Customer Reviews

The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the most detailed and real to life accounting of the business of music ever written. Details are provided about the "behind the scenes" activity of how the hip-hop business grew into a billion dollar business. The book is vivid and informative to anyone aspiring to pursue a career in the music business. The author Dan Charnas' account is second to none and a must read for any fan of entertainment. Nothing like this exists to my knowledge. It provides the process of the development of an American art form that has transcended from the streets of the Bronx to the shores of Tivalu. Hip-hop music transformed life and culture in the 20th and 21st century and its fair to say it affected the election of an American president. I haven't put it down since I picked it up. Go grab this asap!!!

What "Hit and Run" did for exposing rock music, "Country Music, USA" dissected for Country Music and "Three Blind Mice" examined in Television, "The Big Payback" does for hip-hop. Almost every book on hip-hop has been overly academic, a cash-in or hagiography of the stars. Nobody has touched the nexus of commerce, culture (in particular race) and history in such a suspenseful narrative as "The Big Payback." Primarily, especially for those of us who grew up with hip-hop, this book opens the doors of what lay behind the music without the hype. And, it is more than just "Mo, Money, Mo' Problems." In particular, the historical roots of the music on the streets of Harlem add The Bronx. I found it impossible to put down. I only wish that the electronic version might have contained a soundtrack or maybe a video to punctuate the text.

"The man who invented American money lived and died in Harlem."

Thus begins The Big Payback, a tour-de-force of a book that details the rise of rap music from the burned-out blocks of the South Bronx in the 1970s to the top of the international mainstream music world today. Tracking more than 30 years of hip-hop's history, it gives readers a peek at the origins of all the major players in the genre today-and the pioneers on whose shoulders they stand.

This sweeping narrative reminds readers that hip-hop has merged with mainstream popular music despite the naysayers who, even today, write it off as a passing fad. One need look no further than the obscure DJs spinning in sweaty South Bronx clubs in the book's early chapters to the rap stars starting their own companies by the book's end to realize how far hip-hop has come, and where it may yet go.

In a year that has seen plenty of hip-hop books, The Big Payback stands out as a must-read for any fan (or even any detractor) of the genre.

Dan Charnas' book, The Big Pay Back, is one of the 3 best books I've read in the past ten years. Hip-hop fans will find lots to learn here, while the narrative is engaging enough to entertain and enlighten the most distracted entrepreneur. I place it up on the shelf right next to Sun Tsu's Art of War. Yes, it is that good!

wow. i am sooooo in love with this book. i have been waiting for it to come out for some time now and i have not been disappointed! i spend time reading it at my computer so i can search you tube for all the songs from my youth i have lost!!!
this might just be one of the few books i have to have in hardback.

I'm a man of few words, also one to get board easily with books so I'll get straight to the point. This books is really hard to put down, it practically reads itself! It's amazing how elaborate and interconnected this story is, it's told in an intricate detail that puts you right in the middle of a guided tour through time as hip hop comes to life! If you're a fan of Hip hop, if you know anything about its origins or are the least bit curious about how it all started and are intrigued by the players behind the scene then definitely pick up this book!

The Big Payback is a large book because it attempts to cover a vast subject, but Charnas does a good job of focusing on the most pivotal moments in the business of hip hop and then telling each story in a compelling fashion that makes you want to keep reading, even when he jumps to another subject. He does an especially good job of getting the story on how hip hop moved from a street phenomenon to an actual business back in the beginning during the late 70's, and gives many of the originators their proper due.

Fans of hip-hop, especially early to mid-90's, will find this book worth it just for the history lesson alone, not to mention the usual inside-the-industry revelations. But Charnas' also relates his history lesson to that of black entrepreneurship (while always giving originators their due, regardless of color), a very astute context when you consider how racist the music industry always has been. My only complaint is that he sometimes gives a rosy impression of what has happened to hip hop itself. Yes it brought money and allowed more black empowerment in an industry that has wrongly denied it, an obvious positive, but is it all positive? Half the rappers out there today are virtual advertising robots, rapping about brands they like and liquor they drink, ready to sell out as soon as they can. Rap is probably the most commercialized music around these days, where commercial artists never have qualms about selling out cause its all about money ("Get Rich Or Die Tryin" pretty much says it all). Sure, hip hop eventually made it on the radio, but a consolidated radio industry plays the most derivative, formula-driven songs these days. Major record companies, themselves now assets in mammoth corporate entities, bought all the pioneering independent rap labels years ago while taking less chances on new music and sticking to played formulas. Who says any of this is a good thing? Maybe a music form that comes from the underground does not benefit by going corporate. Charnas does not touch on that subject, rather the book always assumes it is a positive thing. I think any listen to a Puff Daddy/P Diddy album calls that assumption into question.

But overall this book is still golden. Even if you're not into rap, the Big Payback is worth a read and an invaluable addition to hip hop history.

The Big Payback is a great read! It is full of interesting information about a phenomenon that has been woven in the fabric of American culture. I am excited to know the back story of the hip-hop industry that has not been exposed. I appreciate the time and effort Charnas took to create this wonderful literary work.

I gave this book to my husband for Christmas as it was on his "wish list". He read the entire book within a week, and said it was one of the most in depth, informative books he's ever read.

The Big Payback is a wonderful history of the behind the scenes action of hip-hop from the 70's on. It focuses on New York and California almost exclusively and Def Jam in particular. Rap-A-Lot gets a name check and Cash Money gets a few pages. The evolution of hip-hop radio is very interesting since I haven't seen it explored before. The book isn't encyclopedic in it's scope. It covers a wide range of topics and leaves a few loose ends for those in the know. For instance, The Source gets a lot of coverage, but the story ends with the break up of the original owners. It doesn't get bogged down in the further slide of that magazine. These omissions don't hurt at all. The book builds to a very satisfying conclusion. It builds from a type of music no one wanted to put money in to a industry where deals in the tens of millions of dollars aren't uncommon. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a history of how hip-hop got to where it is today with a little behind the scenes gossip thrown in.