Sean's Book Club 2 or "ALLOW ME TO REINTRODUCE MY SELF, MY NAME IS...books"

As one gets older, and sort of more in touch with oneself, you begin to take stock of who you really are and what really matters to you. Over the course of your life to this point, you have loved certain things, liked even more things, and have been temporarily infatuated with things that come on really strong for a while but tend to fizzle out after a time. Pretty soon, you realize that after your maturing period has somewhat slowed and plateaued, you're left with a handful of things that still hold a great deal of meaning to you even after all that time. For some it's a style of dress. For others it might be a hobby or type of food. For me it's hip-hop. A love affair that began when I was 8 years old and has been with me (albeit off and on through the dark times) ever since. It is one of the things that has had my heart and mind since a genre of music could and It's never died. These feelings were completely cemented and brought back to the forefront after I read the following two books. Essential reading for the true Head.

The first book is "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" by Jeff Chang. This book is without a doubt one of the best researched books of anything I have ever read. Including those books you can't take out of the library. Seriously, if you don't know hip-hop after reading this, you'll never know. The style of writing is incredible too. It not only breaks down the inception and conception of hip-hop from it's roots in Jamaica to it's appearance and evolution on the shores of the east coast, but it also describes the political causes and effects and delves into the culture not just as a musical genre (which is what hip-hop is always mistakenly singularly viewed as) but as an exploration of what a minority class in America utilized to define themselves to those who either didn't know or didn't care.
The writing is flawless in explaining everything from the way the gangs used to function and the reasoning behind them to even describing, in vivid detail, a break-dancing routine by Crazy Legs. You can see him performing. It could be the main text book for a class in the culture. It could also be a love story for those who have been in it from jump. It's subtitled "A History of the Hip-Hop Generation" and that is exactly what it is. And that my friends is exactly what we are. Regardless of what type of entertainment you view as enjoyable (and more power to you. It's your choice.), you belong to that generation. No other culture, musical or otherwise has defined our age group more intensely, even world-wide, than hip-hop. Sorry to all the Metal-Heads out there, but you're in our time now.

I have always had an immense amount of respect for Jigga. He is unquestionably one of the best who has ever done it. He could also be the most successful MC from a business stand-point. This man has gone from hustlin' crack on the corner, to owning and operating multi-billion dollar organizations and creating platinum selling music. This book however, reaches a bit more inside the man. He tells the story of his life, from the crack game to the boardroom, but with humility and humanity. He also allows us to take apart 36 of his songs and helps us along for the true understanding of his music and his artistry. It's an amazing account of this man's journey through the music and through the demons that still torment him to this day. For those of us who have followed the music for so long, the breakdown of the lyrics were somewhat redundant, but there were things that even an all consuming Head would find surprising.
There is levity in this book also. I had my YouTube open as I read because he mentions videos from an early stage in his career that had to be viewed. The thing is, while I laughed, I realized this dude's swagger and confidence is unmistakable and that defines real. He always has a belief that his shit is the dopest and he's got the right plan. An MC always pushing the envelope and a few steps ahead. This book not only describes one MC but the art of the MC as the central figure n the culture. The spokesman of a generation and a movement. The rabble-rouser and journalist of the streets. Even if you're not down with HOV, read it anyway. Get in touch with the true nature of hip-hop genius.

These three videos were all put out before Jay-Z BECAME Jay-Z.

"Hawaiian Sophie" by Jaz. Jay's boy Jaz just got signed to EMI. After all the other songs were recorded, the label said they needed a radio-friendly song for the people. They decided for this song, flew Jaz and Jay to England to shoot the video. Jay flies in at 00:40.



Quick note: Jaz never released anything after.

"Show and Prove" by lotsa dudes. This one has a lot of MC's on it but it was Big Daddy Kane's joint and he put Jay-Z on. Oh yeah, watch for ODB after Jigga's verse. Jay starts rhyming at 02:51. 1994 son!!!



"I Can't Get Wit That" by Jay-Z. This last one is the first Roc-a-Fella video. Made for $5000 and shot in Marcy, this was Jay right at the start of the label. Minimum production, light on the imagery, hip-hop in it's rawest. The difference between this Jay and that Jay, strictly from a flow aspect is huge. We in '94 again son! Enjoy.



GEEEYYAAHH!!!