Don't Sweat The Technique
Brian Coleman
Brian Coleman first put this book out a few years ago then titled "Rakim Told Me" but this is an updated and expanded version of that book. This book tells the story of 36 immortal hip hop albums straight from the original artists. Some of the albums included are "3 Feet High and Rising" De La Soul, "The Low End Theory" A Tribe Called Quest, "We Can't Be Stopped" Geto Boys, and "Raisng Hell" by Run DMC. Brian Coleman sat down with these artists and interviewed them about the process of making their album. I think the best part about this book is for each album there is the interview with the artist about the creative process, what went down when making the album, and different experiences they had. After each interview though, Brian Coleman breaks the album down track by track and has the artist explain what inspired each track and how it was recorded, etc. One of the most interesting things I found out was that there were three different versions of "Scenario" recorded for "The Low End Theory" by A Tribe Called Quest. One of the versions not used on the album featured Pos from De La Soul and Dres from Black Sheep. Another story I found interesting about the Geto Boys was that the cover of "We Can't Be Stopped" features Scarface and Willie D. pushing Bushwick Bill into the emergency room after getting his eye shot. Scarface was totally against the idea of taking the photo and you can see it in his face in the picture. I find myself reading some of the albums over again because they are so interesting and there are so many interesting things that were involved. I think the only disspointment I have is that he left some of the albums that were in the first book out in this one, but if anybody digs this book I can borrow it to you if you want to read more. I picked this book up at the St.Paul Half Price Books for 7.99. They had quite a few copies left. The regular retail is 16.95.
