An account of the origins of hip-hop music as presented by its founders and stars traces the work of such performers as DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and DMC.

Product Description: “Ricky Powell, aka the Rickster, has seen a lot of history. He has worked variously as a busboy, bike messenger, Frozade vender, substitute teacher, columnist, cable television host, comic, and dog walker. But he is best known as a wisecracking, self-described ‘playground rat’ who used his beat-up Minolta and party-crashing skills to become a nightlife fixture and a chronicler of the then-exploding world of hip hop...read more

Presents portraits and scenes of New York street life from the mid-70s to mid-80s, focusing on the hip-hop culture of African American youth prior to the rise of addiction and drug-related violence.

An account of the origins of hip-hop music as presented by its founders and stars traces the work of such performers as DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and DMC. 50,000 first printing.