![]() But I do wish that I could have included them because they are very, very important to the movement of hip-hop. I feel like Public Enemy is at the top of the top, and frankly, they don’t need it. So I’m glad that I had the opportunity and the freedom to include the albums that I did, because not every album is going to get a shout-out. If somebody sat me down and tried to ask me, “Why did you choose Trina over Public Enemy?” it would turn into somewhat of a sexism thing. I’m happy that I was able to include Da Brat’s project or Trina’s project. ![]() And I know that folks are going to be like, “What do you mean? They did this and this, black CNN?” I understand all of those elements, but I also understand that sometimes the albums that we assume are the ones that should be exalted and revered for the rest of eternity don’t need to be in that list because they already are seen that way. They are mentioned in the book in a couple of chapters, but as far as getting their own chapter, it didn’t make the cut. I acknowledge that they are bastions of the culture, and they’ve done so much for hip-hop.They’re very present in the canon of hip-hop. I would say the number one is Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet. What were some of the closest calls that didn’t make the final list of 50? I was thinking about how an album shifted the culture - whether that’s fashion, philosophy, and beyond - both in real time and across time, how an album influenced other musicians from a peer standpoint as well as successors, and how an album altered the trajectory of hip-hop as we know it. In the introduction of the book, I talk about how I went about selecting these albums. But in terms of the selection process, it is all on me. I don’t want anybody to think that I didn’t take this seriously. This is something that I care very deeply about. I wanted to use all of my background and the information that has been blessed upon me from the time I was a child, from my mother who introduced me to UGK and Master P, to my brother who introduced me to DJ Screw, to my sister who introduces me to so many people today.Īll the 'Heartstopper' Books to Catch Up on Before Streaming Season 2 on Netflix I am from the South, took a long time to come into a respected space in hip-hop. Women are not traditionally well-represented within hip-hop. I know that I’ve been living and breathing hip-hop since I was an infant. If anybody has any qualms, concerns, questions, direct them to me. What was the deliberation process of deciding which 50 made the final cut? I feel like you could close your eyes and pick a chapter and it would be controversial for some reason, from a Lil Kim Hardcore to 2 Live Crew. He’s not in the book, but he’s an example of an artist that is maybe misunderstood, but is pushing hip-hop forward in own way. One of my favorite artists is Rob Banks from Florida, and I feel like a lot of folks don’t understand him, because he does make controversial work. It’s taken a long time for hip-hop to get to the place that it is today. It’s something that people have since the very beginning looked down upon. I feel like hip-hop at its core is a controversial genre. The back cover mentions that these are “50 of the most lauded, controversial, and iconic albums of all time.” How did the idea of controversy play into the selection process? ![]() I know that these artists are the ones who have brought a lot of soundtracks to people’s lives.” I didn’t want to be like, “This is what I like.” I tried to think about how these artists have touched the lives of everybody who listens to hip-hop. I wanted this to be something that folks can pick up and understand, “OK, I see the cover, I see Missy, I see Kim, I see Wayne. After engaging with the rap canon and consulting trusted sources (such as her siblings), she whittled down a list of 50 albums from artists who represent a wide swathe of identities, regions, and time periods. After being approached with the initial idea for the book by her editor, Ada Zhang, she put together a master spreadsheet of albums to consider, then went through a meticulous listening process. Her debut book chronicles “50 albums that define 50 years of trailblazing music,” spanning nearly the entire timespan of the genre: as early as Kurtis Blow and as recent as Megan Thee Stallion (who joins Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Missy, Tupac, and Lil Nas X on the Yay Abe-illustrated book’s cover).įitzgerald says putting together this book, most of which she did in a tight turnaround from April to July last year, was a dream come true. That’s when she began crafting Ode to Hip-Hop, out now on Running Press. ![]() Recognition of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary has been in full force throughout 2023, but writer Kiana Fitzgerald’s celebration started almost a year early, in February 2022. ![]()
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