Rap and Hip Hop Books

Whether it's diamond-encrusted grills, oversized "truck" style chains, bust-down Rolex and Patek Philippe watches or a Tiffany necklace, jewelry is a cornerstone of hip-hop culture. Glittering,...

A celebration of Black culture beyond the white gaze, from the \"MacArthur genius\" who has been dubbed 'the most important cultural critic in America right now' Chicago Tribune At the March on...

From the founder of the Wu-Tang Clan-celebrating their 25th anniversary this year-an inspirational book for the hip hop fan. The RZA, founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, imparts the lessons he's learned...

'It's a hip-hop bible' Ghostface Killah, Wutang ClanIn Hip Hop Raised Me.® , DJ Semtex examines the crucial role of hip-hop in society today, and reflects on the huge influence it has had on his own...

The untold story of how breaking one of the most widely practiced dance forms in the world today began as a distinctly African American expression in the Bronx, New York, during the 1970s. Breaking...

Is social integration all it's cracked up to be? Not in the defiant view of first-time French author Louisa Yousfi, who herself has North African roots. Taking its inspiration from the leading...

Don't Sweat the Technique equips aspiring performers, musical artists, singers, and hobbyists with the tools and knowledge needed to become a better rapper. Written in simple language and filled with...

This long-awaited volume is the first edited collection to focus entirely on Hip Hop in Australia. Bringing together both scholarly and practitioner perspectives, across 11 chapters, contributors...

Young people in London have contributed to the production of a distinctively British rap culture. This book moves beyond accounts of Hip-Hop’s marginality and shows, with an examination of the...

Over the past four decades, rap and hip hop culture have taken a central place in popular music both in the United States and around the world. Listening to Rap: An Introduction enables students to...

This powerfully written and co-authored book creatively engages with the topics of Black and Latinx femininity, motherhood, sexuality, racial and ethnic identity, and political engagement through the...

This powerfully written and co-authored book creatively engages with the topics of Black and Latinx femininity, motherhood, sexuality, racial and ethnic identity, and political engagement through the...

"FUN, FRESH and THUMPING with ENERGY" - Jeff Kinney, bestselling author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid "MC Grammar is IT. He is the MAN!" - Michael Rosen The first in a hilarious series from...

The New York Times bestselling memoir from legendary rapper Gucci Mane spares no detail in this “cautionary tale that ends in triumph” (GQ). For the first time, Gucci Mane tells his extraordinary...

Boys, Boyz, Bois concerns questions of ethics, gender and race in popular American images, national discourse and cultural production by and about black men. The book proposes an ethics of...

This volume explores the pedagogical and transformative potential of writing lyrics. Based on an autoethnographic study and inspired by Ivanič’s notion of writer identity, it explores how writing can...

Across his directorial films, American filmmaker Dennis Hopper used music and sound to propel the narrative, signpost the era in which the films were made, and delineate the characters’ place within...

America's Original Gangsta. Snoop Doggy Dogg fired up the burgeoning U.S. rap scene in 1993 with his outstanding debut, Doggystyle. It not only revolutionised a genre, it also put West Coast ganstas...

__________'Essential reading' Rolling Stone'A must read. The best bit of literature currently out there on Kendrick Lamar' VICE __________Kendrick Lamar is at the top of his game.He has been...

Acknowledging the increasing cultural significance of gangster rap on youth culture internationally since the 2010s, this book explores how gangster rap is understood, interpreted, and negotiated in...

Based on empirical research on hip-hop cultures, scenes, and artists in the Nordic countries, this book provides new perspectives on how hip-hop has been intertwined with wider societal and political...

This book provides an `insider’ view of worlds of popular music. It shows the relationship between music, creativity, ideas and localities by looking at cities, independents, genre, globalization and...

Migrating Music considers the issues around music and cosmopolitanism in new ways. Whilst much of the existing literature on ‘world music’ questions the apparently world-disclosing nature of this...

In perceiving all rap and hip-hop music as violent, misogynistic, and sexually charged, are we denying the way in which it is attentive to the lived experiences, both positive and negative, of many...

Featured on NPR's Books We Love 2025'An astounding achievement' MARCUS J. MOORE'Learned [and] compassionate' THE TIMES'A must-read' IRISH TIMESBefore his murder at twenty-five, Tupac Shakur rose to...

'BRILLIANT AND IN-DEPTH'' Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times bestselling author of There's Always This Year and A Little Devil in AmericaA culturally connected celebration of the groundbreaking hip-hop...

'Questlove radiates passion, knowledge, wit and profundity as he reflects on this ever-evolving art form' GUARDIANFor a young Black kid growing up in a musical family in 1970s Philadelphia, hip-hop...

Ya-Hui Cheng examines the emergence of popular music genres – jazz, rock, and hip-hop – in Chinese society, covering the social underpinnings that shaped the development of popular music in China and...

This volume explores the pedagogical and transformative potential of writing lyrics. Based on an autoethnographic study and inspired by Ivanič’s notion of writer identity, it explores how writing can...