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- Making Beats
First book on hip-hop sampling as a musical process, now with a new foreword and afterword
Winner of IASPM's 2005 International Book Award
Based on ten years of research among hip-hop producers, Making Beats was the first work of scholarship to explore the goals, methods, and values of a surprisingly insular community. Focusing on a variety of subjects—from hip-hop artists' pedagogical methods to the Afrodiasporic roots of the sampling process to the social significance of "digging" for rare records—Joseph G. Schloss examines the way hip-hop artists have managed to create a form of expression that reflects their creative aspirations, moral beliefs, political values, and cultural realities. This second edition of the book includes a new foreword by Jeff Chang and a new afterword by the author.
Foreword by Jeff Chang
"It's about playing records": History
"It just doesn't sound authentic": Live Instrumentation vs. Hip-Hop Purism
Materials and Inspiration: Digging in the Crates
Sampling Ethics
Elements of Style: Aesthetics of Hip-Hop Composition
The Outer Circle: From Samplers to Ears
Interviews by Author
Discography
Afterword
JOSEPH G. SCHLOSS is an adjunct associate professor of Black and Latino studies and sociology at City University of New York. He is the author of Foundation: B-Boys, B-Girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York. His writing has appeared in URB, Vibe, The Seattle Weekly, The Flavor, and the anthologies Classic Material and Total Chaos. JEFF CHANG is the executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts + Committee on Black Performing Arts at Stanford University. He is the author of Can't Stop Won't Stop, winner of the American Book Award and the Asian American Literary Award.
"The best thing about Making Beats is its assiduous in-depth coverage of the topic. The breadth of Schloss's work is remarkable."
~Philip Ewell, Popular Music
"Making Beats is a leap into the future of hip-hop studies. The book should be required reading for scholars and serious fans of hip-hop music and culture."
~Mark Anthony Neal, author of Songs in the Key of Black Life
"Venturing in one of the most understudied areas of rap music, Making Beats is surely a comprehensive guide and a must read for serious students of hip hop and popular music studies."
~Cheryl L. Keyes, author of Rap Music and Street Consciousness
""Schloss's consistent emphasis on artistic agency, musical processes, and individual compositional proclivities make this an important study for fans, scholars, critics, and anyone who needs convincing that hip-hop music is, in fact, music.""
~Felicia Miyakawa, Journal of Popular Music Studies
""Making Beats offers such a compelling explanation of the aesthetics of sample-based hip-hop that it will be difficult for readers to leave the book without a deep appreciation for the inner logic and impressive artistry of the producer's work. This is foremost among many reasons why this book is essential reading.""
~Mark Katz, Notes
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