December 23rd, 2009 by asia

What better time than the holidaze, full up on food with the I-tis than to crack open a good book! Can’t play cee-lo and bones all the time! Tis the Season to appreciate our Hip-Hop roots! Bulk up on knowledge for your dome with insights on how it all began with “Born in the Bronx”, with testimonials from those who where there living it, and amazing photos from Hip-Hop’s first photographer, my homie, Joe Conzo; move into “Dondi White; Style Master General” by Andrew Witten and Michael White to overstand the understated genius of Graf legend Dondi White whose style took Graffiti to new heights of style; satiate your rap palate with “The Hip-Hop Years: A History of Rap by Kate Butler, and ” Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” by Jeff Chang for a comprehensive history of Rap and Raps roots, and the culture that surrounded it; get political thug style with ‘the Renaissance man of thug rap’ in Rebel for the Hell of It : The Life of Tupac Shakur’ by Armond White; and learn how influential the Bboys have always been in Hip-Hop style with ‘Where’d You Get Those? New York City’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987′ by Bobbito Garcia; don’t ever forget Hip-Hop’s first females and RnB Queens in Vibe Hip-Hop Divas, (with a brief mention of yours truly!). For some real scholarly intellectual socio-political spin on Hip-Hop read anything by Nelson George! Also for all that don’t know there is a bubbling new genre of books called Hip-Hop lit, that speak to those of us that live the life often misunderstood by the masses and trivialized in the media. We do have a Voice! Palante!

These books were selected by the B-boys.com website, oldschoolhiphop.com website, and hiphopbookclub.com, with my personal faves thrown in for good measure.

Reviews by B-boys.com
Back in the Days by Jamel Shabazz (Photographer), Fab 5 Freddy (Introduction), Ernie Paniccioli. Shabazz’s photographs celebrate the “cool” style of early hip-hop culture between 1980 and 1989. Though his work is firmly rooted in the tradition of urban street photography, Shabazz here shows his subjects striking a pose and staring straight into the camera. The resulting images become less documentary and more yearbook-like in style. At first viewing, the clothes and posturing seem almost ridiculous, until we remember the excesses of the 1980s. By comparing the styles and attitudes of this bygone era to contemporary hip-hop culture, Ernie Paniccioli’s essay places Shabazz’s photos within a historical and social context.?

Where’d You Get Those? New York City’s Sneaker Culture: 1960-1987 by Bobbito Garcia. The first of it’s kind, the lavishly illustrated and remarkably comprehensive, Where’d You Get Those?, is an insider’s account that traces New York City sneaker culture back to its earliest days. Describing how a small and dedicated group of sneaker consumers in the 70s and early 80s proved instrumental in establishing current corporate giants like Nike and Adidas, aficionado Bobbito Garcia writes with the exactitude and affection that only a true believer could bring.?

Yes Yes Y’All: The Experience Music Project Oral History of Hip-Hop’s First Decade by Jim Fricke. Based on the “Hip-Hop Nation” exhibit at Seattle’s Experience Music Project and the project’s ongoing Oral History Program, this history of the beginnings of hip-hop in 1970s New York City is a lavishly illustrated and lovingly compiled homage to the many artists who contributed to the birth of what soon became and remains today, more than 25 years later a worldwide cultural institution.?

Broken Windows : Burning New York by James T. Murray, Karla L. Murray. In New York in the 80s graffiti moved from the subway trains to large walls which allowed it to become more refined and concept driven. Because walls provide a more stable and reliable surface they have encouraged the artists to create works of much greater depth and complexity and the form is now arguably at its peak. Although it is often indecipherable to the world at large, as Broken Windows – Burning New York shows, graffiti is a radical and daring means of visual communication. ?

Dondi White Style Master General: The Life of Graffiti Artist Dondi White by Andrew Witten, Michael White – Nearly 20 years after the art world began to consider graffiti a contender, one of its most recognized writers from the 70s and 80s is honored. Raised in Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood, Dondi was part of an active culture of graffiti writers. Gifted with vision, purpose and talent, Dondi also stood out for crossing boundaries within graffiti-artist and gang culture. Photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant made his work visible to the art world and had a hand in transforming subway-art culture in the process. Color photos. ?

