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May 27, 2007

Anna rated it:

So I'm biased 'cuz this was written by a friend of mine. But not so biased not to recognize when a seminal book on the historical and political context of hip-hop cultures and its generations since the late 1960s emerges that finds fans in academia, arts spaces, and all middle/high schools alike. The writing is accessible, with wily turns of phrases and references that embrace the high & low, the mass popular & artistic aesthetic, the mainstream & the undergroud alike. I'm a history buff and More...

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Mar 13, 2007

teddy rated it:

academic tomes on hip-hop have a sobering tendency to come from artifice, revisionist histories written by out-of-touch scholars eager to stamp their name on uncharted territory. they pick landmarks and artists who, perhaps, are emblematic of the genre, but do not come from the perspective of a fan that's where jeff chang's "can't stop won't stop" is so successful.

i'd say it's one of the first times i've read something scholarly about the genesis of -- arguably -- one of More...

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Nov 21, 2011

Rachel rated it:

I've spent a long time craving the perfect history of hip-hop. Watched a few documentaries here, read a few books there... but never quite satisfied that desire to put it all in context as the sociopolitical movement it's always felt like to me. Until now, that is!

Can't Stop Won't Stop is a dense little volume, telling the story of hip-hop alongside the stories of polarizing housing and economic reforms, police brutality, drug trafficking, and the fight inner-city communities have pu More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 17, 2007

Rebecca rated it:

I loved this book. My only criticism is that it has a political bias (but so does much of hip hop culture, so in some ways, it's appropriate).

Things I praise in this book:
-The volume, depth and scope of the author's research
-The mix of many angles from which he writes history, going from biography/storytelling to economic/political history to cultural history to material culture to musical analysis - Chang demands your sustained attention by presenting a unique challenge More...

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Sep 09, 2007

Nickie rated it:

I feel bad about only giving it 3 stars, but this only really took off from about page 200 when it got into Public Enemy and beyond. It's impressibly expansive - from the birth of dub in jamaica, to the black panthers, b-boys, punk, the new wave art scene, police brutality, woeful/intentionally non-existent domestic policy in inner cities, public enemy, anti-semitism, the L.A. riots and beyond. chang is so much better on social history/politics than he is on actually describing the music. shame More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 15, 2011

Justin rated it:

I found this a bit disappointing to be honest, but that's in large part because I was expecting something different. Chang doesn't really get into music/graffiti/lyrics/dancing very much at all; he does, though, do a great job of explaining the social context in which all that art was produced. So keep in mind that that's what you're getting - a history of gang culture, youth politics and (most impressively) urban geography at the end of the twentieth century - and you'll probably enjoy the book More...

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Jun 21, 2011

Brian rated it:

Amazing history of hip hop. The great thing about Chang's book is that it traces it back to the roots in Jamaica, looking at parallels between not just the music, but the political climate and instability, and music's role in being a change agent in society. Thus, he posits like Reggae and Dub, hip hop served as a social thermometer or mirror which reflected the problems in society. I'm glad that Chang paid so much attention to Public Enemy and NWA and Ice Cube, and looked not only at their cont More...

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Mar 12, 2010

Jason rated it:

The first half, chronicling the beginnings of hip-hop from early dub records to Grandmaster Flash and the first graffiti artists is great. It brought a new perspective to the music for me and had me digging for countless albums for weeks. The second half, where the book focuses more on the "hip-hop generation" than the story of the music, is where it begins to fall apart a little bit. There is still great stuff, especially where the author helps place some songs and albums in the co More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 27, 2009

Chris rated it:

Jeff Chang's mostly exhaustive history of hip hop is subtitled A History of the Hip Hop Generation for a reason, it's not The History. His research is impeccable and he shows a direct cause and effect for what lead to what (the Reagan administration's failure to do anything about apartheid in South Africa begat Public Enemy, racism in the LAPD begat NWA). He writes like a thorough sociologist, identifying social ills and connecting the music that came after it. Chang is especially critical of th More...

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Jul 30, 2007

Kendra rated it:

I know, you don't need me to gush about this book. And maybe if I read it again from top to bottom I wouldn't be quite as excited as I was the first time. But Chang's copious footwork--first- and second-hand interviews, news and academic documentation--plus his scope and earnestness earns this the 5-star "amazing" rating from me. Even if you don't think you're interested in hip hop history, the insights into New York and LA through musical landmarks will hold your attention.

