A product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, and a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind, in this memoir, one of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life.

Featuring rare outtakes from over 100 photoshoots alongside interviews and essays from industry legends, Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop takes readers on a chronological journey from old-school to alternative hip-hop and from analog to digital photography. The ultimate companion for music and photography enthusiasts, Contact High is the definitive history of hip-hop’s early days, celebrating the artists that shaped the iconic album covers,...

1980s Los Angeles. Amid rising gang violence, the crack epidemic, and police brutality, a group of unlikely voices cut through the chaos: N.W.A. Led by a drug dealer, a glammed-up producer, and a high school kid, N.W.A gave voice to disenfranchised African Americans across the country, and redefined pop culture across the world. Westhoff explores how this group of artists shifted the balance of hip-hop; how their shocking success lead to rivalries...

his 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...

Meet Darryl, a quiet third grader with big hopes and dreams. He loves writing and wants to share his talents, but he's shy--and the kids who make fun of his glasses only make things worse. Will the school talent show be his chance to shine? Darryl's Dream, by iconic performer Darryl DMC McDaniels, is a story about finding confidence, facing bullies, and celebrating yourself. This full-color picture book is certain to entertain children and parents...

A self-described orphan with parents, Bobby Hall began life as Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, the only child of an alcoholic, mentally ill mother on welfare and an absent, crack-addicted father. After enduring seventeen years of abuse and neglect, Bobby ran away from home and--with nothing more than a discarded laptop and a ninth-grade education--he found his voice in the world of hip-hop and a new home in a place he never expected: the untamed and uncharted...

An unforgettable first-person account of Hawkins? journey - from the streets of Brooklyn to some of the biggest stages around the world - is not only thoroughly affecting, unfiltered, and explosive, but paints, in vivid detail, the making of one of the greatest acts in American music history. It is an explosive, never-before-told story behind the historic rise of the Wu-Tang Clan, as told by one of its founding members, Lamont "U-God" Hawkins.