The Hip Hop Years: A History of Rap by Kate Butler – “This book is one of the first comprehensive histories of rap music and the vibrant culture surrounding it. Included are first-hand accounts by the people and groups who played vital roles in transforming rap from a mere New York City block party activity in the mid-1970s to the integral part of popular music it is today. Interviews with rap pioneer Kool Herc, Ice-T and members of Run-DMC, Public Enemy, N.W.A. and De La Soul are included.”?

The Vibe History of Hip Hop – “A history? No. A story, really. A tale from the dark side. In this book, hip hop is all. It’s always there. Like hip hop, this book is about the intense kind of aspiration that comes from having little. About holding and rhyming into a microphone. Mixing and scratching. Guns pain blood. Desire desperation truth true love. Art and mystery and metaphor. The singularity of voice. The magnificence of ingenious sampling. The glory of a beat. This book is that story.”??– From the Preface by Danyel…?

Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists – Talk about addictive: Rap Lists will run your life for at least a week after you break the spine. You’ll ask it for permission to leave the crib, the way Richard Pryor had to ask his pipe. The wealth of historical detail is staggering…It’s a hip hop history that picks up the challenge that hip hop has been posing to the rest of the pop world for the last twenty years.?

Hip Hop America – Although it’s been part of the cultural soundscape for over 25 years, hip-hop has been the focus of very few books. Nelson George, A Brooklyn native, began writing about rap back in the late 70s, when the beats and the lifestyle were not only foreign to most people, they were still underground in the black communities. Hip Hop America tells the story of rap both as an art form and a cultural and economic force–from the old Bronx nightclub the Fever to the age of Puffy. Highlighting both the major players and some of the forces behind the scenes.

Ricky Powell New York City. Ricky Powell, best know for his hip-hop photography and escapades touring with the Beastie Boys. His site features photographs from his second book, The Rickford Files, due to be published by St. Martin’s Griffin in mid-2000. The site also features articles by and about Powell which have appeared in various media throughout the past ten years. Video clips from Powell’s TV talk show, Rappin’ with the Rickster, will be added to the site early next year.??The new photographs include many never-before-seen photographs of rap artists (Run-DMC, Easy-E, Slick Rick, Beastie Boys and others).??Ricky Powell is a photographer and writer from New York City. He has contributed to The Source, Vibe, Grand Royal, Paper, Ego Trip, Popsmear, High Times, and many other magazines. He co-hosts a weekly radio show and has hosted his own Public Access cable TV show, Rappin’ with the Rickster. His first book, Oh Snap! was published in 1998 by St. Martin’s Griffin.

Move the Crowd : Voices and Faces of the Hip-Hop Nation – Something of a budget-priced art book for rap fans, Move the Crowd gets over on the strength of its page-size photographs of Ice Cube, Flavor Flav, A Tribe Called Quest, and many more. The book captures this unique era through hundreds of thought-provoking quotations from the artists themselves, and alongside their powerful words, newspaper headlines and brief excerpts from other media evoke the political and cultural climate that in many ways fueled the rise of hip-hop. Gregor Ehrlich, Dimitri Ehrlich. Paperback (August 1999)?

Rebel for the Hell of It : The Life of Tupac Shakur. Tupac Shakur has been deified as a Renaissance man in gansta rap. Paralleling his fame were a series of court and jail appearances and physical attacks which ended when he was gunned down on a Las Vegas street. In this first, full-length biography of the rapper, critic Armond White attempts to make sense of Shakur’s life and death, examining the larger issues of rap and ghetto culture, exploitation in the music industry, and the black struggle for self-expression. Movie rights sold to HBO. 16 photos.

Life and Def : Sex, Drugs, Money, and God.. Legendary entrepreneur Simmons’s career bio reads like a history of the hip-hop movement, from his first stint as a DJ and promoter in the mid-1970s, through his cofounding of Def Jam Records and groundbreaking 1980s work with Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, to his wildly successful cable showcase Def Comedy Jam and his fashion label Phat Farm.

