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Revolutions in American Music: Three Decades That Changed a Country and Its Sounds
Par Michael Broyles. 2024
The story of how unexpected connections between music, technology, and race across three tumultuous decades changed American culture. How did…
a European social dance craze become part of an American presidential election? Why did the recording industry become racially divided? Where did rock ’n’ roll really come from? And how do all these things continue to reverberate in today’s world? In Revolutions in American Music, award-winning author Michael Broyles shows the surprising ways in which three key decades—the 1840s, the 1920s, and the 1950s—shaped America’s musical future. Drawing connections between new styles of music like the minstrel show, jazz, and rock ’n’ roll, and emerging technologies like the locomotive, the first music recordings, and the transistor radio, Broyles argues that these decades fundamentally remade our cultural landscape in enduring ways. At the same time, these connections revealed racial fault lines running through the business of music, in an echo of American society as a whole. Through the music of each decade, we come to see anew the social, cultural, and political fabric of the time. Broyles combines broad historical perspective with an eye for the telling detail and presents a variety of characters to serve as focal points, including the original Jim Crow, a colorful Hungarian dancing master named Gabriel de Korponay, “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith, and the singer Johnnie Ray, whom Tony Bennett called “the father of rock ’n’ roll.” Their stories, and many others, animate Broyles’s masterly account of how American music became what it is today.American Popular Music
Par David Lee Joyner. 2009
This text provides an overview of the four major areas of American contemporary music: jazz, rock, country, and musical theater.…
Each genre is approached chronologically with the emphasis on the socio-cultural aspects of the music. Readers will appreciate Joyner's engaging writing style and come away with the fundamental skills needed to listen critically to a variety of popular music styles.The Next Elvis: Searching for Stardom at Sun Records
Par Barbara Barnes Sims. 2014
An American institution, Sun Records has a history with many chapters -- its Memphis origins with visionary Sam Phillips, the…
breakthrough recordings of Elvis Presley, and the studio's immense influence on the sound of popular music. But behind the company's chart toppers and legendary musicians there exists another story, told by Barbara Barnes Sims. In the male-dominated workforce of the 1950s, 24-year-old Sims found herself thriving in the demanding roles of publicist and sales promotion coordinator at Sun Records. Sims's job placed her in the studio with Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Carl Perkins, and other Sun entertainers, as well as the unforgettable Phillips, whose work made the music that defined an era.The Next Elvis: Searching for Stardom at Sun Records chronicles Sims's career at the studio, a pivotal time at this recording mecca, as she darted from disc jockeys to distributors. Sims not only entertains with personal stories of big personalities, but also brings humor to the challenges of a young woman working in a fast and tough industry.Her disarming narrative ranges from descriptions of a disgraced Jerry Lee Lewis to the remarkable impact and tragic fall of DJ Daddy-O Dewey to the frenzied Memphis homecoming of Elvis after his military service. Collectively, these vignettes offer a rare and intimate look at the people, the city, and the studio that permanently shifted the trajectory of rock 'n' roll.A Child's Introduction to Hip-Hop: The Beats, Rhymes, and Roots of a Musical Revolution (A Child's Introduction Series)
Par Jordannah Elizabeth. 2023
This definitive guide to hip-hop teaches kids about the history and world-wide cultural impact of the genre, covering everyone from…
early heroes like The Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Blow, and Run D.M.C., to modern day titans like Kanye West, Cardi B, and Kendrick Lamar. In the 1970s, a musical and cultural movement was sparked in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City. Led by three DJs who performed at local block parties, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash become known as the &“Holy Trinity&” of hip-hop and they helped establish the four main pillars of the genre: deejaying, mc'ing, break dancing, and graffiti art. From these early days, acclaimed journalist and music critic Jordannah Elizabeth takes kids on a journey through the history of hip-hop, helping young readers understand how and why it was invented, and how it evolved into a powerful platform that gave (and still gives) a voice to the often-ignored Black community in America. From Tupac Shakur and Ms. Lauryn Hill to Drake and Tyler the Creator, kids will celebrate some of hip-hop&’s biggest names while learning about the roots of their musical sounds, and the community that propelled them into stardom. Packed with modern, charming illustrations, including a pull-out poster for kids to color, A Child&’s Introduction to Hip-Hop features age-appropriate descriptions of a musical genre that is changing the world and dominating the airwaves. This is the perfect book for young students who want to know more about the world of hip-hop and rap, as well as for parents who want to introduce their children to some of their favorite artists.The Rejects: An Alternative History of Popular Music
