It's flawed - by the second half I mostly tuned out as Public Enemy and Ice Cube (not my favourites) took centre stage and the political thrust of Jeff Chang's argument grew strained - but for putting the birth of the movement in perspective musically and culturally it's hard to beat. Some people love books.

Just like any other music, hip-hop has an enormous emotional impact on the listeners beyond racial and cultural scope. There is so much about America that I don't know. Exhaustive but only scratches the surface. It's flawed - by the second half I mostly tuned out as Public Enemy and Ice Cube (not my favourites) took centre stage and the political thrust of Jeff Chang's argument grew strained - but for putting the birth of the movement in perspective musically and culturally it's hard to beat. So keep in mind that that's what you're getting - a history of gang culture, youth politics and (most impressively) urban geography at the end of the twentieth century - and you'll probably enjoy the book. This single road, designed to decrease travel times for rich suburban commuters, forced the relocation of some 60,000 working class Bronx residents.

Promoting conscious, positive music and resisting the corporate domination of youth culture. It became suddenly possible for kids from different blocks, different gangs and different races to mix. It’s indispensable for music nerds like me. Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation is a 2005 book by Jeff Chang chronicling the early hip hop scene. Can't force myself to be interested in things I'm not interested in. I’m sending it to some friends!

shame it was written before hurricane katrina, another example of american domestic policy neglecting its black population. All that being said, this is easily a must read for any hip-hop enthusiast. The social policy response from the government was, basically, to ignore the ghetto, to pretend it didn’t exist. Great site. they pick landmarks and artists who, perhaps, are emblematic of the genre, but do not come from the perspective of a fan that's where jeff chang's "can't stop won't stop" is so successful. Having written about the social origins of hip-hop, the early innovators such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, the emergence of graffiti, the emergence of breakdancing, and other important topics related to the ‘early years’, Chang turns his attention to the emergence of ‘political rap’. Impoverished young people, struggling to survive in a deprived area that the world had chosen to ignore, gave birth to a culture of music, dance (breakdancing) and art (graffiti) which the world couldn’t ignore, and which it eventually would have no choice but to adopt.

What I got was an incredibly insightful, provocative, informative social history of the generation that produced the hip hop lifestyle: graffiti, fashion, dancing and, of course, music.

I wanted to know more about the hip hop itself and not about the context of segregation and crime and the other stuff that I read about all the time. In many ways, although it is not directly about hip-hop, this is the most important section of the book, as this history gives some important clues as to what makes hip-hop so special, so important. My only criticism is that it has a political bias (but so does much of hip hop culture, so in some ways, it's appropriate).

Many more will have to die. "[4] It was also criticized for leaving out key elements of hip-hop history - "if you want to read a long and unbelievably self-indulgent trawl through the internal politics of US hip-hop magazine The Source, then this is the place to do it.

Just like any other music, hip-hop has an enormous emotional impact on the listeners beyond racial and cultural scope.

But not so biased not to recognize when a seminal book on the historical and political context of hip-hop cultures and its generations since the late 1960s emerges that finds fans in academia, arts spaces, and all middle/high schools alike. Commercial hip-hop bears strange fruit: on Kanye West, Rebel Diaz, Billie Holliday and Troy Davis. But then again, I don't think an encyclopedic history of the music was what the author intended. I'm so thankful I got to read this book. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation is a 2005 book by Jeff Chang chronicling the early hip hop scene. The first half, chronicling the beginnings of hip-hop from early dub records to Grandmaster Flash and the first graffiti artists is great. Very disturbing. Thank God for books like this to expose truths and tell stories that are neglected by the main stream. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. DJ Kool Herc wrote the introduction. Chang knows his stuff, and whether he's talking about gang wars in the Bronx, block parties and Jamaican sound systems or the birth of turntablism, his passion for his subject shines through. chang is so much better on social history/politics than he is on actually describing the music.

shame.

You will not be disappointed.