More Books
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang (2005)
Born in the Bronx; A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip-Hop Edited by Johan Kugelberg, Photographs by Joe Conzo
Vibe Hip-Hop Divas by Editors of Vibe (September 2001)
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash; My Life, My Beats by Grandmaster Flash and David Ritz
A Brief History of Rhyme and Bass: Growing Up with Hip-Hop by Shawn Livernoche, Daniel Corvino. Paperback – 143 pages (October 2001)
Looking for the Perfect Beat : The Art and Culture of the DJ by Kurt B. Reighley. Paperback (February 2000)
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life : The History of the Disc Jockey by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton. Paperback (August 2000)
It’s Like That : A Spiritual Memoir by Joseph Simmons, Reverend Run, Curtis L. Taylor. Hardcover (August 2000)?
King of Rock : Respect, Responsibility, and My Life With Run-DMC by DMC, Bruce Haring, Darryl McDaniels.?
Rap Attack 3 by David Toop. (June 15, 1999)?
Fight the Power : Rap, Race, and Reality by Chuck D., Yusuf Jah. Paperback (October 1998)
Spectacular Vernaculars : Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism (Suny Series in Postmodern Culture)
Russell A. Potter?Black Noise : Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)
Tricia Rose?Am I Black Enough for You : Popular Culture from the ‘Hood and Beyond
A 2 Z; The Book of Rap and Hip-Hop Slang by Isaac Mozeson, et al. Paperback (July 1995)
Jails, Hospitals, & Hip-Hop : And Some People by Danny Hoch. Paperback (November 1998)
The Last Black Mecca; Hip-Hop by Robert Scoop Jackson. Paperback (September 1996)
Listen Up! : Spoken Word Poetry by Zoe Anglesey(Editor), et al. Paperback (April 1999)
Westside : Young Men and Hip Hop in L.A. by William Shaw. Hardcover (March 2000)
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost : My Life as A Hip Hop Feminist by Joan Morgan. Hardcover (March 1999)
The Hip Hop Years: A History of Rap by Alex Ogg, et al. Paperback (September 1999)
United States Vs Hip Hop the Historical and Political Significance of Rap Music by Julian Shabazz. Paperback (December 1992)
No More Prisons by William Upski Wimsatt, Willaim Upski Wimsatt. Paperback?
The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur. Hardcover (2000)
In the Belly of the Beast : Letters from Prison by Jack Henry Abbott. Paperback (1991)
Books on African American Culture and History:
African Identities : Race, Nation and Culture in Ethnography, Pan-Africanism and Black Literatures by Kadiatu Kanneh (June 1998)?
Afrikan Mothers : Bearers of Culture, Makers of Social Change by Nah Dove (September 1998)
Am I Black Enough for You : Popular Culture from the ‘Hood and Beyond’ by Todd Boyd (March 1997)?
Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century (World of Art) by Richard J. Powell (March 1997)

December 21st, 2009 by asia

Don’t be SAD this winter! There is a reason we need to gather close together, by the fire, sing, dance, eat, and fellowship like our ancestors did! Even in modern cultures these gatherings are still valued for emotional comfort, having something to look forward to at the darkest time of the year, especially for those who live near the polar regions of the hemisphere. The depressive psychological effects of winter on individuals are experienced as: coldness, tiredness, malaise, and inactivity. This is known as seasonal affective disorder.
Also, insufficient sunlight in the short winter days increases the secretion of melatonin in the body, throwing off the circadian rhythm with longer sleep. That’s why we are cooler and sleepier than a polar bear’s toenails! What can we do about it? Exercise, light therapy, increased negative ion exposure (which can be attained from plants and well ventilated flames, burning wood or beeswax) can reinvigorate the body from its seasonal lull and relieve winter blues by decreasing melatonin secretions, increasing serotonin and temporarily creating a more even sleeping pattern.