Par Jamie Collinson. 2024
Imagine you've made it. You and your friends have hit the big time in music and you're going to be…
a star. But then, quite suddenly, it's over. Your best friends don't want you anymore, and you're on the outside. Perhaps they're tired of your bad habits, they think you're not good enough, or they sense you just don't want it as much as they do. Whatever the cause, you're a reject. So, what do you do next?Featuring a player rejected by both Nirvana and Soundgarden who became a decorated special forces soldier, Britpoppers who spiralled into addiction before becoming novelists and missionaries, the terrifying story of Guns N' Roses' first drummer, super-rejecting band leaders, self-destroying rappers, troubled hard rock bassists and girl-band burnouts, The Rejects takes an intimate, thoughtful look at people who've been kicked out of bands, what they experienced and what came afterwards.Coming from a writer with twenty years' music industry experience, The Rejects is a sympathetic study of some of music's most fascinating characters, and what happens when the dream comes crashing to an end. The result is a compelling alternative history of popular music.DanceHall: From Slave Ship to Ghetto (African and Diasporic Cultural Studies)
Par Sonjah Stanley Niaah. 2010
DanceHall combines cultural geography, performance studies and cultural studies to examine performance culture across the Black Atlantic. Taking Jamaican dancehall…
music as its prime example, DanceHall reveals a complex web of cultural practices, politics, rituals, philosophies, and survival strategies that link Caribbean, African and African diasporic performance.Combining the rhythms of reggae, digital sounds and rapid-fire DJ lyrics, dancehall music was popularized in Jamaica during the later part of the last century by artists such as Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Beenie Man and Buju Banton. Even as its popularity grows around the world, a detailed understanding of dancehall performance space, lifestyle and meanings is missing. Author Sonjah Stanley Niaah relates how dancehall emerged from the marginalized youth culture of Kingston’s ghettos and how it remains inextricably linked to the ghetto, giving its performance culture and spaces a distinct identity. She reveals how dancehall’s migratory networks, embodied practice, institutional frameworks, and ritual practices link it to other musical styles, such as American blues, South African kwaito, and Latin American reggaetòn. She shows that dancehall is part of a legacy that reaches from the dance shrubs of West Indian plantations and the early negro churches, to the taxi-dance halls of Chicago and the ballrooms of Manhattan. Indeed, DanceHall stretches across the whole of the Black Atlantic’s geography and history to produce its detailed portrait of dancehall in its local, regional, and transnational performance spaces.Nick Drake: The Life
Par Richard Morton Jack. 2023
Experience the definitive biography of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the twentieth century with this eye-opening book featuring a foreword by…
Gabrielle Drake and over 75 photos, many rare or previously unseen. In 1968, Nick Drake had everything to live for. The product of a loving, creative family and a privileged background, he was not only a handsome and popular Cambridge undergraduate, but also a new signing to the UK&’s hippest record label, Island. Three years later, however—having made three well reviewed but low-selling albums—Nick had been overwhelmed by a mysterious mental illness. He returned to live in his family home in rural Warwickshire in 1971, and died in obscurity in 1974, aged just 26. In the decades since, Nick has become the subject of ever-growing fascination and speculation. Combined sales of his records now stand in the millions, his songs are frequently heard on TV and in films, and he has become one of the most widely known and admired singer-songwriters of his generation. Nick Drake: The Life is the only biography of Nick to be written with the blessing and involvement of his sister and estate. Drawing on copious original research and new interviews with his family, friends, and musical collaborators, as well as deeply personal archive material unavailable to previous writers—including his father&’s diaries, his essays, and private correspondence—this is the most comprehensive and authoritative account possible of Nick&’s short and enigmatic life.But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups
Par Laura Flam, Emily Sieu Liebowitz. 2023
Featuring over 300 hours of new interviews with 100+ subjects, an oral history of the girl groups (such as The…
Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas) that redefined the early 1960s The girl group sound, made famous and unforgettable by acts like The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas, took over the airwaves by capturing the mixture of innocence and rebellion emblematic of America in the 1960s. As songs like "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Then He Kissed Me," and "Be My Baby" rose to the top of the charts, girl groups cornered the burgeoning post-war market of teenage rock and roll fans, indelibly shaping the trajectory of pop music in the process. While the songs are essential to the American canon, many of the artists remain all but anonymous to most listeners. With more than 100 subjects that made the music, from the singers to the songwriters, to their agents, managers, and sound engineers—and even to the present-day celebrities inspired by their lasting influence–But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of 60s Girl Groups tells a national coming-of-age story that gives particular insight into the experiences of the female singers and songwriters who created the movement.Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music
Par Michael Streissguth. 2023
In this enlightening and entertaining book, experience the evolution of country music, from the rural routes of 1970s Appalachia to the…
1980s country music boom that paved the way for modern Americana. In a dim clearing off a county road in Kentucky sits a sagging outdoor stage buried in moss and dead leaves. It used to be the centerpiece of carnival-like Sunday afternoons where local guitarists, fiddlers and mandolin players hammered out old mountain ballads and legends from the dawn of country music performed their classic hits. Most of the musicians who showed up have long since passed, but Nashville stars Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart survive. They were barely teenagers in the early 1970s when they visited this stage in the care of legends Ralph Stanley and Lester Flatt, respectively. Skaggs and Stuart followed their bosses to dozens of stages throughout Appalachia and deeper into the American southland. They were the children, absorbing the wondrous music and strange dramas around them as they became innovators and living symbols of country music.Highways and Heartaches takes readers on the rural circuit Skaggs and Stuart traveled, where an acoustic sound first assembled by masters such as Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, and Mother Maybelle Carter ruled the day. The young men were heirs to a bluegrass tradition transmitted to them early in life. One part mountain soul and another African American–influenced rhythm, the music they received was alternately celebrated and neglected in the more than fifty years after the two met in 1971, but since then it has never stopped evolving and influencing the wider American culture thanks to Skaggs and Stuart and other actors in this book, such as Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Keith Whitley, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Riveting portraits of Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley, Lester Flatt and other heartland-born figures emerge, too. Molded by forces in postwar southern culture such as racial conflict, fringe politics, evangelicalism, growing federal government influence, and stubborn patterns of Appalachian living and thinking, Skaggs and Stuart injected the spirit of bluegrass into their hard-wrought experiments in mainstream country music later in life, fueling the profitability and credibility of the fabled genre. Skaggs&’s new traditionalism of the 1980s, integrating mountain instruments with elements of contemporary country music, created a new sound for the masses and placed him in the vanguard of Nashville&’s recording artists while Stuart embraced seminal influences and attitudes from the riches of American culture to produce a catalog of significant recordings. Skaggs and Stuart&’s friendship took years to jell, but their similar pathways reveal a shared dedication to the soul of country music and highlight the curious day-to-day experiences of two lads growing up on the demanding rural route in bluegrass culture. Their journeys—populated by grizzled mentors, fearsome undertows, and cultural upheaval—influenced their creativity and, ultimately, cut life-giving tributaries in the ungainly, eternal story of country music.This Is Christmas, Song by Song: The Stories Behind 100 Holiday Hits
Par Annie Zaleski. 2023
Celebrate the merriest season of the year with award-winning author and music journalist Annie Zaleski's collection of the 100 most popular and…
