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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Real Nice, May 16, 2003
This beautiful book attempts to trace the formation of hip-hop culture through interviews with those who were around for the first ten years. Fricke (a curator at the Experience Music Project museum) and Ahearn (photographer and director of the seminal hop-hop film Wild Style), attempt to document the New York City scene from about 1974-84 (right up to the formation of DefJam and Run-DMC) through photos, original party flyers, and the words of the DJs, MCs, b-boys (breakdancers), graffiti artists, and promoters who were there. The early portion shows how DJ sound-system battles emerged in the early to mid '70s against the backdrop of a decaying Bronx, attracting youths to more or less impromptu parties in parks, streets, and playgrounds. Competition was fierce as to who had the loudest sound system and the best records, and tough security (gang members) was a necessity. One thing that gets disappointingly glossed over is how this copied what happened in Kingston, Jamaica ten years earlier. It was exactly the same: competing street sound systems, with competing DJs who would take the labels off records so spies couldn't find out what they were playing, gangs, violence-all the same. DJ Kool Herc, who lived in Jamaica until 1967, makes a fleeting reference to it, but that's all. For the first few years, the DJs were the "stars" of the scene, offering an alternative to disco music. But as DJs started to learn how to manipulate their turntables to extend the "beats" from a song, eventually MCing started to become more vibrant. What had initially only been calls to the crowd to keep the party's energy up evolved into more and more sophisticated catchphrases, freestyle rhymes, and soon MCs were writing and memorizing lines. Again, it's a bit puzzling that no mention is made of Jamaican"toasting" which emerged in the mid to late '60s. This was the practice of DJs who would talk and rhyme over the records they played, and soon progressed to a point where they would have instrumental versions of popular songs laid down for them to rhyme over-often in a boasting style, talking about how they were the "#1", "champion", and so on. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The other two legs of hip-hop culture are given somewhat less space. The material on breakdancing (aka "b-boying" to the true old-schoolers) seems to indicate that the "b-boy " crews filled a kind of competitive void left by the waning of street gang culture. And while there was some of this dancing at the parties, music was the focus, rather than the dancing-which didn't get big until the early '80s. Graffiti, on the other hand, was clearly a prominent feature of the NYC landscape from the early '70s on. But, what's most interesting here is that while the graffiti artists often went to parties and knew some of the music people, the idea that graffiti was part of a larger hip-cop culture didn't emerge until late in the game. It wasn't until the downtown Manhattan art scene started getting interested that the music, breakin', and graffiti were packaged-by the white art scene-a unified "street" culture. The book is lavishly put together, with tons to look at-however, the oral history structure isn't the greatest. From a historical perspective, it's great to hear all these unknown voices from the past telling about their roles, but at times it does get tedious. Especially when it comes to details on how so and so met so and so and that led the the formation of this or that. Even more so late in the book, when record companies get in the mix, and then all kinds of resentments come pouring out. There could have been a little more editing, as well as a little more context to fill in some of the gaps. For example, there are a lot of references to gangs being involved in the early scene, and shootings, and violence, but there's never any unified discussion of it. The same for the role of drugs in the scene, at one point someone (I think Spoonie Gee) talks about how everyone was totally coked up all the time, and that's something that could have been explored a little more. In any event, it's still a great book for anyone with an interest in the days of hip-hop, giving proper space and voice to all the unknowns who deserve to be known.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the coolest book, August 12, 2003
I got the coolest book this passed Christmas, entitled Yes! Yes! Yall! The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hops First Decade by Jim Fricke. This book focuses on Hip-Hop, and Black culture in America through oral history. Black urban culture gave birth to hip-hop and is the source of influence for todays American culture. Yes! Yes! Yall! is a true period piece focusing on the growth of a new artistic movement. The book is very clear and is written as if youre really listening to someone talk about Hip-Hops old school beginnings. This was a relaxing book to read, and very simplistic in form. As I was reading I felt as if I was sitting in a recreation center or classroom listening to the forefathers, and mothers of this great Black music culture. The book starts by panting a picture of New Yorks inner city in the early 1970s to the mid 80s. Each chapter focuses on all four elements of Hip-Hop, such as: d.j-ing, brake dancing, emceeing/rhyming or raping, and graffiti art. Looking at some of the old photos of B-boys and girls break dancing, the airbrushed clothing, party flyers, and old record jackets was very nostalgic. The book highlights the fact that the whole subculture came out of unequal systematic conditions in the late 1970s into the 80s. This is a real honest approach to the history of the newest, and highly co-modified cultures. Its filled with first hand accounts, stories of back stage antics, tours, emcee battles, dance battles, club fights, and groupies. In chapter two titled, The Forefathers, many people interviewed gave his or her respects to the godfather of Hip-Hop (d.j Kool Herc). They would talk about how d.j Kool Herc would play all the best brake beats at that time. D.j Kool Herc was Jamaica borne and his homeland would be the source that inspired his d.jing style. Kool Herc was the one who coined the term B-boy/B-girl, because boys and girls that would dance to brakes of different songs. The brake was the favorite part of the song, it was known as the get down part of the record. The other reason for calling the party people B-boys and girls was because they were all from Brooklyn also known as the Boogie Down Bronx. Kool Hrec changed and revolutionized the whole music form, once he started toasting, what we call rapping or rhyming today. Toasting started in the Jamaican dance halls, or yard parties. The Selecta or D.j would chant out two or three bare rhymes to get the crowd hyped. Herc added the style toasting from his homeland, and the New York street style of d.jing, to cerate his own style. Thus giving birth to a new sound and genre of music. Yes! Yes! Yall! lastly focuses on the gangs, graffiti, emceeing, and brake dancing and how they intertwine within hip-hop and black culture. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in finding more information on the history of Hip-Hop and how it stems from Black culture.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Straight from the source's mouth !!, October 21, 2002
This review is from: Yes Yes Y'all: The Experience Music Project Oral History Of Hip-hop's First Decade (Hardcover)
Yes Yes Y'all is the [the best] -- a must read for everyone living through the hip-hop cultural revolution. That means you, hoss. Stemming from the ground-breaking hip-hop exhibit at Experience Music Project, Yes Yes Y'all embodies countless oral histories, photographs and artifacts that bring to life the rich history of MCs, DJs, B-Boys & Girls, and Graffiti artists. This publication is lavishly illustrated and lovingly crafted. It's a classic right outta the gate!
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