Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies

Decent insight, but overall pretty repetitive The first half of the book is stronger than the second half, despite the fact that I believe the second half features better albums. I expected the book to get even farther into the details of the making of some of these albums, but other than the Beastie Boys chapter I thought most everything was pretty surface level. There. Eseentially an Informative History Book This book initially wasn't what I had expected. But it gives a detailed account of critical junctures in hip hops past and accompanies them with pictures & photos of the subject at hand. Definitely would recommend to anyone who wants to brush up on Rap Culture's History and keep as a reference guide.. Jonathan Gray said A must have for hip hop fans. This book is essential for any fan of hip hop. It goes through classic albums track by track, and the forwards at the beginning of each chapter, describing where the artist, the music, and america was at the time of the albums creation, are very interesting themselves. The writing is competent, which is all we need since it

All rights reserved. Covering the period between 1986 (Schoolly D's Saturday Night! The Album) and 1996 (Fugees's The Score) sometimes described as the "golden age" of rap, Coleman's introductory essays are easy to read and informative, but the artists' comments are the more enlightening read. Each of Coleman's 36 "liner notes" cover one album by a particular artist, beginning with a thorough background essay from Coleman and continuing with comments on individual tracks by the artists, which range in length from a single line to page-spanning dialogue. From Publishers Weekly In his introduction to Coleman's new volume, recording artist Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson laments the lack of liner notes in hip-hop recordings, and it's this void that Coleman seeks to fill in this significantly expanded and updated version of his

That’s a damn shame, because few outside the game know about the true creative forces behind influential masterpieces like PE’s It Takes a Nation of Millions ., De La’s 3 Feet High and Rising, and Wu-Tang’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). A Tribe Called Quest • Beastie Boys • De La Soul • Eric B. It really shows how these albums were made and touches the music fiend in everyone.” –DJ Evil Dee of Black Moon and Da Beatminerz “A rarity in mainstream publishing: a truly essential rap history.” –Ronin Ro, author of Have Gun Will Travel . This is the book that belongs on the stacks next to your wax.“Brian Coleman’s writing is a lot like the albums he covers: direct, uproarious, and more than six-fifths genius.” –Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop “All producers and hip-hop fans must read this book. Studio craft and street smarts, sonic inspiration and skate ramps, triumph, tragedy, and take-out food–all played their part in creating these essential albums of the hip-hop canon.Insightful, raucous, and addictive, Check the Technique transports you back to hip-hop’s golden age with the greatest artists of the ’80s and &rsq