Originally published: 2005

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / by DJ Kool Herc
Prelude
Loop 1: Babylon is burning 1968-1977
Necropolis : the Bronx and the politics of abandonment
Sipple out deh : Jamaica's roots generation and the cultural turn
Blood and fire, with occasional music : the gangs of the Bronx
Making a name : how DJ Kool Herc lost his accent and started hip-hop
Loop 2: Planet Rock 1975-1986
Soul salvation : the mystery and faith of Afrika Bambaataa
Furious styles : the evolution of style in the seven-mile world
The world is ours : the survival and transformation of Bronx style
Zulus on a time bomb : hip-hop meets the rockers downtown
1982 : rapture in Reagan's America
End of innocence : the fall of the old school
Loop 3: The message 1985-1992
Things fall apart : the rise of the post-civil rights era
What we got to say : black suburbia, segregation and utopia in the late 1980s
Follow for now : the question of post-civil rights black leadership
The culture assassins : geography, generation and gangsta rap
The real enemy : the cultural riot of Ice Cube's Death certificate
Loop 4: Stakes is high 1992-2001
Gonna work it out : peace and rebellion in Los Angeles
All in the same gang : the war on youth and the quest for unity
Becoming the hip-hop generation : The source, the industry, and the big crossover
New world order : globalization, containment and counterculture at the end of the century
Appendix: Words, images and sounds: a selected resource guide

Hip-hop is now a global multi-billion pound industry. It has spawned superstars all across the world. There have been tie-in clothing lines, TV stations, film companies, cosmetics lines. It even has its own sports, its own art style, its own dialect. It is an all-encompassing lifestyle. But where did it all begin? Who created it? How did it become such a phenomenon? Jeff Chang, an American journalist, has written the most comprehensive book on hip-hop to date. He introduces the major players who came up with the ideas that form the basic elements of the culture. He describes how it all began with social upheavals in Jamaica, the Bronx, the Black Belt of Long Island and South Central LA. He not only provides a history of the music, but a fascinating insight into the social background of young black America. Stretching from the early 70s through to the present day, this is the definitive history of hip-hop. It will be essential reading for all DJs, B-Boys, MCs and anyone with an interest in the history of America.