Introduction.

This page is designed for undergraduate level research in Hip Hop Studies at NYU. Here you will find a list of recommended titles available at NYU's Bobst Library. Here you may also find a select discography of crucial songs and albums, which are located in the Avery Fisher Center on the second level of Bobst Library. Electronic resources, such as article databases and indexes, and web-pages of related interest are also included. Furthermore, we describe the New York Public Library's Hip Hop Archive at the Schomburg Center, and provide a list of hip hop magazines that are held by NYPL.

What IS Hip Hop?

Hip Hop is a form of urban youth culture developed by African Americans and Latinos in New York in the seventies and eighties, originally in the Bronx. Hip Hop's classical elements include:

• DJing (disc-jockeying: playing records)
• MCing (Master-of-Ceremonies: speaking with/over a record--the art form which evolved into Rapping)
• B-boying (Breakdancing: fast, energetic dancing originally performed on the funk-beat sections of such artists as James Brown, and Jefferson Airplane)
• Graffiti (Artists would "Tag" their personal sign on walls and subways; this art form evolved into more formal compositions, employing perspective and the overall use of color)

Hip Hop's "Founding Father" was DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell), who immigrated into the Bronx from Jamaica when he was twelve years old. Kool Herc introduced a style of DJing that had evolved in Jamaica: he built a massive sound-system, that emphasized the bass elements in dance music; he practiced "dubbing", a technique that allowed him to extend the heavy-funk sections of a song that his audience preferred dancing to; and he spoke with/over the music on a microphone, "Toasting" members of the audience, encouraging them to dance.

DJ Kool Herc came-up with a formula of expression that combined music, dance, and the spoken-word, creating a powerful sense of shared identity between the performer and the audience; this formula, the foundation of Hip-Hop, was gradually refined by later artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash, who heightened the performance techniques developed by Herc.

Still later artists, such as Run D.M.C., would learn how to successfully package and promote the technique of Hip Hop, introducing the art form into the world market and culture.

Recommended Text Books and Reference Sources.

I strongly encourage the student to invest in the following works:

1. Chang, Jeff. (2005). Can't stop, won't stop: a history of the hip hop generation. New York: St. Martin's Press.
   A well-researched general history of the Hip Hop movement, strongly grounded in narrative interviews with early Hip Hop innovators and participants. Provides excellent social, economic and policitical context of the movement, with background chapters on the history of the Bronx and of New York gangs. With an introductory essay by Hip-Hop's Founding Father, DJ Kool Herc.
   ARES ML3531.C5 2005 On reserve
2. Forman, Murray and Mark Anthony Neal, editors. (2004). That's the Joint!: the hip hop studies reader. New York: Routledge.
   A collection of articles and essays chronicling the early development, media coverage, and academic response to Hip Hop. With good introductory essays on Breakdancing and Graffiti cultures.
   ML3531.T43 2004

This Reference work will be useful in outlining Hip Hop's artists and history:

1. (2003). All music guide to hip-hop: the definitive guide to rap & hip-hop. San Francisco: Backbeat Books.
   An all purpose reference guide to Hip Hop, with articles on Hip Hop artists containing biographical and critical information, together with select discographies. Also includes brief essays on the various styles and movements within Hip Hop, and a discography of crucial songs and albums.
   Music Reference ML156.4.R27 A45 2003

These works will provide Reference to Hip Hop lyrics and vocabulary:

1. (2003). Hip Hop & Rap: complete lyrics for 175 songs. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard.
   ML54.6 H56 2003
2. Alonzo, Westbrook. (2002). Hip Hoptionary: the dictionary of hip hop terminology. New York: Harlem Moon.
   Music Reference ML102 R27 W47 2002

The Musical Roots of Hip-Hop: Gospel, Funk, Disco and Reggae.

1. Kempton, Arthur. (2003). Boogaloo: the quintessence of American music. New York: Pantheon Books.
   An excellent history of the role of African American music and musicians in the recording industry, charting the development of a performance and industry model from Gospel music, into Soul, Funk, and finally Hip Hop.
   ML3479.K46 2003
2. Bradley, Lloyd. (2000). This is Reggae music: the story of Jamaica's music. New York: Grove Press.
   Narrates the social and economic context in which Reggae and the Jamaican music industry evolved; offers a good parallel to the early development of Hip Hop.
   ML3532.B73 2001
3. Brewster, Bill. (2000). Last night a DJ saved my life: the history of the disc jockey. New York: Grove Press.
   A history of DJ performance and technique, touching on the birth of rock-n-roll, reggae, disco and hip-hop.
   ML3470. B847 2000

Historical Context: Gangs of New York, 1960-1980.