beloved holiday songs of all time. 'Tis the season! Break out the eggnog, hang the mistletoe, blast those Christmas songs, and settle down in your favorite armchair with this beautifully illustrated volume exploring well-known and lesser-known behind-the-scenes stories of the 100 most cherished holiday songs of all time and their everlasting impact. From artists such as Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald all the way up to Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande, this all-encompassing collection of holiday favorites (called one of "the 25 best Christmas books of all time" by Book Riot) is sure to warm your heart during the merriest season of the year. What song was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling single of all time? Which popular Christmas tune was reportedly written to commemorate Thanksgiving? What holiday song led to a special meet-and-greet between the song's 10-year-old singer and a 700-pound hippopotamus? Spanning musical genres and decades of classics and modern hits, some of the featured songs include: &“White Christmas&” by Bing Crosby "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey "Deck the Halls" by Mannheim Steamroller &“Christmas Tree Farm&” by Taylor Swift &“Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" by The Beatles &“Feliz Navidad&” by José Feliciano "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" by Gwen Stefani &“Santa Baby&” by Eartha Kitt &“Rockin&’ around the Christmas Tree&” by Brenda Lee &“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays&” by NSYNC &“Run Rudolph Run&” by Chuck Berry And many more! Including full-color illustrations throughout, this gorgeously packaged compendium is the perfect gift for you and your loved ones to experience the holiday magic year after year.Women in Nineteenth-Century Czech Musical Culture: Apostles of a Brighter Future (Slavonic and East European Music Studies)
Par Anja Bunzel, Christopher Campo-Bowen. 2024
This volume focuses on the circumstances of women’s music-making in the vibrant and diverse environment of the Czech lands during…
the nineteenth century. It sheds light on little-known women musicians, while also considering more well-known works and composers from new woman-centric perspectives. It shows how the unique environment of Habsburg Central Europe, especially Bohemia and Lower Austria, intersects with gender to reveal hitherto unexplored networks that challenge the methodological nationalism of music studies as well as the discipline’s continued emphasis on singular canonical figures. The main areas of enquiry address aspects of performance and identity both within the Czech lands and abroad; women’s impact on social life with a view to different private, semiprivate, and public contexts and networks; and compositional aesthetics in musical works by and about women, analysed through the lens of piano works, song, choir music, and opera, always with the reception of these works in mind.Dirty Rocker Boys
Par Bobbie Brown, Caroline Ryder. 2013
An uncensored Hollywood tell-all filled with explicit tales of love, sex, and revenge from the video vixen made famous by…
Warrant’s rock anthem “Cherry Pie.”Who could forget the sexy “Cherry Pie” girl from hair metal band Warrant’s infamous music video? Bobbie Brown became a bona fide vixen for her playful role as the object of lead singer Jani Lane’s desires. But the wide-eyed Louisiana beauty queen’s own dreams of making it big in Los Angeles were about to be derailed by her rock-and-roll lifestyle. After her tumultuous marriage to Jani imploded, and her engagement to fast-living Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee ended in a drug haze—followed by his marriage later to Pamela Anderson—Bobbie decided it was time Hollywood’s hottest bachelors got a taste of their own medicine. Step one: get high. Step two: get even.In a captivating, completely uncensored confessional, Bobbie explicitly recounts a life among some of the most famous men in Hollywood: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, Mark McGrath, Dave Navarro, Sebastian Bach, Ashley Hamilton, Rob Pilatus of Milli Vanilli, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, Orgy’s Jay Gordon, and many more. No man was off limits as the fun-loving bombshell spiraled into excess, anger, and addiction.Bobbie survived the party—barely—and her riveting, cautionary comeback tale is filled with the wildest stories of sex, drugs, and rock and roll ever told.Vinyl Record Collecting For Dummies
Par Dave Thompson. 2024
Get on the vinyl train and learn about this captivating hobby Vinyl Record Collecting For Dummies teaches you how to…
start a collection, grow your collection, and make that collection sound excellent. You’ll learn how to shop for new, used, and rare records, and how to select the turntable that’s right for you. Learn how to determine a record’s value, build your collection on a budget, and properly store and maintain your records. This handy Dummies guide also gives you the background knowledge you’ll need to hold your own in conversations with vinyl enthusiasts—all about music genres, the pros and cons of vinyl types, how records are made, and even the history of record collecting itself. Now you can start collecting rare records, new releases, and everything in between. Learn the basics of buying records at record shops, secondhand stores, and online Determine the value of your collection and learn how to recognize great deals Select the turntable and sound system that are right for your needs Explore the history of recorded music and learn why people are going wild for vinyl This is the perfect Dummies guide for anyone who’s ready to get swept up in the excitement of collecting vinyl records, including beginners and seasoned collectors.Übungsbuch Musiktheorie für Dummies (Für Dummies)
