Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop by Jeff Chang (Editor)

From the Publisher

It's not just rap music. Hip-hop has transformed theater, dance, performance, poetry, literature, fashion, design, photography, painting, and film, to become one of the most far-reaching and transformative arts movements of the past two decades.American Book Award-winning journalist Jeff Chang, author of the acclaimed Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, assembles some of the most innovative and provocative voices in hip-hop to assess the most important cultural movement of our time. It's an incisive look at hip-hop arts in the voices of the pioneers, innovators, and mavericks.With an introductory survey essay by Chang, the anthology includes: Greg Tate, Mark Anthony Neal, Brian “B+” Cross, and Vijay Prashad examining hip-hop aesthetics in the wake of multiculturalism. Joan Morgan and Mark Anthony Neal discussing gender relations in hip-hop. Hip-hop novelists Danyel Smith and Adam Mansbach on "street lit" and "lit hop". Actor, playwright, and performance artist Danny Hoch on how hip-hop defined the aesthetics of a generation. Rock Steady Crew b-boy-turned-celebrated visual artist DOZE on the uses and limits of a "hip-hop" identity. Award-winning writer Raquel Cepeda on West African cosmology and "the flash of the spirit" in hip-hop arts. Pioneer dancer POPMASTER FABEL's history of hip-hop dance, and acclaimed choreographer Rennie Harris on hip-hop's transformation of global dance theatre. Bill Adler's history of hip-hop photography, including photos by Glen E. Friedman, Janette Beckman, and Joe Conzo. Poetry and prose from Watts Prophet Father Amde Hamilton and Def Poetry Jam veterans Staceyann Chin, Suheir Hammad, Marc Bamuthi Josephand Kevin Coval. Roundtable discussions and essays presenting hip-hop in theatre, graphic design, documentary film and video, photography, and the visual arts. “Total Chaos is Jeff Chang at his best: fierce and unwavering in his commitment to document the hip-hop explosion. In beginning to define a hip-hop aesthetic, this gathering of artists, pioneers, and thinkers illuminates the special truth that hip-hop speaks to youth around the globe.” (Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip-Hop Generation)

Publishers Weekly

In this wide-ranging, academic anthology of essays, interviews and panel discussions, 2005 American Book Award–winner Jeff Chang (Can't Stop, Won't Stop) presents hip-hop's past, present and future as seen by some of its founding figures, guiding lights, journalists and scholars. From a post–civil rights era grassroots phenomenon born in the streets of the Bronx, N.Y., hip-hop has become a global cultural movement whose stylistic impact and social perspectives clearly extend beyond popular rap music. Part manifesto, part apologia, the collection takes on such topics as the aesthetics behind hip-hop photography and graffiti, offers an informative history of hip-hop dance and assesses hip-hop's effects on literature and theater, while pursuing debates about identity, sexuality and homophobia. Especially intriguing are pieces documenting hip-hop's sociopolitical influence in Cuba (Chang's interview with filmmaker Eli Jacobs-Fauntauzzi) and South Africa (an essay by Capetown natives Shaheen Ariefdien, performer/anthropologist, and Nazli Abrahams, an educator). Not surprisingly, amid talk about "keepin' it real" and multiculturalism, multiple definitions of hip-hop emerge—ideas and values that are as varied and contradictory as the book's attempt to critically scrutinize hip-hop in context. (Feb.)

Library Journal

After his history of hip-hop, Can't Stop Won't Stop, journalist Chang offers an aptly titled anthology on this music-art-culture agglomerate, with contributions from an authoritative and varied crew of hip-hop scholars, advocates, and artists. Here, Chang attempts a survey of the state of hip-hop today and works to answer the popular question, "What is hip-hop?" Loosely organized into five sections dealing with the history of hip-hop, hip-hop beyond the four elements (rapping, DJing, graffiti, and break dancing), identity in the hip-hop generation, international hip-hop, and the future of hip-hop, the text ranges from poetry and essays to panel discussions and interviews. What is historicized here (e.g., Jorge "Fabel" Pabon of the Rock Steady Crew on hip-hop dance) vs. what is actively discussed (e.g., Vibe's Danyel Smith on the tension between street lit and black literary fiction) sheds light on hip-hop's chaotic but rooted journey. Not designed for research purposes, the collection stands up to a straight-through read. Recommended for popular culture and music collections.-Anna Katterjohn, Library Journal Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents