This landmark work chronicles an earth-shattering movement with deep roots.”—New York Times Book Review “The Anthology of Rap is among the best books of its kind ever published.”—Dan Chiasson, New York Review of Books “For the reader who’s really interested in modern poetics a profitable week or three could be spent sitting with The Anthology of Rap .”—Will Self, Times (UK)“The authors have built a poignant collection of rhythm and rhyme. . . . For hard-core hip-hop heads, this book confirms what we have always known: that some of the most innovative writing hails from the imagination of the rapper.”—Idris Goodwin, Boston Globe “As ambitious and intelligent as anyone might want, and more enjoyable than anyone might think. . . . If you want to hear how the latter part of the twentieth century sounded, you can’t do better than this book.”—Kevin Young, Bookforum “Intelligent and authentic. . . . Written for both the hip-hop head and the uninitiated.”—James Johnson, Philadelphia Inquirer “An important contribution to this highly contested lyrical culture.”—David Barnes, Times Literary Supplement “A chronology of rap that highlights significant figures in its short history and offers a window into how rappers harmonize the world through a distinct form of self-expression.”—Library Journal “Reading The Anthology of Rap , which covers everything from Afrika Bambaataa to Young Jeezy, it’s hard not to appreciate rap’s astounding love of words, of the way they fit together and play off each other, and of how meaning can be layered upon meaning to get at a deeper truth. Which sounds an awful lot like poetry.”—Joshua Ostroff, Globe and Mail “The eye-opening essay by [Henry Louis] Gates . . . provides deep historical context for rap; it alone makes the book worth owning.”—Slate “What could have been an insufferable rap-snob collectible ended up being one of the first truly encyclopedic, essential anthologies on the form. . . . It’s an Ivy League master class in the language of hip-hop. Register today.”—Foster Kamer, Village Voice , “Best Books of 2010”“A complete encyclopedia of the history, personalities, beats, rhythm and rhymes of the musical genre from the old school of Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five to hip-hop and Kanye West.”—Los Angeles Times “An English major’s hip-hop bible, an impossible fusion of street cred and book learning. . . . Reading [it] was the most fun I’ve had with a book in many months.”—Sam Anderson, New York Magazine “An awesome compilation: 920 pages of some of the baddest, phattest, flyist tracks ever dropped.”—Mother Jones “The Anthology of Rap reaffirms the enduring force of the written word—or at least the immaculately constructed freestyle.”—LA Weekly “[The] anthology offers the good, the bad, and the offensive—and plenty of food for intelligent discussion.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “Listen along on YouTube and it’s a self-taught class on the genre’s history.”—New York Magazine “This mega-anthology strips away rap’s performance elements and allows the language itself to pulse, break, spin, and strut in poems of audacity, outrage, insight, sweetness, and nastiness. . . . Electrifying.”—Booklist “[The Anthology of Rap ] makes the case for the immediate and enduring relevance of [rap’s] poetic tradition.”—Barnes and Noble Review “[The] editors of The Anthology of Rap supply a much needed injection of energy and enthusiasm into our analysis of hip-hop’s lyricism.”—Quentin B. Huff, PopMatters “A great, necessary addition to the book collection of any contemporary music aficionado.”—Creative Loafing “An exquisite display of the artistic talent seen with rap music.”—Boston Music Spotlight Honorable mention in the Compilations/Anthologies category of the 2010 New England Book Festival, given by the JM Northern Media family of festivals“An essential contribution to our living literary tradition. . . . This groundbreaking anthology masterfully assembles part of a new vanguard of American poetry.”—from the Foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. “What you hold in your hands is more than a book. This is a culture. This is hip-hop. . . . This book offers a view of rap in full, from the root to the fruit.”—from the Afterword by Common “Every great literature deserves a great anthology. Rap finally has its own.”—from the Afterword by Chuck D “From the Sing Song cadence of the slave preachers to the emotional bravery of Tupac Shakur to the clarity of Queen Latifah . . . for all the hearts and heads and voices who have still to be heard: We Now Have an Encyclopedia. Good for us. Much needed. Much needed.”—Nikki Giovanni“The Anthology of Rap is an instant classic. It brings together the lyric poetry of some of the greatest artists of our time. Hip Hop is here to stay and rap lives forever—on the stage and now on the page!”—Cornel West“These Rappers’ lyrics love. Cut. Curse. Fight. Teach. Play. Pray. Testify. They bring us the pace of sound. The swiftness of sound. The discordant way of looking at the world of sound. The Blackness of sound. The new bebopic beat of sound. These are word sorcerers who love language and hablar sin bastón (speak without a crutch).”—Sonia Sanchez“This monumental encyclopedia of rhymes is great for hip-hop newbies or longtime fans, lyric lovers and poetry devotees. It’s an invaluable reference on hip-hop history spanning from Afrika Bambaataa to Kanye West.”—Touré“Some readers of poetry still wonder where the rhymes went. One answer is they left the ends of the lines and went inside the poem. But rhyme also strongly re-emerges in rap. Whatever the stakes or the messages contained in this monumental volume, the like-sounds that used to be the engine of English poetry drive and power these energetic lyrics.”—Billy Collins
The Anthology serves several functions: it's a repository of significant lyrics…a history of the music by eras; and an encyclopedia of performers, with a brief, well-written biography for each…this landmark work chronicles an earth-shattering movement with deep roots.
