Rakim Told Me

Product Description
For years, hip-hop fans have been robbed of context and background when buying and enjoying classic albums from the Golden Age: the 1980s. “Rakim Told Me” brings you these invisible liner notes, one album at a time, with new angles and engaging stories. 21 albums are examined in-depth, and facts are uncovered with the turn of every page. Journalist Brian Coleman has, over the past decade, immersed himself in and written about the hip-hop art form as a columnist for national magazines like XXL, Scratch, CMJ and URB. In this volume, The ‘80s, he digs deep, one-on one, with legendary artists like Rakim, De La Soul, Ice-T, Public Enemy, KRS-One, Run-DMC, Slick Rick, Too $hort and many more. “Rakim Told Me” lets you dive head first into the world of your favorite hip-hop artists and the classic albums they produced. These are pure wax facts straight from the original artists, brought to the surface again after years of invisibility. So dig out your turntable, clean off your Zulu Nation medallion, crack open a chapter, and relive hip-hop’s most creative and captivating era.

About the Author
Brian Coleman is 34 years old and has been mesmerized and energized by hip-hop music since Run-DMC, Public Enemy, DJ Red Alert and "Yo! MTV Raps" messed with his teenage mind in the otherwise forgettable 1980s. In the past decade he has written hundreds of reviews and features about the hip-hop artform for national magazines and newspapers such as XXL (“Classic Material” columnist, 1999 – present; “Ill Techniques” columnist 2001 – 2003), Scratch (Editor-At-Large, 2004-present, “Pioneer DJ” and “Indie 500” columnist), Complex, CMJ Weekly (Hip-Hop columnist and editor, 1997 and 2001) and CMJ Monthly (Hip-Hop columnist 1997 – 2001), URB, Boston Herald, Boston Phoenix, Blaze and NY Press.