Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
January 31st, 2010 | By
Many good books have been written about the history of hip-hop music and the generation that nurtured it. Can’t Stop Won’t Stop ranks among the best. Jeff Chang covers the music–from its Jamaican roots in the late 1960s to its birth in the Bronx; its eventual explosion from underground to the American mainstream–with style, including DJs, MCs, b-boys, graffiti art, Black Nationalism, groundbreaking singles and albums, and the street parties that gave rise to a genuine movement. But the book is about more than beats and rhymes. What distinguishes his book from the pack is Chang’s examination of how hip-hop has shaped not only pop music, but American history and culture over the past 30 years. He shows how events such as urban flight, race riots, neighborhood reclamation projects, gang warfare in the Bronx and Los Angeles, and grassroots movements that influenced political agendas are as integral a part of the hip-hop story as the music itself. He also (more…)
