Behind The Beat

Behind the Beat: Hip Hop Home Studios
RAFAEL RASHID

The revealing photographs found within the pages of Behind the Beat expose the creative spaces of top DJ's and music producers from the UK and US. This book is an open invitation to step into the private world of the hip hop home studio and discover its inner workings. Featured are the studios and equipment of some of the most influential music creators working today including: DJ Premier, Madlib, J Dilla, DJ Spinna, Skitz, Nextmen, Taskforce, Dj Swamp, E- Swift, Beyond There, Kut masta kurt, Fat jack, Jehst, Beatminerz, DJ Shadow, DJ design, Dan the Automator, Chief Xcel, Young Einstein, Numark, Cut Chemist, Thes One, J Zone and Mario Caldato Jnr.

215 at my door

So I went out on my morning bike ride today and dropped by a few shops to look for the new issue of Two.One.Five because I just couldn't wait any longer and I was unsuccessful. To my pleasant surprise, as soon as I arrived home, I had my subscription copy sitting in my mailbox! They even included a little goody bag, literally. SUBSCRIBE.

Skate Book Release Party Tonight!

Skateboarding legend Salman Agah, and special guests will be in town to promote, and release the latest issue of "The Skatebook" series. The Exit Skate Shop will be hosting a meet and greet and signing. Free Food, and booze all night, and the first 100 guest receive a free copy of the hardback book. Come hang out, shoot some pool, bbq some food and drink some brews with all your homies.

Where: Exit Skateshop. 440 E. Girard Ave. Phila, PA

Cost: No Cover

The Hip-Hop Files with Martha Cooper

In this latest interview, hip-hop’s original documentarian Martha Cooper offers amazing insight on how she became the quintessential link between the graffiti/hip-hop scene and the rest of the world as these subcultures were in their infancy. The video also includes unreal imagery of some of the culture’s legendary players including none other then the late great Style Master Dondi White. This interview uncovers Martha Cooper’s honest approach and feelings on her she would be come such an integral part of hip-hop, b-boying and graffiti.

New Banksy Book

Home Sweet Home.

33 and one-third

What the hell are 33⅓ books? Thirty-Three and a Third is a series of pocket-sized books written about important and/or seminal music albums. Written by one author per album, the series is published by Continuum Books. There is something in here for everyone who loves music. Here is a short list.

Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Going On
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
Nirvana - In Utero
The Beatles - Let It Be
DJ Shadow - Entroducing
Radiohead - OK Computer
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
James Brown - Live At The Apollo
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisitied
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life
A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels..
And many more..


Coming Soon
Wu-Tang Clan - 36 Chambers
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Outkast - Aquemini
Nas - Illmatic

Buy em here

Graphic Design: The New Basics

As things progress, the modes of learning change. A good example is skateboarding. Beginner skaters start by learning tricks (ie kickflip) that would have been considered advanced 10 years ago. Some old common tricks aren't even practiced anymore (the ho-ho plant!). The same thing applies to design, and this book promotes the idea. Instead of treading through the basics you see in old Bauhaus manuals, The New Basics jumps right into the heavy stuff. Concepts like dimension, scale, layers, transparency, and color have changed definitions and this book addresses them (The New Basics). In addition, the examples used are cutting edge modern citing things like Google maps, sculptures, and commercial products. This is a great book for the newbie or the ol'head that needs to get up to speed.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

I'm in the middle of reading Can't Stop, Won't Stop by Jeff Chang right now. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the history of hip-hop and how everything from the dj, mc, b-boy, graf artist and culture of hip-hop first started and how it has evolved into what it is today. Jeff Chang really goes all out with his in-depth stories and quotes, touching on what seems to be "everything".

"Hip-hop is the voice of this generation. Even if you didn't grow up in the Bronx in the '70s, hip-hop is there for you. It has become a powerful force. Hip-hop binds all of these people, all of these nationalities, all over the world together."
—DJ Kool Herc, from the Introduction

Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview, and transformed American politics and culture. But that epic story has never been told like this. From the gangs of the late 60s to the icons of the new millennium, from the Ghetto Brothers and Universal Zulu Nation organizations to the hip-hop activists, Can't Stop Won't Stop presents the hip-hop generation in all its grime and glory with breadth, wit, and style.

Based on original interviews with DJs, b-boys, rappers, graffiti writers, activists, and gang members, with unforgettable portraits of many of hip-hop's forebears, founders, and mavericks, including DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, and Ice Cube, Can't Stop Won't Stop chronicles the events, the ideas, the music, and the art that marked the hip-hop generation's rise from the ashes of the 60s into the new millennium. Here is a powerful cultural and social history of the end of the American century, and a provocative look into the new world that the hip-hop generation created.

Also check out, Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop, written by Jeff Chang.

Ooooo check thiss