The History of the Business of Hip-Hop Audiobook

Unabridged edition 2011 | 27 hours and 13 minutes | MP3 96 kbps | 1.15 GB

Charnas tells the story of hip-hop in this stylish, lavishly detailed love letter to the genre and industry. He follows the money and œthe relationship between artist and merchant—who, in hip-hop, are often one and the same from hip-hop’s early days as a œmarginal urban subculture in Harlem of the late 1960s to its insinuation into—and eventual domination of—mainstream popular music. Charnas makes an elegant case for how hip-hop is the consummate American art form, one that reflects American society in all its volubility and violence—as well as possessing the power to alter it. In its promise of economic security and creative control for black artist-entrepreneurs, it is the culmination of the dreams of black nationalists and civil rights leaders.