Hip-Hop Legends Alphabet Hardcover – Picture Book, October 1, 2021

Love it! Bought it for myself, but I'm thinking of getting one for my brother to read with his little granddaughter for bed time stories.

Our friends loves this gift!!!

Love this book!

Back in '84 I was gifted my very first cassette tape: the soundtrack to Beat Street. I fell in love with the five elements of Hip Hop as a kid. And have been fortunate enough to personally interview countless MCs, producers, graf artists, b-boys, and other major figures for several decades. Since urban music and culture journalism was one of my side hustles. So this will probably be one of the only early reviews for this book that's actually written by a Hip Hop head going back to the days of Afrika Bambaataa.For being an outsider to Hip Hop, Aussie author Beck Feiner surprisingly gets this book right, for the most part. She's responsible for a variety of "alphabet" books related to pop culture, sports, and other niche areas. So you do have to recognize in advance that she didn't grow up hearing many of these artists on the radio, or watching their videos on Rap City. And despite an old school Hip Hop head feeling the need to throw a flag on the play for a few choices in the book, she at least did her homework.One thing I appreciate about the book is the way she wove references to certain songs by artists into their respective pages. So if you didn't cop Missy Elliott's first album, or weren't listening to Salt-N-Pepa on the radio back in '87, you'll miss some of the clever ways Beck Feiner slips album and song titles into each mini-bio. I thought it was a nice touch. So even if Feiner skimmed some wiki articles about the artists for their bios and discographies, each page blurb at least doesn't read like something cobbled together. She makes it fun, and a treat especially for fans from the 80's and 90's.That's not to say the author totally pulls it off. Foxy Brown a Hip Hop legend? Relevant for three years, at best, and fell off completely after 2000. Part of that you can credit to The Firm, or an assist from Jay. But can you name three songs from her solo albums? You can't. Same for U-God's inclusion. Undeniably the weakest link in the Wu. But got included just because she couldn't find any other "U" names of artists that mattered from the 80's to early 2000's (and UGK wouldn't count as a single artist). I know this is a little nitpicky, but you just can't call Foxy or U-God "legends."This book needed to be written, though. Not just as sort of a nostalgia thing for old heads to flip through briefly before using it to split gars on. But because it's a good way to educate younger generations about who was part of the foundation. So they don't grow up thinking mumble rap or whatever gets sampled for tiktok dances is a representation of what rap was like during the Golden Era. Our Daughter is in grade school, but rocks a Run DMC pullover when it gets cold. Because it's important to let new generations know where it all began. And I think the author gets a pass for pulling it off, even if the subject material was clearly not something she was totally familiar with.Long story short, buy the book. It's not perfect. But it's good. And it's needed.

I really like learning together with my kids and we all had a great time reading this book about Hip-Hop legends together. Each page features a different Hip-Hop legend shaped like a letter of the alphabet and gives a bit of information about them and their career. My kids liked seeing what each letter was going to look like. The illustrations are bright and bold and while the information I feel is written more for adults, my kids definitely have a new appreciation for Hip-Hop and have learned some classic songs. This is a great book for Hip-Hop fans, young or old.

I got this book as a gift and looked through it prior to gifting. It is so fun and perfect for hip-hop lovers. The book has great, famous names! I love that is hardcover instead of a board book. It would be great for decoration on a bookshelf or for use to read!

I ordered this hip hop alphabet book for my kids for Christmas. From Miss Elliot to Tupac this book has some of the best rap and hip hop artists ever. I love the illustrations and the information given about each artist. Makes a great gift

This is such a fun little book! I like the variety of hip hop artists chosen for each letter. The illustrations are cute, especially how they try to fit the letter into each one. I also really like the little paragraph that gives a mini bio on each artist. This is fun for kids, but also parents. I like also how this can kind of grow with a child. You can use it to identify the letters and just say the name of the artist, but as they get older and more interested, you can add a bit of the bio into it as well. Great book!