Hip-Hop Is History
On sale
5th June 2025
Price: £12.99
‘Questlove radiates passion, knowledge, wit and profundity as he reflects on this ever-evolving art form’ GUARDIAN
For a young Black kid growing up in a musical family in 1970s Philadelphia, hip-hop was everything. He stayed up late to hear the newest songs on the radio. He saved his money to buy vinyl as soon as it landed. He even started to make his own songs. That kid was Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson.
Now, in this landmark book, Questlove traces the creative, cultural forces that made and shaped hip-hop, highlighting the forgotten influential gems and the chart-topping hits – and weaves it all together with the stories no one else knows. It is at once an intimate, sharply observed story and a sweeping theory of the evolution of the greatest artistic movement of our time. Questlove approaches it with both the encyclopaedic fluency of an obsessive fan and the unique expertise of an innovative participant.
Hip-hop is history, and also his history.
For a young Black kid growing up in a musical family in 1970s Philadelphia, hip-hop was everything. He stayed up late to hear the newest songs on the radio. He saved his money to buy vinyl as soon as it landed. He even started to make his own songs. That kid was Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson.
Now, in this landmark book, Questlove traces the creative, cultural forces that made and shaped hip-hop, highlighting the forgotten influential gems and the chart-topping hits – and weaves it all together with the stories no one else knows. It is at once an intimate, sharply observed story and a sweeping theory of the evolution of the greatest artistic movement of our time. Questlove approaches it with both the encyclopaedic fluency of an obsessive fan and the unique expertise of an innovative participant.
Hip-hop is history, and also his history.
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Reviews
Engaging and deeply knowledgeable
Sharp insights . . . entertaining
This is a must-read for music lovers, cultural history buffs, and hip-hop fans . . . Questlove's illuminating and insightful survey is as personal as it is expert
A must-read for old-school hip-hop heads and burgeoning fans alike
With Questlove, his world is wrapped up in that history. So you get the story mixed with his personal experience. It's also beautifully written
The musician and Oscar-winning director traces the first 50 years of hip-hop . . . Questlove pairs the history of hip-hop with a personal reflection on how the genre shaped his identity during his childhood in Philadelphia
Hip Hop is not History, it's Our story. Brilliant book
Like a window looking deep into the workings of a pretty special hip-hop mind . . . Entertaining and authoritative . . . [Questlove] uses his knowledge and experience to his advantage in every way, bringing unique and fresh perspectives. His well-honed instincts are spot-on . . . Immensely entertaining
A memorable, masterful history of the first 50 years of an indelible American art form . . . Questlove's observations spanning the entirety of hip-hop's history are consistently illuminating . . . [His] instincts as a superfan and artist take this history beyond the hype to something very special
[Questlove is] a major artist and a major fan. With co-author Ben Greenman, [he] covers fifty years of hip-hop
with insight, passion and the geeky love of a true believer . . . Not to be missed
A trip worth taking. Questlove's embedded narration of the infamous 1995 Source Awards . . . shows the author at his storytelling best
[Questlove] is an affable and expert tour guide through the annals of hip-hop, as adept at spinning yarns as he is at spinning records
Questlove radiates passion, knowledge, wit and profundity as he reflects on this ever-evolving art form
Nobody knows more about hip-hop, and perhaps popular music in general, than Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson . . . a wonderful ride, coloured by personal digressions and crisp observations
Hugely readable . . . an encyclopaedic and idiosyncratic personal history of rap music now that it is more than 50 years old . . . [Questlove is] great at catching the sonic thrill and originality of the music. Nearly every page will have you jumping onto YouTube just to listen to the tunes he's talking about
Questlove interweaves sharp and lyrical analyses of hip-hop's evolution with fascinating, up-close recollections of the genre's turning point . . . It's an exuberant account of a dynamic musical genre and the cultural climate in which it evolved