Par Oliver Fehn. 2024
Wenn der Stoff sitzen soll, muss man die Theorie auch mal praktisch angehen. Denn auch bei der Musiktheorie hilft vor…
allem Üben, Üben, Üben. Dieses Buch enthält abwechslungsreiche Übungen, kurzweilige Multiple-Choice-Tests, hilfreiche Eselsbrücken und viele Tipps und Tricks, die Ihnen helfen, Ihr musiktheoretisches Wissen zur Perfektion zu bringen. Sie finden kompakte Erklärungen der wichtigsten musiktheoretischen Grundlagen und natürlich ausführliche Lösungen zu den zahlreichen Übungen. Viele der Übungen und Lösungen gibt es außerdem zum Anhören als Download. Sie erfahren Wie Sie Ihr musiktheoretisches Wissen durch Übungen zu Noten, Akkorden, Intervallen, Tonleitern, Tonarten und Co. vertiefen Wie Sie Musik notieren und spielen Wie Sie Ihr Lieblingsstück in eine andere Tonart transponierenAn exclusive behind-the-scenes look at life in the rap world, from the woman at the heart of the Nas/Jay-Z feud—one…
of the biggest beefs in hip-hop.Carmen Bryan is no stranger to the rap world. Not only did she work at Def Jam and Capitol Records but she shares a daughter with hip-hop superstar Nas—a relationship made extremely public through Nas's celebrity status, rap lyrics, and the ever-present media. Now, in It's No Secret, a strong, resilient Carmen bares all, telling her side of the story and leaving no detail unturned—with the true candor and raw emotion of someone who has been there, done that, and survived. From a clandestine relationship with Nas's biggest rival, Jay-Z, that stirred up the biggest feud in hip-hop history, to seeing her reputation in tatters and a once loving relationship with Nas fall apart, Carmen depicts her trying journey to become the strong woman and mother she is today. After years of turmoil that included drugs, sex, greed, and violence—and abandoning what she had always prized above all, her freedom—Carmen took a stand, focusing on herself. After years of pursuit by the media, Carmen sets the record straight in It's No Secret—and has no regrets.The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation
Par Kal Raustiala, Christopher Sprigman. 2012
From the shopping mall to the corner bistro, knockoffs are everywhere in today's marketplace. Conventional wisdom holds that copying kills…
creativity, and that laws that protect against copies are essential to innovation--and economic success. But are copyrights and patents always necessary? In The Knockoff Economy, Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman provocatively argue that creativity can not only survive in the face of copying but can thrive. The Knockoff Economy approaches the question of incentives and innovation in a wholly new way--by exploring creative fields where copying is generally legal, such as fashion, food, and even professional football. By uncovering these important but rarely studied industries, Raustiala and Sprigman reveal a nuanced and fascinating relationship between imitation and innovation. In some creative fields, copying is kept in check through informal industry norms enforced by private sanctions. In others, the freedom to copy actually promotes creativity. High fashion gave rise to the very term "knockoff," yet the freedom to imitate great designs only makes the fashion cycle run faster--and forces the fashion industry to be even more creative. Raustiala and Sprigman carry their analysis from food to font design to football plays to finance, examining how and why each of these vibrant industries remains innovative even when imitation is common. There is an important thread that ties all these instances together--successful creative industries can evolve to the point where they become inoculated against--and even profit from--a world of free and easy copying. And there are important lessons here for copyright-focused industries, like music and film, that have struggled as digital technologies have made copying increasingly widespread and difficult to stop. Raustiala and Sprigman's arguments have been making headlines in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, Le Monde, and at the Freakonomics blog, where they are regular contributors. By looking where few had looked before--at markets that fall outside normal IP law--The Knockoff Economy opens up fascinating creative worlds. And it demonstrates that not only is a great deal of innovation possible without intellectual property, but that intellectual property's absence is sometimes better for innovation.A Booze & Vinyl Christmas: Merry Music-and-Drink Pairings to Celebrate the Season
Par André Darlington. 2023
Celebrate the holidays with this merry collection of beloved Christmas albums paired with mood-setting cocktails—a companion to the bestselling listening…