1. Haskins, James. (1974). Street gangs: yesterday and today. New York: Hastings House.
   A chronicle of New York gangs, from their earliest manifestations in the 1830's, to the early 1970's.
   HV6439.U5 H35
2. Kitwana, Bakari. (2002). The hip hop generation: young Blacks and the crisis in African American culture. New York: Basic Books.
   Views hip hop culture in the context of poverty and discrimination, in which gangs typically arise.
   BRES E185.86 K58 2002 On reserve
3. Hayden, Tom. (2004). Street wars: gangs and the future of violence. New York: New Press.
   A powerful account of the "un- or under-reported casualties" of gang violence: gang members themselves.
   HV6439.U5 H39 2004

Culture and Criticism: Rap, Breakdance, and Graffiti.

Rap

1. Fricke, Jim. (2002). Yes, yes, ya'll: the Experience Music Project oral history of hip-hop: the first decade.
   A collection of quotes from hip hop pioneers, encompassing a history of the early development of hip hop music, break dancing, and graffiti; with excellent photographs.
   ML3531.F75 2002
2. Dimitriadis,Greg. (2001). Performing identity/performing culture: hip hop as text, pedagogy, and lived practice. New York: P. Lang.
   A study of hip hop from a performance theory perspective.
   E185.86 D55 2001
3. Pough, Gwendolyn D. (2004). Check it while I wreck it: Black womanhood, hip-hop culture, and the public sphere. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
   E185.86 P666 2004

Breakdance

• Holman, Michael. (1984). Breaking and the New York City Breakers. New York: Freundlich Books.
  One of the few books published on this topic.
  NYPL MGV 85-40 Performing Arts Library New York Public Library

Graffiti

1. Ganz, Nicholas. (2004). Graffiti world: street art from five continents. New York: H.N. Abrams.
   Includes a world history of graffiti.
   ND2590.G35 2004
2. Austin, Joe. (2001). Taking the train: how graffiti art became an urban crisis in New York City. New York: Columbia Press.
   An account of the long, drawn-out struggle between graffiti artists and city authorities.
   GT3913.N72 N415 2001
3. Rahn, Janice. (2002). Painting without permission: hip hop graffiti subculture. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
   E185.86. R28 2002
4. Stewart, Jack. (1989). Subway graffiti: an aesthetic study of graffiti on the subway system of New York City, 1970-1978. Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI Dissertation, for New York University.
   LD3907.E3 1989.S775a Offsite and Microform

Hip Hop Planet: the International Culture.

1. Neate, Patrick. (2003). Where you're at: notes from the frontline of a hip hop planet. London: Bloomsbury.
   A globe-trotting narrative in which a British hip hop journalist seeks to define what hip hop means from a global perspective, interviewing artists and fans in New York, Japan, Africa, and other countries.
   ML3531.N42 2003
2. Mitchell, Tony. (2001). Global noise: rap and hip hop outside the USA. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.
   A snapshot of international hip hop.
   ML3531.G56 2001

Hip Hop in Photographs and Movies.

1. Shabazz, Jamel. (2001). Back in the days: photographs. New York: Powerhouse Books.
   F128.9. N4 S53 2001
2. Paniccioli, Ernie. (2002). Who shot ya?: three decades of hiphop photography. New York: Amistad.
   ML3531.P36 2002
3. Kenner, Rob and George Pitts. (2003.) VX: ten years of Vibe photography. New York: Vibe Books in association with Harry N. Abrams.
   ML3531.V8 2003
4. Hager, Steven. (1984). Hip hop: the illustrated history of break dancing, rap music, and graffiti. New York: St. Martin's Press.
   ARES E169.12 H33 On reserve