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Aug 17, 2011

Lisa rated it:

I'm not sure that any book I've personally read has managed to capture the political, musical and general cultural moments that have defined the lives of those in my generation. That said, like nearly every book, this one is certainly flawed despite the five star rating. Chang is a gifted researcher, solid writer and fantastic storyteller (who should get docked a few points for egregious and unnecessary use of hip hop slang as well as extreme overuse of the word Cipher in an otherwise mostly sch More...

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Feb 28, 2011

Dillan rated it:

This book was great for learning the ins and outs of the history of hip hop. From the politics behind it to the culture and how it developed. Through the good and bad times, hip hop has been through it all; and prevailed. This book does a great job combining hip hop’s music, dance and fashion into a culture that feeds America’s youth.

Jeff Chang uses his passion for the hip hop culture and the exeriences that he has been through and reflects them in a way that is easy to under More...

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Jan 30, 2010

Christine rated it:

Jeff Chang is a clutch figure when it comes to hip hop scholarship - he's written as a music critic and as a historian - and is notoriously dedicated to living the dream, starting his own hip hop label a while back. This book showcases that respect for hip hop culture, and for that reason alone I'm glad I read it. A guideline to bear in mind: Can't Stop Won't Stop is not a history of hip hop MUSIC, but rather a history of the hip hop generation, a distinction that is borne out in the content a More...

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Jul 11, 2011

Jordan rated it:

If hip-hop is a class, this is the required text. You can find interview collections and oral histories of the music’s birth all over the place, but journalist andSolesides founding member Jeff Chang’s ‘History of the Hip-Hop Generation’ is the most thorough and easy to read overview of the culture’s birth and early development. Not only does Chang trace the musical origins of the culture from the soundclashes of Jamaica and the block parties in the Bronx, he traces the socioeconomic factors More...

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Jul 14, 2011

Jenn rated it:

I had to read this book for a history class in university (Problems in U.S. History), which spanned themes from the Salem Witch Trials to the Reagan Era. Anyways, I was surprised to find myself fully immersed in the text, I read the entire thing and wrote (if my grade is a true reflection) an excellent essay.

Worth reading for sure! Jeff Chang does a wonderful job of drawing the reader into the long, complicated and extraordinarily colourful world of hip hop with clarity and sense. The More...

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Sep 22, 2009

Chad rated it:

Pay attention to the title here: emphasis is on the word "generation." As Chang says in the intro, generations are fictional constructs we use to make sense of Middle History (not current/not old). When he says "hip hop," he means multi-racial/cultural/lingual, largely urban (I don't mean black, I mean based in an urban area), and a group whose common cultural currency will include everything from Different Strokes to Thriller to cassette mixtapes. In other words, a genera More...

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Dec 06, 2010

Mack rated it:

Can’t Stop, Wont Stop:
A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Hip-Hop, the word means many things to different people. Some may say it’s that annoying stuff on the radio while others may say it’s an art form or just another musical genre. Can’t Stop, Wont Stop will change the way you think about Hip-Hop. It starts in the birth of Hip-Hop at the Bronx during the 1970’s when people are just starting to rap, break dance and graffiti. It shows the hardship of being in “The Game” back the More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Sandy rated it:

I've never been a rap/hip-hop fan but the history of it's roots is fascinating as was the political and cultural history. Growing up in NY just North of the city in the 70's and 80's was like living on a different planet from what the author described the city was like back then. Interestingly, it also helped me understand where my Dad's dissatisfaction with the Bronx and city life came from.

The pages are folded down, notes are made in the margin and many sentences underlined as More...

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Oct 02, 2009

Gabriel rated it:

READ THIS BOOK. NOW.

Throughout my reading of this book, I was just waiting to share my opinion of what was going on with others. Many times, in fact, I was telling those who would listen about the historical pieces I was just learning (my favorite tales happen to come from the first recordings created and how they were ONLY 15 minutes long). This is also one of the few books I read that consistently challenged my thinking.

First off, this is not a complete history of th More...

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Aug 24, 2007

vowelry rated it:

The bible for Hip-Hop culture.

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Dec 16, 2008

Derrick rated it:

This is one of the first books to actually try and write about, among other things, the history of New York and LA street gangs. When folk historians wise-up and realize all the culture they're missing, this book will be on everyone's bibliography. The only problem is that it got cut off before getting to pierce too deep into the LA riots. And it's totally fun and punk rock and inspiring and will make you wanna go out and buy a bunch of this great music you never heard. I think Wolf lent me More...

