WAngry Blonde is a 2000 non-fiction book by American rapper Eminem. The book was first published on November 21, 2000 by HarperEntertainment and features Eminem's commentary of his songs as well as several pictures that had not been previously published. A paperback edition was released in 2002. The book was listed as one of the ALA's "Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers" for 2002.
WBehind the Beat: Hip Hop Home Studios is a book by Raph where the home studios of twenty-eight notable American and British hip-hop producers are photographed, along with brief descriptions of the producers and their studios. It was published in 2005 by Gingko Press.
WBlack Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America is a 1994 book by Tricia Rose. It was released in hardback on April 29, 1994 through Wesleyan University Press.
WBook of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop is a book by literary scholar Adam Bradley that looks at hip hop music’s literary techniques and argues “that we must understand rap as poetry or miss the vanguard of poetry today.” The Dallas Morning News described it by saying, “You'll find Yeats and Frost alongside Nas and...Wu-Tang Clan, together forming a discussion on meter and accent, scansion, and slant rhymes”. Bradley is an associate professor of English at the University of Colorado at Boulder, with a PhD in English from Harvard University.
WBorn to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic, edited by Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai, is a collection of scholarly essays and historical documents presenting Illmatic from an academic perspective. The book features contributions from scholars and intellectuals such as Adilifu Nama, Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., James Peterson, Marc Lamont Hill, Mark Anthony Neal, Imani Perry, Kyra Gaunt, and Eddie S. Glaude among others. It also includes a preface written by Common. In the introduction, Sohail Daulatzai explains the structure of the book, writing:Born to Use Mics, encompasses the different styles and forms of hip-hop publishing, from the scholarly to the journalistic, the historical to the first-person account, using freestyles and wile styles to wax philosophic on the meaning of Illmatic. But the final mix you hold is more than the sum of its parts, as we’ve brought together an eclectic group of writers, scholars, poets, filmmakers, journalists, novelists, musicians, and combinations thereof who have all grown up with hip hop and have been deeply connected to it from jump. In essence, Born to Use Mics is a literary remix, a cipher in book form as well of these contributors offer up unique and fresh perspectives, as they mediate on the significance of Illmatic.
WBuck is a memoir by MK Asante, published by Random House/Spiegel & Grau. Buck tells the story of MK's youth growing up in Philadelphia from the perspective of MK as a teenager. Buck illustrates Asante's struggles with the disintegration of his family and the city's urban decay. Buck is often described as inspirational because it details Asante's discovery of his talent for writing at 16 and his decision to pursue it as a career. The paperback edition of Buck made The Washington Post Bestseller List in 2014 and 2015.
WCan't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation is a 2005 book by Jeff Chang chronicling the early hip hop scene.
WCheck the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies is a book by music journalist Brian Coleman that covers the making of 36 classic hip hop albums, based on interviews with the artists who created them, also providing a track-by-track breakdown for each album entirely in the words of the artists. It was published by Villard/Random House in 2007.
WContact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop is a 2018 photography book created and written by Vikki Tobak and ongoing exhibition series. The volume features contact prints from analog photography sessions of hip hop artists during roughly forty-years, from the beginnings of the genre in the late 1970s until the late 2000s.
WDr. Dre: The Biography is a biography written about American rapper, music producer, and entrepreneur Dr. Dre written by Ronin Ro released February 28, 2007.
WFoundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York is a book by Joseph G. Schloss which looks at b-boying and the culture surrounding it. It features excerpts from interviews the author did with major figures in the b-boying world such as Ken Swift of Rock Steady Crew, Alien Ness, and Trac 2.
WHiding in Hip-Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry—from Music to Hollywood is a 2008 memoir by the former MTV executive Terrance Dean.
WHip Hop Family Tree is a series of educational and historical comic books written and illustrated by Ed Piskor that documents the early history of hip hop culture. Originating online with Boing Boing, the series was published in print form by Fantagraphics Books. The first collection was a 2014 New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller (#7) and was listed in The Washington Post Top 10 graphic novels of 2013.
WHip Hop High School (2006) is a novel by American author Alan Lawrence Sitomer. It's the second in the Hoopster Trilogy.
WHip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey is a coffee-table book published by Aria Multimedia Entertainment. It is a 420-page, leather-bound tribute to Hip Hop that showcases the roots, birth, evolution, and global impact of hip hop culture over the past four decades.
WHomeboyz is a 2007 young adult fiction novel written by California teacher Alan Lawrence Sitomer. It is the third and final book of the Hoopster Trilogy. The book won the Top Ten Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers award from the American Library Association in 2008.
WHow to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC is a book on hip hop music and rapping by Paul Edwards. It is compiled from interviews with 104 notable rappers who provide insights into how they write and perform their lyrics.
WIt's Bigger Than Hip Hop: The Rise of the Post-Hip-Hop Generation is a creative non-fiction book by M. K. Asante. It's Bigger Than Hip Hop employs hip hop culture as a vehicle to explore important social and political issues facing the hip hop and post-hip hop generations.
WThe Killing of Tupac Shakur is a biographical, true crime account by American journalist and author Cathy Scott of the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. The book made news upon its September 1997 release, on the first anniversary of Shakur's death, because of an autopsy photo included in its pages. It was the first book to be released covering the rapper's death. The book was reprinted in the UK by Plexus Publishing and in Poland by Kagra. Coverage of the autopsy photo, taken of Shakur's body on a gurney in the coroner's examining room, catapulted the book onto the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. New editions of the book were released in 2002 and 2014.
WThe Murder of Biggie Smalls is a non-fiction true crime book by author and journalist Cathy Scott. Published in October 2000 by St. Martin's Press, it covers the March 9, 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in a drive-by shooting.
WMy Son Marshall, My Son Eminem is a 2008 autobiography by Debbie Nelson, the mother of American rapper Marshall Mathers a.k.a. Eminem. The British author Annette Witheridge helped her with the book. It was reported in September 2008 that the book sold over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
WNo Disrespect is a 1994 American memoir written by Sister Souljah.
WThe Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed is a 2015 New York Times best-selling book written by Shea Serrano and illustrated by Arturo Torres.
WLamont Jody Hawkins, better known as U-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for his deep voice and rhythmic flow that can alternate between gruff and smooth.
WThere’s a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MCs is a 2003 book by the old school hip hop MC Kool Moe Dee, where he ranks what he believes to be the Top 50 greatest MCs of all time, giving a breakdown of each artist. The book also features a foreword from Chuck D and includes full color photos from hip hop photographer Ernie Paniccioli.
WTupac: A Thug Life is an anthology and collection of writings on the rapper Tupac Shakur released in 2005 by Plexus Publishing in the UK. The book was edited by Sam Brown with a foreword by music journalist Kris Ex. The title was taken from a quote by Shakur, who once said, "I didn't choose the thug life; the thug life chose me."
WThe Way I Am is a 2008 autobiography by American rapper Eminem. The book was first published on October 21, 2008 by Dutton Adult. It is a collection of Eminem's personal stories, reflections, photographs, original artwork, and lyric sheets. It details his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak, family and depression, along with stories about his rise to fame and commentary on past controversies. The book is illustrated with never before published photos of Eminem's life. It also contains original drawings, previously unpublished lyric sheets, and other rare memorabilia. The autobiography is named after the song of the same name.