New England Book Festival - New England Book Festival Compilation/Anthologies Category
Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer - James Johnson
Boston Music Spotlight
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe - Idris Goodwin
Star Tribune
The Anthology of Rap supply a much needed injection of energy and enthusiasm into our analysis of hip-hop's lyricism."—Quentin B. Huff, PopMatters
PopMatters - Quentin B. Huff
The Anthology of Rap ] makes the case for the immediate and enduring relevance of [rap's] poetic tradition."—Barnes and Noble Review
The Anthology of Rap , which covers everything from Afrika Bambaataa to Young Jeezy, it's hard not to appreciate rap's astounding love of words, of the way they fit together and play off each other, and of how meaning can be layered upon meaning to get at a deeper truth. Which sounds an awful lot like poetry."—Joshua Ostroff, The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail - Joshua Ostroff
Creative Loafing
Slate
The Anthology of Rap reaffirms the enduring force of the written word—or at least the immaculately constructed freestyle."—LA Weekly
New York Magazine , "The Year in Books"
New York Magazine - Sam Anderson
New York Magazine
The Anthology of Rap is as ambitious and intelligent as anyone might want, and more enjoyable than anyone might think. . . . If you want to hear how the latter part of the twentieth century sounded, you can't do better than this book."—Kevin Young, Bookforum
The Anthology of Rap is an instant classic. It brings together the lyric poetry of some of the greatest artists of our time. Hip Hop is here to stay and rap lives forever—on the stage and now on the page!"—Cornel West
Mother Jones
"What could have been an insufferable rap-snob collectible ended up being one of the first truly encyclopedic, essential anthologies on the form. . . . It's an Ivy League master class in the language of hip-hop. Register today."—Foster Kamer, The Village Voice (Best Books of 2010)
The Village Voice - Foster Kamer
The Anthology of Rap is among the best books of its kind ever published."—Dan Chiasson, The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books - Dan Chiasson
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
Honorable mention in the Compilations/Anthologies category of the 2010 New England Book Festival, given by the JM Northern Media family of festivals
— New England Book Festival Compilation/Anthologies Category
New England Book Festival
"Intelligent and authentic. . . written for both the hip-hop head and the uninitiated."—James Johnson, Philadelphia Inquirer
"The authors have built a poignant collection of rhythm and rhyme. . . . For hard-core hip-hop heads, this book confirms what we have always known: that some of the most innovative writing hails from the imagination of the rapper."—Idris Goodwin, The Boston Globe
"[The] editors of The Anthology of Rap supply a much needed injection of energy and enthusiasm into our analysis of hip-hop's lyricism."—Quentin B. Huff, PopMatters
— Quentin B. Huff
"Reading The Anthology of Rap , which covers everything from Afrika Bambaataa to Young Jeezy, it's hard not to appreciate rap's astounding love of words, of the way they fit together and play off each other, and of how meaning can be layered upon meaning to get at a deeper truth. Which sounds an awful lot like poetry."—Joshua Ostroff, The Globe and Mail
— Joshua Ostroff
"The editors have been bold and often brilliant. . . . The Anthology of Rap is as ambitious and intelligent as anyone might want, and more enjoyable than anyone might think. . . . If you want to hear how the latter part of the twentieth century sounded, you can't do better than this book."—Kevin Young, Bookforum
— Kevin Young
"This monumental encyclopedia of rhymes is great for hip-hop newbies or longtime fans, lyric lovers and poetry devotees. It's an invaluable reference on hip-hop history spanning from Afrika Bambaataa to Kanye West."—Touré
"What could have been an insufferable rap-snob collectible ended up being one of the first truly encyclopedic, essential anthologies on the form. . . . It's an Ivy League master class in the language of hip-hop. Register today."—Foster Kamer, The Village Voice (Best Books of 2010)
— Foster Kamer
"The Anthology of Rap is among the best books of its kind ever published."—Dan Chiasson, The New York Review of Books
— Dan Chiasson
The New York Review of Books
The importance of virtuosity at wordplay becomes abundantly clear in the rich vocabulary of rap lyrics. In Bradley's previous Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop, he dissects the poetic structures in rap music, contextualizing the genre within the large canon of poetry. Here, Bradley and DuBois (English, Univ. of Toronto at Scarborough) expand upon this effort by reflecting on the history of rap music and its growing canon of lyrics. The anthology is organized around four eras of rap: old-school, the golden age, mainstream, and the new millennium. Within each of these sections, individual artists are identified for both their artistic influence and cultural impact. VERDICT Functioning as a rap reader, the anthology is largely a collection of lyrics. However, those uninterested in poetical analysis may read it as a chronology of rap that highlights significant figures in its short history and offers a window into how rappers harmonize the world through a distinct form of self-expression. [Previewed in "25 Reasons Why Academic Publishing Is Sexier Than You Think," BookSmack!7/15/10.]—Joshua Finnell, Denison Univ. Lib., Granville, OH
