When sixteen-year-old Bri, an aspiring rapper, pours her anger and frustration into her first song, she finds herself at the center of a controversy.

"Ice-T rose to fame in the late 1980s, earning acclaim for his music before going on to capture television audiences as Odafin "Fin" Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit​. But it could have gone much differently. In this gripping and candid memoir, Ice-T and Spike, his former crime partner--collaborating with New York Times bestselling author Douglas Century--relate the shocking stories of their shared pasts, and how just a handful...

When a young black teen is murdered, his two best friends decide to keep his memory alive by promoting his music -- rhymes that could turn any hangout into a party -- with the help of his younger sister, Jasmine, who is out for justice. As the buzz builds, it forces Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine, to each confront the death in their own ways. Brooklyn, 1998. When their best friend Steph is killed, Quadir and Jarrell don't want his tracks to lie forgotten....

Will Smith's transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale-- but it's only half the story. His whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world-- only they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they had not signed up for. Here he shares his journey of self-knowledge, telling how he mastered...

Jimmy, known to his friends as Rabbit, is a young man trying to make his way out of the burned-out shell of inner-city Detroit. Rabbit is a white kid trying to make music in a predominantly African-American community and culture. After Rabbit freezes up in the midst of an MC battle, he's convinced he's missed his chance and that he's doomed to lead a marginal life as a factory rat for the rest of his days. With the help of his friends, and his new...

This book "takes readers from 1979, widely regarded as the moment rap became recognized as part of the cultural and musical landscape, and comes right up to the present, with Shea Serrano ... discussing, debating, and deconstructing the most important rap song year by year. Serrano also examines the most important moments that surround the history and culture of rap music--from artists' backgrounds to issues of race, the rise of hip-hop, and the struggles...

JAY-Z: Made in America is the fruit of Michael Eric Dyson's decade of teaching the work of one of the greatest poets this nation has produced, as gifted a wordsmith as Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and Rita Dove. But as a rapper, he's sometimes not given the credit he deserves for just how great an artist he's been for so long. This book wrestles with the biggest themes of JAY-Z's career, including hustling, and it recognizes the way that he's always...

Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam "ADROCK" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the debut album that became the first hip hop record...

A documentary about hip-hop music, the people who are involved in it, and the culture surrounding it. Includes interviews with, and performances by, several artists

Through vivid vignettes, the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots tells dramatic stories of the four powerful relationships that shaped him, each a complex weave of love, discovery, trauma and loss, illuminating the redemptive power of the upcycle.