Beats, is a contribution to Lerner's American Music Milestones series. He hopes to write many more books in the future, and dreams of one day adding novels, screenplays and albums to his repertoire of creative accomplishments.
