The band, The Roots’ member, Questlove has revealed the new ‘Hip-Hop Is History‘ book. Check out the announcement post below.
The Roots drummer and acclaimed director will issue Hip-Hop Is History on June 11 via his own Auwa Books, designed by Reed Barrow.
Questlove shared the book news via Instagram with the caption, “My 8th book #HipHopIsHistory got its unofficial start in March of 2020 while quarantining at an apple orchard not quite upstate NY.
It was really just me sourcing material to play for that nightly 3 – 5 hour pandemic DJ sets & not wanting to just spin what I normally spun “during normal times”
Most DJs got their “go to 200” muscle memory songs but when this went from “oh that seems fun” to “hmmm now this is a service for my fellow citizens!!!” to “ok now this feels like work” to “🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵” (the anxiety of keeping it fresh and creative) I thought it would be wise for me to start documenting songs just so that I’m aware of what to repeat or not to repeat.
Once we came up for air in 2021 the feeling was “well, we did #MusicIsHistory….can we do the same for hip hop since “you know what” is gonna happen in 2023?
tbh I thought I was gonna take a break from documenting so much——but now that I’m immersed in the film doc world I clearly see that for most people? Memory starts to fade late 40s.
I don’t wanna be the person at 79 years old struggling to remember my life and everything I’ve been through. As is I can give you sharp details from birth to prolly 2006…..after that then it’s anyone’s guess. (This is why I told the discography story on @open_mike_eagle’s podcast so I can rest knowing SOMEWHERE I left the trail of stories of the first 4 Roots albums—-before I forget)
This is a story of how I see hip hop: mostly through the self soothing pain of of vices that helped create it:
62-67 (soul/religion) 67-72 (psychedelic/lsd) 72-77 (funk/heroin) 77-82 (disco/cocaine) 82-87 (boom box beats golden era/40 oz) 87-92 (the classic era/crack) 92-97 (gfunk/weed) 97-02 (jiggy era/ecstasy) 02-07 (crunk/sizzzurp) 07-12 (trap/mdna molly) 12-17 (drill/perc) 17-22 (fentanyl) 22-27 (opioids) 27-32 (????)
I mean the above is my own opinion, but you can’t deny that our choice of the “clutch” of the moment is what reflects the sound of the movement.
This book is under the @auwabooks imprint and will be available June 11th.
Please spread the word.
Thank you 🙏🏾
Questlove wrote Hip-Hop Is History with Ben Greenman—the musician’s collaborator on 2016’s Something to Food About Exploring Creativity With Innovative Chefs; 2018’s Creative Quest; 2019’s Mixtape Potluck Cookbook: A Dinner Party for Friends, Their Recipes, and the Songs They Inspire; and 2021’s Music Is History.
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Questlove Reveals New “Hip-Hop Is History” Book