Videos at Bobst Library

1. Ahearn, Charlie. (1982; videodisc, 2002;). Wild Style. Los Angeles: Rhino Home Video.
   The first movie to highlight hip hop, showcasing DJing, rap, b-boying and graffiti. Features performances by Grandmaster Flash, the Cold Crush Brothers, and Fab 5 Freddy. Videodisc includes commentary by the director, and Fab 5 Freddy.
   DVD 1048
2. Silver, Tony. (1983; videodisc, 2003). Style Wars. Brooklyn, NY: Plexifilm.
   Documentary about graffiti and break dance artists; dramatizes conflict and competition among graffiti artists.
   VCA 6270
3. Lathan, Stan. (1984; videodisc, 2000). Beat Street: break dancing. Santa Montica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment.
   Highlights of break dancing.
   DVD 1868
4. Israel. (2002). The freshest kids: a history of the b-boy. Chatsworth, CA: Image Entertainment.
   Documentary of the history of break dancing, interviewing b-boy pioneers; with street performance footage, underground music videos, and a photo gallery.
   Check BobCat for holdings
5. Shaw, Susan. (1994; videodisc, 2000). Rap: looking for the perfect beat. Princeton: Films for the Humanities.
   Documentary of the history of rap and hip hop, tracing its musical and oral origins and charting its development to the 1990's.
   Check BobCat for holdings
6. Pray, Doug. (2002). Scratch. New York: Palm Pictures.
   Documentary of DJing featuring Afrika Bambaataa and Grand Wizard Theodore together with more recent artists such as DJ Craze and DJ Shadow; also features Mix Master Mike, of the Beastie Boys.
   DVD 1044 pt. 1 & pt. 2
7. Fiore, Chris. (2002). Backstage: Hard knock life tour. Dimension Home Video.
   Highlights a major hip-hop tour featuring Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Redman , Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Ja Rule, DJ Clue, and Amil.
   Check BobCat for holdings
8. (2004). Dirty states of America: Untold story of Southern hip-hop. MIC Media Corporation.
   Highlights the development of Southern hip hop and features a long list of artists: Scarface, Lil' Jon, David Banner,Killer Mike, Juvenile, 8Ball, Lil' Flip, Bun B. Big Gipp, Cee-Lo, Willie D, Slim Thug and E.S.G., Petey Pablo, Paul Wall and Chamillion Bubba Sparxxx, and others.
   Check BobCat for holdings
9. (2003). GV5 : the sacred elements of hip-hop / written, produced, and directed by Bob Bryan. Los Angeles, CA : Bryan World Productions.
   Records a historic 4 day Hip-Hop Summer Workshop conducted at Metro High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Captures the excitement of this innovative workshop and what emerges is a portrait of the educational value and liberating therapeutic power contained within the unique elements of the contemporary hip-hop movement.
   DVD 3336
10. (2003). GV4. Director, Bob Bryan; Los Angeles : Bryan World Productions.
    Sano, two-time winner of the International Graffiti Art Competition, teaches this underground art form, by showing the concepts, aesthetics, techniques, and style needed to complete a perfect semi "Wild Style" masterpiece and aerosol art on canvas.
    DVD 2832
11. (2000). GV3: Graffiti verite 3 / a film by award winning filmmaker Bob Bryan. Los Angeles, CA : Bryan World Productions.
    The Final Episode is a poetic voyage, a meditation, into the iconography of Graffiti art featuring an eclectic sound track as it's emotional and intellectual core. "GV3 is a compelling sensorial experience; shockingly honest and defiantly politically incorrect."
    VCA 11868

Select Discography: Old School and the Golden Years.

1. Sugarhill Gang. (1979). Rapper's Delight.
   Check BobCat for holdings
2. Kurtis Blow. (1994). The Best of Kurtis Blow.
   XCD 32897
3. Grandmaster Flash. (1994). Message from the Beat Street: The Best of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and the Furious Five.
   Check BobCat for holdings
4. Afrika Bambaataa. (2001). Looking for the Perfect Beat: 1980-1985.
   XCD 22840
5. Run-D.M.C. (1988). Tougher than Leather.
   XCD 25672
6. Beastie Boys. (1986). Licensed to Ill.
   XCD 2946
7. Public Enemy. (1988). It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back.
   XCD 1648
8. N.W.A. (1988). Straight Outta Compton.
   XCD 1435

Electronic Resources and Websites.

Electronic Journals and Databases

1. African American Review, St. Louis University: available in JSTOR from 1992-2001.
   "--quarterly journal promotes a lively exchange among writers and scholars in the arts, humanities, and social sciences who hold diverse perspectives on African American literature and culture... essays on African American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture generally; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/journals/10624783.html
2. Callaloo, John Hopkins University Press: available in Project Muse from 1995 to the current issue.
   "--the premier African Diaspora literary journal, publishes original works by, and critical studies of, black writers worldwide... offers a rich mixture of fiction, poetry, plays, critical essays, cultural studies, interviews, and visual art. Frequent annotated bibliographies, special thematic issues, and original art and photography."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/callaloo/
3. Ethnomusicology, Society for Ethnomusicology: available in JSTOR from 1953-2000.
   "--contains scholarly articles on the wide variety of cultural study areas, theoretical questions and interdisciplinary approaches that are characteristic of the field of ethnomusicology. The journal also includes book, recording, film, and video reviews."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/journals/00141836.html
4. Transition, Duke University Press : available in JSTOR from 1961-1999, with links to coverage up to 2001.
   "--written in sharp, sensible, accessible prose, profusely and sassily illustrated with contemporary art and photography... The Village Voice called it "the only decent forum for black intellectuals." The New York Times called it a "high-I.Q., multicultural Wired for the world's 3,000 most clued-in academics and literary types."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/journals/00411191.html
5. Journal of Black Studies, Sage Publications: available in JSTOR from 1970-2001.
   "--For the last quarter century, the Journal of Black Studies has been the leading source for dynamic, innovative, and creative research on the Black experience."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/journals/00219347.html

