Born In The Bronx- First edition

Description

Booktitle: Born In The Bronx
Subtitle: A Visual Record Of The Early days of Hip Hop
Hardcover with dustjacket
Language: English
Published: 2007, First edition!
Pages: 208
Dimensions: 29.7 x 23.7 x 2.5 cm

-Edited by Johan Kugelberg
-Photographs by Joe Conzo
-Foreword by Afrika Bambaataa
-Original Flyer Art by Buddy Esquire
-Featuring a timeline by Jeff Chang

The work of pioneering photographer Joe Conzo forms the backbone of this crucial documentary journey through Hip Hop’s formative years. Curator and writer Johan Kugelberg builds on this foundation by gathering the scattered remains of a movement that had its eye on the future from day one. The energetic flyer artwork of Buddy Esquire provides another aesthetic pillar of the book and is supported by personal contributions from influential creators including Grandmaster Caz, LA Sunshine, JDL, MARE 139 and Grandwizzard Theodore. A foreword by Legendary DJ and Bronx native, Afrika Bambaataa and hip hop timeline by bestselling author, Jeff Chang round out this important collection and add further context to the movement’s explosive early period.

Hip hop first became a part of the mainstream music industry in the early 1980s, when major record labels released albums from such accessible groups as Run DMC and the Sugarhill Gang. But the true origins of one of the most powerful pop-cultural influences in the world are in the spontaneous, progressive musical culture that grew out of tough Bronx neighborhoods of the 1970s and led to a renaissance of poetry, music, and fashion.Through years of research, writer and curator Johan Kugelberg has pulled together the scattered remains of a movement that never had its eye on posterity. The book includes the improvisational artwork of previously unpublished street flyers of the era, Polaroids buried for decades in basements across the Bronx, and testimonials from influential figures such as Tony Tone, LA Sunshine, and Charlie Chase. Through the work of pioneering hip-hop photographer Jow Conzo–the man The New York Times calls “the chronicler who took hip hop’s baby pictures”–Born in the Bronx presents a unique introduction to an explosive and experimental period in music history.