LL Cool J Presents The Streets Win: 50 Years of Hip-Hop Greatness

Authored by Hip-Hop legend LL COOL J with Vikki Tobak and Alec Banks, this momentous volume celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the influential culture, sound, and preeminent voices of American Hip-Hop music.

LL COOL J Presents The Streets Win commemorates the birth, rise, and progression of Hip-Hop’s culture and its indisputable impact on American music over the past fifty years. LL COOL J presents the journey of this music genre through rarely seen photographs of Hip-Hop from its inception, from block party performances to street shots, parties, sessions at recording studios, and more. The imagery is accompanied by first-person recollections from Hip-Hop’s MCs, B-Boys, graffiti artists, and DJs who share how they fell in love with Hip-Hop, broke into the business, their artistic and personal style inspiration, and their views on Hip-Hop’s culture and music. Stories are told by icons DJ Kool Herc, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, KRS-One, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Grandmaster Flash, Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Big Daddy Kane, Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and more.
Each page features a treasure trove of images by celebrated Hip-Hop photographers including Joe Conzo Jr., Ernie “Brother Ernie” Paniccioli, Jonathan Mannion, Janette Beckman, Estevan Oriol, Jamel Shabazz, Mike Miller, Clay Patrick McBride, and others who documented the growth; ephemera such as album covers, notebook drawings, and lyrics; party announcements; street scenes; clothing; and graffiti art. This definitive volume of the most important origin stories from the last fifty years of Hip-Hop is the perfect gift for music and photography fans.

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