In addition to using JSTOR and Project Muse, the student should also try browsing in:

1. Arts and Humanities Citation Index; 1988 to present.
   "--Covers over 1,150 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals in a broad range of disciplines. Indexes illustrations. Also covers individually selected, relevant items from over 5,000 of the world's leading science and social sciences journals."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://isiknowledge.com/wos
2. Lexis Nexis Academic Universe.
   "--Nearly 5,000 publications on the service span news, financial, medical, and legal information. Research areas... cover top news, general news topics, and news transcripts..."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
3. International index to music periodicals (IIMP)
   Covers nearly all aspects of the world of music. Records in the current file (1996 forward) contain abstracts.
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://iimpft.chadwyck.com/
4. International index to black periodicals (IIBP full text)
   "IIBP full text includes current and retrospective bibliographic citations and abstracts from over 150 scholarly and popular journals, newspapers and newsletters from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean--and full-text coverage of 25 core Black Studies periodicals (1998 forward) ... Coverage is international in scope and multidisciplinary--spanning cultural, economic, historical, religious, social, and political issues of vital importance to the Black Studies discipline."
   https://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=http://iibp.chadwyck.com

Websites

1. Experience Music Project's Hip Hop Timeline
   http://www.emplive.org/explore/hiphop/index.asp
   Features video interviews with hop pioneers DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and others; audio clips of music, photographs, and flyers.
2. Hip Hop Archive Project at Stanford University
   http://www.hiphoparchive.org/archive/index2.htm
   This webpage is designed to bring together hip hop scholars and practitioners for the preservation of hip hop history (archival of materials) and to extend scholarly discussion and debate. The webpage will publish essays, and contains a list of conferences; hip hop courses being offered in universities; links to other hip hop websites; and an extensive bibliography (see appendix).
3. Davey D's Hip Hop Corner
   http://www.daveyd.com/
   History and commentary from Davey D., a hip hop journalist and scholar. The Hip Hop History section contains personal definitions of hip hop from three of its founding fathers: DJ Kool Herc, Afrikaa Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash.
4. Old School Party Flyers
   http://toledohiphop.org/images/old_school_source_code/
   An extensive collection of high-quality images of early hip hop party flyers, most of which were designed by Buddy Esquire and Phase 2, a well-known graffiti artist.
5. Wikipedia entry on "Graffiti"
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti#External_links
   An introductory articles with many links to other Graffiti websites.
6. NPR website on Breakdancing
   http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/breakdancing/
   Contains articles, video clips, and NPR audio reports on breakdancing.

Hip Hop Research at NYPL.

The Hip Hop Archive

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is the home of a Hip Hop Archive, containing original materials, photographs, manuscripts and recordings from such hip hop pioneers as the Cold Crush Brothers.

In order to conduct research in the Archive, an interview should be arranged with Steven Fullwood, a curator of the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books division. Finding aids are available within the Schomburg:

515 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10037-1801
(212) 491-2224

Hip Hop Magazines

The Schomburg and the Performing Arts Library at the Lincoln Center both hold issues of hip hop journals, such as:

1. The Source: the magazine of hip hop music, culture & politics. (1988-). New York: Source Publications.
2. Serious hip hop magazine. (1991). Philadelphia: Hip Hop, Inc.
3. Graff-X. (1991-1994) Brooklyn, NY: The Educated Voices of Hip Hop.
4. 4080: the hip hop monthly for the greater Bay area. (1993-1994). Berkeley, CA.
5. Beat-down. (1993-1998). New York: Beat Down Publications.
6. Hip hop connection. (1994-2004) Forehill, Ely (England): Popular Publications.
7. Murder dog. (1995-2003) Vallejo, CA.
8. Stress. (1996-2000) New York: Stress Publishing.
9. F.E.D.S. magazine. (1999-2004). New York: A. Clark
10. Biz: Magazine di cultura hip hop. (1998-2000). Rome: PMA Intermedia. In Italian.
11. Stealth. (1999-2003). Sydney, Australia.
12. Doula : the journal of rap music and hip hop culture. (2000-) Brooklyn, NY: The Urban Think Tank.
13. Redeye magazine. (2000-2002) Brooklyn, NY.
14. Rime magazine. (2002-2003) Villa Park, CA.
15. Four front magazine. (2002-2004). Flushing, NY: Video Focus.
16. Groove. (2004-2005). Paris: Cyber Press. In French.
17. Four front magazine. (2002-2004). Flushing, NY