The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop will be released on October 18, 2022. Crown Publishing provided an early galley for review.

Some of my earliest exposure to those early rap records was local college radio in the early 80's. I owned the 45 of Blondie's "Rapture" in 1980. By the time I got to college in 1983, I would hear tracks like "Rapper's Delight" and "The Message" at parties on campus. I was very much a fan of this new music genre even though I had no idea of the stories behind its roots (which I would learn years later). Abraham's book does an outstanding job detailing all of those stories in one place along with the history of East Coast, West Coast and all points in between.

I really like the format that this book takes. I encountered this style of taking many interviews and weaving them into a seamless narrative previously in Dylan Jones' 2020 book Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics. I think this works incredibly well, especially when discussing the cultural changes in music. It allows for many facets to be touched upon and placed together to form a cohesive picture.

I kept a scratch page handy so I could jot down the titles and artists of some mentioned tracks with which I was not so familiar. Being able to pull those up to listen to really enhanced my reading experience.

The Come Up is an oral history of hip-hop. It is well-researched and incredibly detailed. The format is engaging and easy to read. The writing is entertains, while educating. If you have an interest in hip-hop, The Come Up is a perfect book for you to check out. Highly recommended!

A very in depth view of hip hop. Perfect for any fan. Very well researched and a great read. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.