Say It Loud!: The Story of Rap Music

by K. Maurice Jones

Exciting full-color and black-and-white photographs mark a chronicle of the birth of rap music in contemporary America, tracing its roots back to traditions thousands of years old and discussing its effect on today's young.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

128 pages, Library Binding

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely dated, but a few interesting points here and there

[Ellee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book for young people puts rap and hip hop music into a broader cultural context - both African and African American. A second edition would be really helpful and would be very interesting. A lot of the book, I think tries too hard to legitimize rap music, but it's not an apology for rap. Of course, I'm reading it 14 years after it was published and the musicians that are discussed have changed a lot since then and since the late 1980s.