Customer Reviews

Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide

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Oliver Wang has assembled a group of some of the greatest writers/media assassins to create a book of essays, containing some of hip hops greatest records. The book covers everything from the Cash Money crew down to Gangstarr. No years of hip hop history is left out up to 1998. Various writers cover certain albums which is a gift and a curse. A gift in that it brings out the passion of each writers experiences with the music they are documenting. A curse in that it seems like a bunch of essays were just jumbled alphabetically, by group name together with no cohesive reading from one page to the next. There are some pros and cons when reading this book.

One thing that is apparent are the memories the book provokes. For example, Oliver Wangs first time when his life was forever changed by "3 Feet High and Rising". Dante Ross' involvement in the making of seminal classics like "Mecca and The Soul Brother" and the self titled debut of "Cypress Hill". And of coarse, the music that is documented in each essay. However, there are some cons that really drags this book down from being great.

First off, even though many great records are covered...it is not nearly enough. Maybe time has made many of the non-covered material age like fine wine since the book came out, but there are dozens of records off the head that deserved recognition. With so many renknowned journalists, you'd think they could expand this hand book into something more. However, this minor criticism is shadowed by something much worse. Certain writers actually misquote the artists they are documenting frequently. For example, on pages 42-43 the writer transposes quotes between Brand Nubians Sadat X and Grand Puba. It's a little embarrassing, especially when they state, "back in 1990 everybody thought Grand Puba was the best emcee," when they were using Sadat X quotes by example. On page 81, another writer misquotes Willie D when Scarface used the line, "keep letting the gov't dictate what you hear/ Next they'll put stickers on your ears" from "We Can't Be Stopped". The misquotes keeps coming. On page 114, the writer quotes Prodigy using the opening line on "Start of Your Ending" with "I keep it real packin' steal" when it was in fact a Havoc line.

In conclusion, the frequent "not giving credit where it is due" hurts "Classic Material, The Hip Hop-Album Guide" from being great. I myself have made mistakes reviewing (like any human being) but from people whose profession is to critique albums presents some rough edges. Still..."Classic Material" is a solid read, front to back, with plenty of memorable moments. Hopefully, if there is another book in the making, it can be more accurate.

Very intriguing material from different authors & some backgroud stuff I didnt know. A good book to read while enjoying the best beats in hiphop.