Additional Hip-Hop/Rap Resources
Compiled by Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Consultant, NJ State Library
srawlins@njstatelib.org
Hip-Hop/Rap Programming:
Hall, Marcella Runell. Conscious Women Rock the Page: Using Hip-Hop Fiction to Incite Social
Change. 978-0615199870, Sister Outsider Entertainment, 2008. $29.95.
Three award-winning activists and novelists-Black Artemis, E-Fierce, and J-Love, join social
justice educator Marcella Runell Hall and a diverse team of seasoned educators to develop this
collection of engaging and timely standards-referenced lesson plans for grades 8-12+. These
lessons explore the tools of oppression that keep us divided such as violence, patriarchy and
racism. The lessons are based on the popular books: The Sista Hood: On the Mic by E-Fierce;
Picture Me Rollin' by Black Artemis and That White Girl by J-Love.
Preview online at
http://books.google.com/books?id=IGc8JseT3GgC&pg=PA14&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=on
epage&q&f=false
Jones, Ella W. Start to Finish YA Programs: Hip Hop Symposiums, Summer Reading Programs,
Virtual Tours, Poetry Slams, Teen Advisory Boards, Term Paper Clinics, and More! NealSchuman Publishers, 078-1555706012. 2009. $80.00 (Non-Fiction)
Showcases and is a planning tool for creative and innovative methods of developing programs
for teenagers. Includes an accompanying CD-ROM.
Sitomer, Alan. Hip-Hop Poetry and the Classics. Milk Mug, 978-0972188227. 2004. $24.95
(Non-Fiction)
Hip-Hop's literary and artistic merits are evident when compared to classic poetry and it's easy to
link the great poets of the past to the contemporary Hip Hop poets of today: compare Robert
Frost to Public Enemy, Shakespeare to Eminem, and Shelley to the Notorious B.I.G. This
interactive workbook-style format is fun, as it illuminates the art of the written word with indepth analysis of poetic literary devices, writing activities, and other innovative methods.
http://njla.pbworks.com/w/file/53258911/Hip%20Hop%20%20Street%20Lit%20.ppt (From Rap
Music to Street Lit: Make Hip-Hop Happen in Your Library PowerPoint) (copy link and
download it from the link) – created by Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Consultant, NJ State
Library
Books (About hip-hop/rap or with appeal to those who like the hip-hop/rap
culture)
Lake, Nick. In Darkness. Bloomsbury, 978-1599907437. 2012. $17.99 (Fiction)
"Shorty" is a Haitian gang member trapped in the ruins of a hospital when the earth explodes
around him. As Shorty waits in darkness for a rescue that may never come, he becomes aware of
another presence, one reaching out to him across two hundred years of history. It is the presence
of slave and revolutionary leader Toussaint L'Ouverture, whose life was marred by violence, and
whose own end came in darkness. What unites a child of the slums who loves hip-hop and rap
with the man who would shake a troubled country out of slavery?
Neri, G. Yummy: the Last Days of a Southside Shorty. Lee & Low Books, 978-1584302674,
paperback, 2010. $16.95 (Graphic Novel) (Grade 9+) (Fiction)
This is based in the true story that took place in 1994, in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago's
South Side, when 14-year-old Shavon Dean was killed by a stray bullet during a gang shooting.
Her killer, Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, was 11-years-old. Neri recounts Yummy's three days on
the run from police (and his own gang that turned on him and arranged for his execution)
through the eyes of Roger, a fictional classmate of Yummy's. The author frames the story with
this central question: Was Yummy a cold-blooded killer or a victim of his environment?
Sacks, Nathan. American Hip-Hop: Rappers, DJs, and Hard Beats (American Music Milestones
series), Twenty First Century Books, 978-0761345008, November 2012. $30.60 (Non-fiction)
(Grade 10 – 12)
Learn what inspired hip-hop's earliest rappers to start rhyming over beats, as well as the stories
behind hip-hop legends such as Run-D.M.C., 2Pac, Lauryn Hill, and Jay-Z. Follow the creativity
and the rivalries that have fueled everything from party raps to songs about social struggles. And
find out how you can add your own sounds to the mix!
Stanley, Tarshia L., editor. Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature. Greenwood, 978-0313343896,
2008. $69.95. (Non-Fiction)
An encyclopedia of hip hop literature that contains about 180 alphabetical entries on fiction and
memoirs written by and for members of the hip hop generation, including Love Don't Live Here
No More and Flyy Girl, as well as discussion of individuals such as activists, cultural critics,
performers, novelists and playwrights; concepts like postmodernism and the spoken word
movement; cultural criticism; key films such as Boyz N The Hood; magazines; books on music
and black popular culture; publishers; and poetry.
Wimberly, Ronald. Prince of Cats. Vertigo, 978-1401220686, September 11, 2012. $16.99.
(Fiction – Graphic Novels) (YA/Adult)
A hip-hop retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that focuses on Tybalt (derisively
referred to as "the Prince of Cats") and his Capulet crew as they do battle nightly with the hated
Montagues. Set in a Blade Runner-esque version of Brooklyn, Prince of Cats is a mix of urban
melodrama, samurai action and classic Shakespearean theater...all written in iambic pentameter.
Examples of Hip-Hop/Rap artists available in music collections:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Hip-Hop-II-The-Collection/release/398571