Back to Basics
Rhymes Over Beats is a theater collective whose mission is to create and produce hip hop theater.
I’ve been a playwright and theater producer for over twenty years now. I’ve taken as many theater classes in college as I could – classes in every aspect of the art, from History of the Drama to Stagecraft. But now as the Artistic Director of a Hip Hop Theater Collective, that’s only half of what I need to know.
I’m not talking about resolutions – that was last week’s topic.
Because I started my career in theater, there’s so much about hip hop that I need to learn. I now need suggestions on things to research in order to achieve a proficiency in hip hop that I have in theater.
But I don’t know how to make the best use of my time. I need the help of people who read this blog and are immersed in the hip hop world to give me some ideas.
Hip Hop Books
What suggestions can you make to this list of books I’ve already read?
- Rhymecology by Jeffrey Walker
- Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop by Adam Bradley
- Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang
- The Rap Year Book by Shea Serrano
- Hip Hop America by Nelson George
- God Save the Queens by Kathy Landoli
- How To Make it in the New Music Business by Ari Herstand
- This Day in Rap and Hip-Hop History by Chuck D
- The Big Payback by Dan Charnes
I’ve read these books because they were recommended to me by friends, or from reading rave reviews. But I know this list just scratches the surface.
I need more books to read.
Any suggestions are appreciated!