Today is the Celebration of Winter Solstice: Monday, December 21, 2009 marks the Winter Solstice traditions, and this is the announcement of the official start of the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Winter Solstice is also known as Yule.
More precisely, winter solstice will take place at 12:47 pm EST (1747 GMT) on Dec. 21. It is a date that will also mark the shortest day and longest night.
Winter solstice falls every year around Dec. 21. It is because of the earth’s axial tilt, which is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26?. At this time of the year, the sun is closer to the horizon, thus giving out least amount of daylight therefore shortening the day and lengthening the night.
But there is a bright side to it. Starting Tuesday, the days will start getting longer, leading to summer solstice, which in 2010 will fall on June 21. At that time, the day will be the longest with the daytime lasting for about 15 hours compared to 9 hours on Monday.
Now, what are the traditional celebrations during the Winter Solstice? Throughout the history, solstices have been accompanied with the countless cultural and religious traditions.
Our ancestors lived in a world where everyone believed in mystery and magic. Every year, they gathered together to celebrate the seemingly miraculous return of the light after the longest night of the year and that’s how Winter Solstice festivals were born. To this day, people all over the world celebrate Winter Solstice as a time of rebirth, a new beginning and a chance to marvel at the power of transition from darkness into light.

Since 45 BCE, when the 25th of December was established in the Julian calendar as the winter solstice of Europe, (Latin: Bruma), the difference between the calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days) moved the day associated with the actual astronomical solstice forward approximately three days every four centuries until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the northern winter solstice to around December 21. Yearly, in the Gregorian calendar, the solstice still fluctuates slightly but, in the long term, only about one day every 3000 years.

The winter solstice may have been immensely important because communities were not certain of living through the winter, and had to be prepared during the previous nine months. Starvation was common in winter between January and April, also known as the famine months. In temperate climates, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Most cattle were killed so they would not have to be fed during the winter, so it was almost the only time of year when a supply of fresh meat was available. The majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking at this time. Mmmm, pour me a cup!

Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festival, gatherings, and rituals around that time. Don’t fight the feeling, get up, get into it, get involved!

December 14th, 2009 by asia

TOOFLY is one of the busiest chicas right now in the Graffiti and new art movement game. Her images impart what is fresh and fly now and reflect how we roll as females in the Hip-Hop aesthetic..
She has a gift to share this year, that we can cop and drop cuz its hot under Xmas trees/Hanukkah bushes/Kwanzaa alters for our loved ones.

TOOFLY POCKET SKETCHBOOKS (words by TOOFLY)
I love stationary, lately I’ve been geekn’ it out on paper goods. The feel of printer matter especially when it’s small is hard to resist.
This year I decided to get to the heart of my work, and make something that means a lot, but does not cost a lot.
With so much of the day distracted from our thoughts and feelings it’s important to get back to basics and pour it all out on a blank page.
Sketch, write, or catch a tag for someone you love. It’s a lot more special when you “personalize” it + it’s 100% eco-friendly baby!
just in time for the holidays. ENJOY!!!
Toofly pocket size sketchbooks. 32 pages of high quality, eco-friendly 100% recycled paper with one of her favorite girl mark illustrations.
Printed with black soy ink on chipboard, this 3.5? W X 5? H sketchbook has saddle-stitch binding, and rounded corners.
Easy to slip in and out of your pocket when you feel the urge to sketch, write, or catch a tag!
Limited Edition of 50. Signed and numbered by Toofly
$12.00 available exclusively at: www.tooflynyc.com/shop
Two Weeks left till Xmas! feel free to post and share with friends family;)
*** HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE ***

December 13th, 2009 by asia

Bboy/Bgirl Townhall Meeting!
4-6pm sharp!
Sun. Dec 13!! At:Sabor Y Cultura
5625 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, 90028-6813

At this first meeting we will establish our assets, define goals, discuss needs, ultimately how to be economically sustainable.
This meeting is and should be mandatory if you are a Bboy or Bgirl in the LA area.
Spread the word!
Asia One
No Easy Props

December 7th, 2009 by asia

A Double combo of Hip-Hop goodness, Hush Tours and the Groovaloo Freestyle show!! Go ahead and break bread for this one, it’s worth it…