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A review by tallblackguy
The Big Payback by Dan Charnas
4.0
All the other reviews had it right; great for the first 500 pages, and then the later developments of JayZ and Rocafella took over.
What I don't get is how a book of this magnitude, focusing on the business of hip-hop, completely ignored Rawkus Records, a mainstay in indie rap for almost ten years. A label that brought us Pharoahe Monch, Mos Def, and others, isn't even MENTIONED. And the way they plummeted would be VERY interesting reading, but they're not even mentioned. Def Jux' omission is a bit less critical, but still key to understanding the move to indie hiphop in the 90s-2000s. I really enjoyed the book, but those things stood out for me.
What I don't get is how a book of this magnitude, focusing on the business of hip-hop, completely ignored Rawkus Records, a mainstay in indie rap for almost ten years. A label that brought us Pharoahe Monch, Mos Def, and others, isn't even MENTIONED. And the way they plummeted would be VERY interesting reading, but they're not even mentioned. Def Jux' omission is a bit less critical, but still key to understanding the move to indie hiphop in the 90s-2000s. I really enjoyed the book, but those things stood out for me.