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Jan 15, 2011

Cynth rated it:

I just watched The Warriors for the first time a few weeks ago and can't believe I hadn't seen it before then. You know what else I couldn't believe I procrastinated doing? Reading this book! Tracing the history behind hip hop through all of it's genre-bending transformations (from art-hiphop like Afrika Bambabataa to NWA's Tipper Gore offending gagsta rap), Chang also details the peripheral influences on some of hip-hop's now cultural elite, like Fab Five Freddy, Jay-Z, Eazy-E, and tons that mT More...

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Oct 14, 2011

Susan rated it:

I'm not sure what audience this book was aimed at. It wasn't really an academic work - the tone was conversational and assumed a fair bit of knowledge of the main players in hip-hop in the past. It would not really appeal to younger fans of hip-hop, though, because although it did discuss a lot of the founders of the movement and how they affected social culture, it did so in a superficial way without, again, really explaining to an outside/younger audience why these players were important. I More...

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Mar 11, 2011

Kony rated it:

Panoramic biography of hip-hop: its birth, flourishing, and growing pains. Tough read, but worth the struggle. Why tough?

(1) Text is dense. Chang packs paragraphs with obscure names and pithy phrases, so unless you're both hip-hop guru and literary genius, you must slow down to unravel the language. First few chapters are a doozy, but keep going. The storytelling gets better.

(2) Storylines are many and non-linear. Chang jumps between decades and locales, skipping around More...

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May 18, 2008

amber rated it:

Overwhelmingly sad but extremely likable and engrossing. What's even more sad is that St. Martin's Press barely bothered to give it the proper editing job a book like this clearly deserved. The writing needed a little fine-tuning but the proofreading (or lack of it) was extremely embarrassing; missing words, repeat words, even double sentences throughout this 460+ page book. I hope that someone reading it doesn't equate the numerous editing mistakes with the credibility and depth of this book. I More...

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Aug 02, 2009

Tim rated it:

So far Can't Stop Won't Stop has been a very compelling, if slightly difficult read. While the writing is mostly clear and interesting, there are certain sections that I felt could have been edited, or sections where, after turning the page I was uncertain if I had accidentally skipped ahead.

Sorry, vague criticisms but it's like there's something mechanical about this book that struggles to work. The entire text is set in Futura, which may be a tribute to one of the amazing graffit More...

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Feb 16, 2008

Laura rated it:

One of the best books I've ever read.

To place Can't Stop, Won't Stop in my life, it's one of the first books I've read where the baby boomers and us were seen as two different groups - one as not better than the other, just different and products of their times. I felt galvanized by Chang's story, how my world, fits in with this larger tale of the 70s, 80, 90s. So often I feel the nation has a hangover from the 60s and 70s and we're struggling to put the 80s and 90s in a context th More...

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Nov 22, 2007

jeremy rated it:

"Here's a little story that must be told..."

Jeff Chang, hip-hop journalist (URB, Village Voice, Spin, the Nation, San Francisco Chronicle), has penned an award-winning (2005 American Book Award) account of the origins of hip-hop. From Jamaica and the South Bronx in the late 1970's to the streets of Philadelphia during the 2000 Republican National Convention, Chang traces hip-hop's rise from the fledgling culture of a few dozen New York City teenagers to a truly massive g More...

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Sep 06, 2007

George rated it:

i just heard an interview with KRS where he criticized Jeff Chang and this book saying it was a little too "fan boy" and didn't compile contradicting sources and sort it out, just if "kool herc said it, it's true." he's right in some ways, and i don't think that really interfers with the book. he's definitely not too much of a oozing/gushing kiss ass; sometimes he's obviously excited by a record and at other times he's obviously taking an overly academic approach to the mu More...

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Aug 27, 2007

Jennie added it

This was an ambitious effort, and I learned a lot from reading it. Chang's book is a history of urban minorities from about 1965 to 2000, primarily the Black communities, but he also handles Latino and Korean populations. One of my criticisms of this book are that it is really difficult to follow who Chang is talking about and exactly when the events are. If I reread this book, I'll have to keep a running who's who list to refer to. And often Chang will talk about a specific event, then summariz More...

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