party guide, Booze & Vinyl. Whether you're planning your finest Ugly Christmas Sweater Party or spending a quiet evening by the stocking-lined fireside at home, make the season bright with this guide to 40 favorite holiday albums from the 1940s to the present. Each entry features liner notes on the album and accompanying boozy beverage recipes that complement the music or connect the drink to the artist. Select holiday food recipes throughout complete the experience. Among the artist albums featured are: Johnny Mathis, the Beach Boys, Elvis, the Jackson 5, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Justin Bieber, Gwen Stefani, Sia, Dolly Parton, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Vince Guaraldi, Barbara Streisand, Willie Nelson, Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Michael Bublé, and John Legend.Rescue Story: Faith, Freedom, and Finding My Way Home
Par Zach Williams. 2024
From a hard-rocking life fueled by substance abuse to a hope-filled life of freedom and joy--this is music star Zach…
Williams's bold and vulnerable story of faith and redemption.Before two-time GRAMMY Award winner Zach Williams penned heartfelt, faith-filled ballads like "Chain Breaker," "There Was Jesus (featuring Dolly Parton)," and "Fear Is a Liar," there was darkness. A rock-and-roll singer who thought he had all he ever wanted to make him happy, Zach instead felt empty. The drugs, alcohol, and late-night gigs played around the world couldn't satisfy the longing in his heart for a place to belong. He was desperate for change.It came while on tour in Spain with his band, and in this powerful and poignant memoir, Zach shares in vivid detail his personal Rescue Story. He reflects on his childhood and the prophecy that kept his parents from giving up hope, his descent into the substance abuse that held him captive for so long, and ultimately the rescue he didn't think was possible but embraced with open arms.A compelling, honest story of God's unconditional love, grace, and redemption, Rescue Story shares the intimate journey of a beloved music artist and challenges you to seek resilient hope in the trials of your own life--because Jesus offers real freedom and joy, despite the mistakes of your past.The Rejects: An Alternative History of Popular Music
Par Jamie Collinson. 2024
Imagine you've made it. You and your friends have hit the big time in music and you're going to be…
a star. But then, quite suddenly, it's over. Your best friends don't want you anymore, and you're on the outside. Perhaps they're tired of your bad habits, they think you're not good enough, or they sense you just don't want it as much as they do. Whatever the cause, you're a reject. So, what do you do next?Featuring a player rejected by both Nirvana and Soundgarden who became a decorated special forces soldier, Britpoppers who spiralled into addiction before becoming novelists and missionaries, the terrifying story of Guns N' Roses' first drummer, super-rejecting band leaders, self-destroying rappers, troubled hard rock bassists and girl-band burnouts, The Rejects takes an intimate, thoughtful look at people who've been kicked out of bands, what they experienced and what came afterwards.Coming from a writer with twenty years' music industry experience, The Rejects is a sympathetic study of some of music's most fascinating characters, and what happens when the dream comes crashing to an end. The result is a compelling alternative history of popular music.Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography
Par Staci Robinson. 2023
The authorized biography of the legendary artist, Tupac Shakur, a &“touching, empathetic portrait&” (The New York Times) of his life…
and powerful legacy, fully illustrated with photos, mementos, handwritten poetry, musings, and moreArtist, poet, actor, revolutionary, legendTupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just twenty-five, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated, and influential figures in modern history. Drawing on exclusive access to Tupac&’s private notebooks, letters, and uncensored conversations with those who loved and knew him best, this estate-authorized biography paints the fullest and most intimate picture to date of the young man who became a legend for generations to come.In Tupac Shakur, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson—who knew Tupac from their shared circle of high school friends in Marin City, California, and who was entrusted by his mother, Afeni Shakur, to share his story—unravels the myths and unpacks the complexities that have shadowed Tupac&’s existence. Decades in the making, this book pulls back the curtain to reveal a powerful story of a life defined by politics and art—a man driven by equal parts brilliance and impulsiveness, steeped in the rich intellectual tradition of Black empowerment, and unafraid to utter raw truths about race in America.It is a story of a mother and son bound together by a love for each other and for their people, and the relationship that endured through their darkest times. It is a political story that begins in the whirlwind of the 1960s civil rights movement and unfolds through a young artist&’s awakening to rage and purpose in the &’90s era of Rodney King. It is a story of dizzying success and its devastating consequences. And, of course, it is the story of Tupac&’s music, his timeless, undying message as it continues to touch and inspire us today.