Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 4: 1984-1985

Hip Hop Family Tree #4

by Ed Piskor

"Book 4 charts the rise of Dr. Dre and Def Jam records, and introduces new branches on the ""tree"": Will Smith, Salt-N-Pepa, Rakim, and Biz Markie. This volume is also jam-packed with films Hollywood released in an attempt to cash in on the phenomenon, like Breakin’, Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo, Beat Street, Krush Groove and more."

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Music, Nonfiction, History, Hip Hop, Graphic Novels Comics

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 2016

About the author

Ed Piskor had been cartooning professionally in print form since 2005, starting off drawing American Splendor comics written by Harvey Pekar. The duo continued working together on 2 graphic novels, Macedonia, and The Beats. Ed began self publishing Wizzywig after developing a huge interest in the history of Hacking and Phone Phreaking. 3 volumes, making up 3/4 of the full story, have been published to date.

Recently Ed had designed the characters for the new Adult Swim series, Mongo Wrestling Alliance.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

This far along in the series, it's difficult to come up with anything meaningful to say. Most readers aren't likely to start with this volume, and if they do, they're probably not going to be more or less likely to read it based on a review. The quality has been pleasantly consistent throughout the series. Piskor definitely knows what he's doing, and has obviously got it planned far enough ahead to keep it all running smoothly. He's stated that the series will run a minimum of six volumes, so we're past the halfway point, but it's not as though this is a narrative leading up to some shocking conclusion. It's history, and will end either in the present, or at some predetermined point.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels like Ed Piskor had planned on doing more books. In the third volume it says Piskor plans to do at least 5 to 6 books and this one ends without much really happening. That said, I'm not really sure how you would wrap up a story about a still expanding music genre.

Here we see young Dr Dre and how Hollywood started getting involved in Hip-Hop. It's crazy how for the longest time Blondie's "rap" song was the only hip-hop MTV video. It wasn't until after Thriller that MTV decided black people could make them some money with this hip-hop stuff.

Piskor still crushes the illustrations till the very last page. Incredible consistency throughout this series. I think the omnibus edition would be a great gift for any hip-hop fan. It'd be fun to use these books as reference, you could open any random page and find a few albums or videos to seek out.

[Ill D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The same centrifugal force that got it all started at the eclipse of the 70’s and the birth of the 80’s has spooled itself unto the year of 2016 for Piskor’s 4th volume in his Hip-Hop History. Here the focus is on the years of 84-85, basking in the primordial glow of yesteryears innovations. Giant steps of research and personal flair have been well-blended, producing an elucidating solution of Hip-Hop’s sophomore years. Yet for all the glints and glimmers of excellence and idiosyncratic successes herein the self-same faults of the previous three dull the potential shine of an other-wise four star rating.

Once again, overloaded with details the continued lack of veritable transitions is a disapointing manifestation of a dearth of editorial oversight. So when the delight of a uncovered nooks and crannies in Hip-Hop’s complex history are uncovered and lovingly placed on display waves of yet another deluge of details drown us in their hefty application of multidues of minutiae. This compounding of this and that only compounds further as this period is particularly dotted with an unfathomable introduction of crews and tracks.

Sure, Hip-Hop has an overabundance of hidden gems, especially in this incubation era and Piskor’s giddiness is to be expected but there’s just too much going on to find a firm grounding beyond the subject matter itself. Certainly this is the style and it portrays a very love-it-or-leave it type of appearance. So your connection to this tome will be purely subjective. But just as before, what does up is great and will remain a stunning read for heads and not-so-heads alike for years to come.

[Adam M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic installment moving us down the tracks of hip hop history. Plenty of intrigue, invention and fun.

I wish this was longer, I wish I had some idea when (if) vol 5 was coming, I wish that this had gotten farther in the timeline... mostly I'm sad it's over because it was really fun. These aren't complaints about the volume, this is the feeling of getting to the bottom of the ice cream cone and being sad that there's none left, just a sad napkin.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great entry into Ed Piskor's ongoing series. The anecdotes remain interesting, the artwork remains exquisite, and with each volume I'm encouraged to revisit old records to keep an ear out for specific points of interest revealed in the books.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the best graphic novel series; brilliantly recreated - moves and breathes like a great hip-hop record or mixtape. Full of knowledge, nostalgia and clipped beats. Love it.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Piskor's award-winning series about the history of hip hop and rap continues. In this volume, East Coast rap is seeing the bright lights of Hollywood as several movies about the burgeoning music genre is finally catching the eyes of both white America and MTV. Over on the left coast, West Coast rap is starting to gain it's own identity which unfortunately is rooted in hard drugs such as crack as well as gang culture.

A number of household name players in hip-hop make their first appearances here. Perhaps the most famous name is Philadelphia's Fresh Prince, Will Smith, who is not quite ready to become one of the biggest names in TV and movies yet. Also expect to see female act Salt-n-Pepa, Biz Markie and Easy E starting to get in on the hip-hop 'fad.'

This chapter started a little slower than the other books. But by the end of the account of 1984's impact on the music industry, the storytelling pace was back to normal. The art however was as phenomenal as always.

This volume of Hip Hop Family Tree is from 2016. Supposedly, Ed Piskor is planning on making 7 total volumes. But I am wondering if that's ever going to be the case. Piskor keeps saying throughout this edition to expect more details on certain artists in future books. But with 2 and a half years having gone by and X-Men books now appearing to be his main focus, I'm not going to hold my breath for volume 5.

I'm guessing I'm never going to witness the greatest crossover event in hip-hop history between Run-DMC and Aerosmith in comic book form.

