What is Hip-Hop?
In the beginning, there was a beat...
What is Hip-Hop? is a playful guided tour of one of the most revolutionary pop culture movements of the twentieth century. Beginning with block parties in the Bronx, to the present day, with rhyming verses and engaging 3-D clay illustrations.
What Is Hip-Hop?
by Morse, Eric - Yi, Anny - George, Nelson
Included in Publishers Weekly's Big Indie Books of Fall 2017 feature
Morse and Yi (the team behind What Is Punk?) highlight hip-hop's cultural hegemony via an impressively encyclopedic parade of rhyming biographies. Yi's meticulously styled clay figures are as magical as in the previous book, combining profound expressiveness with the playfulness of action figures. Her compositions are equally evocative, ranging from video snippets (the Beastie Boys strike a pose from 'Intergalactic') to formal portraits (Kanye West, Missy Elliott, Kendrick Lamar) and metaphorical ones (Jay Z stands amid New York City skyscrapers).
--Publishers Weekly
In rhythmic, rhyming verse, Morse offers a genealogy of hip-hop royalty that begins with the Boogie Down Bronx's DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash and walks readers into today with Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar. In between the origins and now, readers find a rare gender-inclusive narrative of hip-hop history that uplifts B-girls like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott along with legendary male groups such as NWA and Wu-Tang...The magnificent 3-D clay illustrations...include an intricately produced remake of Tribe Called Quest's legendary 'Midnight Marauders' cover. Tying these images back to their original sources makes for quite the history lesson. Make sure to keep a device nearby. A must-read reference for any hip-hop family.
--Kirkus Reviews
Verdict: these books are pretty damn cute.
--The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), What is Punk? and What is Hip-Hop? are Rock and Roll Book Club selections
An ideal picture book for children ages 3 to 7, What Is Hip-Hop? is as entertaining as it is informative and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections.
--Midwest Book Review
Eric Morse is back with a follow-up that shines a similar PG spotlight on the hip-hop arena and its players, from Run-DMC and Queen Latifah to Salt-N-Pepa and Tupac. Artist Anny Yi returns, too, with delightful clay figurines to accompany Morse's beat-astic rhyming verse.
--Tory Burch Daily Blog
In the beginning, there was a beat... So begins What is Hip-Hop?--a playful guided tour of one of the most revolutionary pop culture movements of the twentieth century. Beginning with block parties in the Bronx, What is Hip-Hop? brings the reader up to the present day, with rhyming verses and engaging 3-D clay illustrations. It's a fun, accessible, and informative read for B-boys and B-girls of all ages.
In the follow-up to their acclaimed and beloved hit What Is Punk? author Eric Morse and artist Anny Yi reunite to celebrate the music that changed their lives and the voices that achieved iconic status along the way. See Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Salt-N-Pepa, Biggie and Tupac, Eminem, and even Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar, as you've never seen them!
About the Author, Artist, and Contributor
Eric Morse is a writer and father of four living outside of New York City. He was the founder and editor of Trampoline House online magazine, and a music industry marketing executive. When he's not listening to old hip-hop records, he's listening to new hip-hop MP3s. Eric is also the author of What Is Punk?
Anny Yi is an artist from Los Angeles, California. She makes clay-art dioramas and stop-motion films inspired by fashion and music. Anny Yi is the illustrator of What Is Punk? and What Is Hip-Hop?
Nelson George (producer of this book) is an author, filmmaker, and life-long resident of Brooklyn, New York. His novels include The Accidental Hunter, The Plot Against Hip Hop, The Lost Treasures of R&B, and To Funk and Die in LA (all part of the D Hunter series). Among his many nonfiction works are The Death of Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop America, and The Hippest Trip in America: Soul Train and the Evolution of Culture & Style. As a filmmaker, he's directed the documentaries A Ballerina's Tale, starring Misty Copeland, Brooklyn Boheme for Revolt, The Announcement for ESPN, and Finding the Funk for VH1, and serves as supervising producer for Baz Luhrmann's Netflix series The Get Down.
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What Is Punk?
by Morse, Eric - Yi, Anny
One of The Globe and Mail's Best Books of 2015
A punk primer for the youngest set....Yi's incredibly detailed clay figures are a kinetic and inspired art choice. Their crazy creativity matches the expressive spirit of punk....As [Morse] points out, the best way to learn about punk it just to listen....If invested adults love the topic, a shared reading experience can't be beat.
--Kirkus Reviews
Clay artist Yi molds...fantastically detailed Plasticine figures to create scenes of the birth of punk. Using a benign craft-project material for the skinny bodies and ragged clothing of Joey Ramone, Sid Vicious, and their rowdy, fist-waving audiences is very much in the spirit of punk (Plasticine is especially good for mohawks), and readers will spend long stretches inspecting her painstakingly modeled guitars, amplifiers, and safety pins.
--Publishers Weekly
Why It's Wild: A history of punk music for kids illustrated in Gumby-esque claymation (minus the -mation).
--School Library Journal, 100 Scope Notes's Wildest Children's Books of 2015
What is Punk? is fun, sophisticated and beautifully illustrated introduction to the music genre for kids--or adults.
--New York Daily News
Reading What is Punk? to [my kids] made me feel as if I was passing on something truly significant. Morse and Yi have created a comprehensive and articulate...documentary about the roots of punk rock.
--The Globe and Mail
An essential way to pass down to your son or daughter the lesson that pop culture can be political.
--The Globe and Mail, 100 Best Books of 2015
A cool book of punk history for kids by Eric Morse, with great clay illustrations by Anny Yi.
--Slate, Mom and Dad Are Fighting podcast
Eric Morse's book What Is Punk? explains the envelope-pushing genre to the younger set, and perhaps some adults, as well.
--St. Louis Public Radio
Think Wallace and Grommet with liberty spikes and anarchy patches...While [Anny Yi's] images of Johnny Rotten and Henry Rollins are cute, they're presented as live action dioramas that are adorable, accurate and engaging.
--San Diego City Beat
While What Is Punk? is undeniably a children's book, it can serve as a history lesson for potential fans of any age....What Is Punk? exposes the reader to the rebellious sub-culture in a friendly, educative manner.
--Alternative Press
A fun little book intended to serve as (rhyming) curriculum for little punks learning their Punk History 101....Sid, Glenn, and Milo meet Wallace and Gromit.
--Razorcake
Pairing Yi's Wallace & Gromit-style clay pictorials with Morse's rhyming ride through the history of punk music across the globe, the children's book is ready to raise the next generation of riot grrrls....You're going to want to give What Is Punk? as a gift at every baby shower this year. Just don't be surprised if your niece ends up bleaching her hair blonde and tearing up her leather jacket at age 6.
--Bustle
Written by Trampoline House founder Eric Morse in classically Suessical iambic, the book is lusciously illustrated with photographs of Play-Doh recreations of all mommy's and daddy's favorite punk heroes: the Ramones, Iggy and the Stooges--and Debbie Harry, David Byrne, David Johansen, Tom Verlaine, and Lou Reed all standing in front of CBGBs.
--Bedford & Bowery
What Is Punk? is a must-read pop-culture primer for children--an introduction to the punk revolution, recreated in vivid 3-D clay illustrations and told through rhyming couplets.
From London's Clash and Sex Pistols to the Ramones' NYC protopunk, from Iggy Pop to the Misfits, this volume depicts some of our culture's seminal moments and iconic characters. A delightful read for kids and parents alike, illustrated in a truly unique visual style, What Is Punk? lays the groundwork for the next generation of little punks.