A review by keepcalmblogon
Hip-Hop Is History by Questlove

hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Hip-Hop is History was a Macmillan Audio “bonus” book, and I was so excited to read it because I know The Roots from Jimmy Fallon (I’m a huge fan!), and having grown up through the 90s I also have a healthy love of hip-hop! Reading this book definitely uncovered how little I actually know about hip-hop though? To be fair, I don’t know the history of a lot of music, but I do love learning history! So this book was really enlightening and entertaining. Some bits kind of went over my head, like when Questlove would list artists, albums, and release dates, that kind of stuff isn’t easy for me to absorb on the fly. But the events, while often entertaining, could also be heartbreaking. In the Epilogue, Questlove sums up, “So much of hip-hop is a reflection of pain, even the joyful parts…It was trauma music...I’m not sure that I want there to be any more hip-hop in 2123. I want it to truly be history. Breakbeats are evidence of how we were once broken, and I want nothing more than to bring about a healing.” This book was absolutely five stars, and I recommend it to any music and/or history enthusiast. Questlove narrates it himself, which adds a conversational tone that also is revealing in his pauses, breaths, scoffs, and laughs–-like music.