[Cristhian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quién diría que "the roof is on fire" tuviese una historia tan oscura

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense, scattered, uncompromised, funny, rich, monomaniacal... a history and a love poem and a notebook scrawl all at once.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The same style and jumping-around formula continues, but this volume held more gems and laugh-out-loud moments for me. As the series grows, I'm really getting the sense that even if you're a devoted head who's watched and read every other film or book on the history of rap's influential figures, you still won't catch nearly as many stories and tidbits as you will from Ed Piskor's narrative. The amount of research that must have gone into this could be a PhD project.

I'm particularly glad Salt 'n' Pepa graced the cover of this volume. The women of hip hop continue to be erased from so many narratives (see: Straight Outta Compton, Hip Hop Evolution, and just about every other story told by dudes repping the boys' club), and when they're recognized, it's only in their own, separate category where all the female rappers have to compete for one top spot. Piskor reveals that the very first diss record in rap was from the talented battle rapper Roxanne Shanté, the relationship and origin story of the first all-girl group, Salt 'n' Pepa, and Rick Rubin's sexist influence on the Beastie Boys (who originally included a woman in their ranks, but ditched her allegedly because Rubin told them girls don't sound good rapping).

[Bradley Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

During this time, Def Jam becomes fully legitimate when acquired by CBS records. Dr. Dre also makes the scene in Los Angeles as a member of the World Class Wrecking Cru. This volumes also see the introduction from Philadelphia figures such as Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff where DJs are still the center of the party as opposed to emcees in New York. In this volume, we also see the formation of Salt-N-Pepa, the origin of a rebranded Slick Rick, Biz Markie's introduction, and the life of a then homeless KRS-One. Hip hop crosses mediums in this volume covering the release and production of the films "Breakin'" and "Beat Street." The illustrations and writing in this volume may be Piskor's best.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final collection to date of the Family Tree series. Plenty of good stuff, this covers more of the rise of Def Jam, the Breakin' and Beat Street movies, a bit of the LA scene, and the beginnings of the Boogie Down Productions crew. Unfortunately, it ends with a cliffhanger right at the very genesis of KRS-One's brutal feud with Marley Marl and MC Shan and the whole Queensbridge crew (which is expertly discussed in the Hip Hop: Songs That Shook America series DVDs) and I have to say, that beef would make an excellent comic book story! There's an omnibus collection of HHFT coming out this fall, and I wonder if it will contain additional material since these books were released...

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

As of this review, this is it for the series and it's as glorious as volume one. Everything is on point and works beautifully. It's packed with information, but not at the expense of entertaining. As far as I can tell, Piskor has moved on from this, I wouldn't be upset if he came back. Highly recommend the whole series.

[Anna V · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up!

I actually think I liked this better than volume 3! I loved the little history lesson on the filming of "Krush Groove", that was awesome! I do have one issue.. if Salt-N-Peppa are going to be on the cover, I feel like there history/story should be covered way more than it was. Overall, still a really good read!

[Jymi Cliche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this 4 part series. I wish there were more of them. The art in them are awesome, especially if you like graffiti and hip hop style art. I learned a lot too. I would say you might not enjoy them unless you are a big fan of hip hop though. There isn't much of s story. It's more of an illustrated hip hop history book, but I loved it!

[Rolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the earlier entries, the fun cameos keep coming (Biz Markie, Fresh Prince, Dr. Dre/Ice Cube, 2 Live Crew). I really appreciated the focus on Salt n’ Pepa and other female MCs. Also was glad to see the focus on police violence, and how it served as an incubator for social conscious hip-hop.

[Kevin Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read the first three collections, which are uniformly excellent, and this one continues the fun. Excellent overview of hip hop history, and lots of humor and great drawings. You can't go wrong with any of the volumes, but why not start with the first and read them all?

[Sumit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic series; I've loved rap and hip-hop since my early teens but only now do I have a clear understanding of its origins and early days. Highly recommended for any fans of this music. Note each volume comes with an excellent discography, most of which you can find on Spotify.

[df parizeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to finally add the 4th collection to my library. I really hope to see this series continued down the road, especially since Piskor promises to address deeper histories of individuals and moments in time repeatedly throughout this volume.

[Dragan · Rating 3 out of 5]

this volume might like the second volume, tries to cover too much, and lacks structure. one of the things with trying to cover what occurred in hip hop over 84 and 85 is that there is sooo much to cover. the art is top-notch like always but the story feels very jagged. still recommend it to any hip hop head.

[Anthony D Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cool but the storyline was all over the place and not very organized, so it was a bit hard to follow a narrative. I learned about a lot of connections that I didn't know about before though so that was cool. The artwork is dope too.

[dejah_thoris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between the graphic novel, the recommended tracks, and the documentaries, I am learning a ton about hip hop! The rowhouse inhabited by Move is a sad story, but I love knowing that working at Sears may make you famous.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good starting point for learning the early history of Hip-hop. I like the playfulness and humor of all the art.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like the other books in this series, I loved this! Already looking forward to the next books

[Jak Krumholtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

And now the waiting game begins for the next in the series. So good.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This is the comic of all time." - Biz Markie

I have to agree with Biz. This truly is the comic of all time.

[Brenton Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hitting the era I’m more familiar with. I love this series.

[G-E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je n’ai pas lu les 3 premiers tomes, mais j’ai vraiment apprécié celui-ci. N’étant pas un fan de hip-hop, j’ai beaucoup appris de ma lecture.

[Karrie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so bummed this is the last volume out. Such a great history filled series. It still cracks me up how Russell Simmons was written with a lisp.

[David Records · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ask me where “the roof. The roof. The roof is on fire” is from. It’s crazy.