The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop

BOOK SUMMARY

The essential oral history of hip-hop, from its origins on the playgrounds of the Bronx to its reign as the most powerful force in pop culture—from the award-winning journalist behind All the Pieces Matter, the New York Times bestselling oral history of The Wire.

The music that would come to be known as hip-hop was born at a party in the Bronx in the summer of 1973. Now, fifty years later, it's the most popular music genre in America. Just as jazz did in the first half of the twentieth century, hip-hop and its groundbreaking DJs and artists—nearly all of them people of color from some of America's most overlooked communities—pushed the boundaries of music to new frontiers, while transfixing the country's youth and reshaping fashion, art, and even language.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Abrams is an award-winning staff reporter for The New York Times. He is the bestselling author of two previous books, Boys Among Men and All the Pieces Matter. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Abrams was formerly a staff writer at Bleacher Report, Grantland, and the Los Angeles Times.

PRAISE

"A masterpiece in book form. After conducting over 300 interviews over the course of three years, [Jonathan] Abrams has accomplished the incredible feat of detailing the rise of hip-hop straight from the creators of the genre themselves." —Spin

"Abrams's beautifully edited book concentrates on hip-hop's rise, perfectly capturing the excitement of its gathering momentum and regional spread, taking the time to dig deeper than the big names." —The Guardian

"It's an extraordinary tale, the story of how a grassroots culture created itself from the streets and became an international force. To his credit, Abrams doesn't just talk to the architects. He also gets input from the stonemasons, the contractors and the other heavy lifters. It's the oral history hip-hop deserves as its beat goes on." —Los Angeles Times

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Trade paperback 560 pages Non-fiction 9.2 in H | 6.1 in W | 1.3 in T | 1.3 lb