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Everyone enjoys reading someone else‘s perspective of a film, band, book (naturally) that they feel passionately about. Hanif situates his study in the context of growing up, young, black & a fan of rap, in a racist America.It‘s especially enjoyable if the person writing, creates imagery just as vivid as the subject they‘re discussing. The “love letters” are a bit cringy at times but I guess I wouldn‘t want my love letters being read by strangers.

I‘m excited for a fresh start this year with new reading goals. This is my #bookspinbingo board for January!

#bookspin : tagged
#doublespin : Piranesi

Reading a music book written from a fan's perspective provides some unique opportunities. Abdurraqib describes his reaction to each A Tribe Called Quest album growing up, and why they had such a profound impact on him. Some parts are written directly to the individual members of the group, including emotional moments related to Phife Dawg's death. As a newer fan, I learned a lot about Tribe, and Abdurraqib's love letter is eloquent and moving.

I'm so glad I finally picked this up. He does such a great job tying together the band's history, with the cultural moments happening at the same time, with his personal growth and development. The sections where he's writing letters are really, really strong, as is the chapter where he ties in Leonard Cohen, as is the chapter where he ties in Black publications like Ebony/Jet. I really need to pick up his other stuff.

I loved everything about this book. The fact that I thought it would just be a biography of one of my favorite bands and then turned into a memoir - a history lesson - a cultural touchstone - a touching love letter to a band an especially to Malik who left us too soon. Abdurraqib is well worth reading over and over.

#Hoopla #NBAnonfiction2019 Abdurraqib is a very gifted writer. With amazing elegance and verve, he weaves the story of the early rap group A Tribe Called Quest with observations on race and culture. There are aspects of memoir as well when he relates how the group‘s music impacted him at pivotal points in his youth. I am not a music lover and certainly don‘t listen to much rap, but the language and passion of the author kept me rapt. 4.5⭐️

I‘ll read anything that this man writes. I loved this book and of course it sent me scurrying back to all those old Tribe albums. But this is also a perfect portrait of youthful obsession which everyone will identify with. And Abdurraqib writes like an angel.

It took me a LONG time to finish this book because I had to keep stopping and googling certain songs, artists that were sampled in their work and to talk with my husband about the music. Some portions were more to my liking than others, but overall this book is solid.

I‘ve been going nonstop all day. Time to sit and take care of my tired feet 🦶

This is another masterful book by Hanif Abdurraqib. He weaves narratives about the 80s/90s politics, emerging rap culture, and personal stories of growing up, through the rise and fall (and rise again) of A Tribe Called Quest. His writing is atmospheric and reads like a poem. He communicates feelings so clearly that just reading the words conjures that feeling in you.

The rain in Maine falls mainly to be a pain: I made a themed book stack, because it has been raining for approximately 17,000 days in Maine this week. The grass grew 10 feet overnight, and I‘m pretty sure the mushrooms on the lawn are conspiring against me. They‘ve definitely formed a union. What‘s the weather like where you are today? 🌧 🍄 ☔️

(March 2019) Hanif always delivers, this is no exception

Good afternoon, readers! I went on an adventure today to see my friends at Print Bookstore and these books followed me home. Or I bought them. One of these things is true. I can‘t wait to read them! (Except Go Ahead In the Rain, which I have read, but I needed a physical copy, because he‘s amazing.) Have you read any of them? 💕💕💕

Even though I had a limited engagement in 90s rap (I was still a fairly young kid in that decade and living in a rural, conservative community), this book made me want to revisit some of the rap albums/groups that I missed out on or had forgotten about. This is a lovely, brief history through the eyes of and impact on a fan who happens to be a beautiful writer himself.

This was a great listen, the only drawback being that I had to pause and turn on Spotify every few minutes in order to listen to all of the albums Abdurraqib discusses! The standouts here are the stunning intro and the letters to Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Phife‘s mother, but it‘s all incredible history, music writing, memoir. #audiobook #culturalcriticism I listened via #HooplaDigital! Gotta love that.

A couple of quotes from different parts of the book (at 1:36:16 and 3:53:12, if I took the correct notes), #audiobook #nonfiction #musiccriticism

All the best music writing, I think, is both about the music and not. These essays are about the music and the group that made it. But it is also about a time past, and a time present. It is about memory and history and loss and triumph and what music can mean to us when it reaches us at just the right moment. I have my own memories of Tribe, which are not the same as Abdurraqib‘s, but he brings me along nonetheless. What an amazing book.

The work is also an instrument. The way the wood can be chopped is a percussion, and the march to the work is a percussion, and the weary chants, when laid close enough to one another, can be a percussion. When they took the drums of slaves, the slaves simply found new drums in everything, and this is how African rhythms were retained and passed down, held close by those who knew what it was to have a culture ripped from them. ... ⬇️

Starting this on the commute home! #audiobook #essays Found it on #hoopladigital!!

I‘ve been thinking about this opening paragraph and how perfect it is for two days now.

Gonna read some essays in between reading short stories.

Just music writing at its absolute apex

I got the best book mail today!! If you haven‘t read anything by Hanif Abdurraqib yet then you‘re seriously missing out (They Can‘t Kill Us Until They Kill Us is such an incredible and important book). Can‘t wait to read this one! #goaheadintherain