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Ed Piskor

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Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1 Kindle & comiXology

by Ed Piskor (Author, Artist) Format: Kindle Edition

4.9 231 ratings

Part of: Hip Hop Family Tree

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The lore of the early days of hip hop has become the stuff of myth, so what better way to document this fascinating, epic true story than in another great American mythological medium - the comic book? From exciting young talent and self-proclaimed hip hop nerd Ed Piskor, acclaimed for his hacker graphic novel Wizzywig, comes this explosively entertaining, encyclopedic history of the formative years of the music genre that changed global culture. "This is the comic of all time." - Biz Markie

From the Publisher

Hip Hop Family Tree, Ed Piskor, Fantagraphics, hip hop music, rap music

From bestselling author and self-proclaimed hip hop nerd Ed Piskor, Hip Hop Family Tree is the entertaining, encyclopedic history of the formative years of the music genre that changed global culture. Originally serialized on the hugely popular website Boing Boing, each volume is cleverly presented and packaged in a style mimicking the Marvel comics of the same era. Piskor’s exuberant yet controlled cartooning takes you from the parks and rec rooms of the South Bronx to the night clubs, recording studios, and radio stations where the scene started to boom, capturing the flavor of late-1970s New York City in panels bursting with obsessively authentic detail. With a vigorous and engaging Ken Burns meets Stan Lee approach, the battles and rivalries, the technical innovations, the triumphs and failures are all thoroughly researched and lovingly depicted. Like the acclaimed hip hop documentaries Style Wars and Scratch, Hip Hop Family Tree is an essential cultural chronicle and a must for hip hop fans, pop-culture addicts, and anyone who wants to know how it went down back in the day.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Hip-hop devotee Piskor was one of Harvey Pekar’s last collaborators and here shows himself to be Pekar’s true disciple as a chronicler of popular culture. In fact, he one-ups his famous partner-mentor—Pekar, an avid and knowledgeable fan of bebop, never scripted a whole book on his passion. Moreover, Piskor intends this book to be the first of several tracing the history of what is still, 40 years after its emergence, the most important stylistic development in pop music since rock ’n’ roll. The large-format volume is strictly a chronicle, presenting the major figures in hip-hop as they appear and make their impressions on the music. It’s full of names while barren of explanation, description, analysis, and even, oddly enough, dates (though for fans of hip-hop, that likely won’t be a deterrent). Piskor’s artwork seems equally indebted to the looks of golden-age DC superhero comics and Pekar’s greatest collaborator, R. Crumb. Besides the bibliography, discography, and index expected of a pop-music-history reference work, Piskor provides an appendix-in-comics on his personal understanding of “The Hip Hop/Comic Book Connection.” --Ray Olson

Review

"The amount of research and history Piskor packs into this book is mind boggling."
― The Huffington Post

"He’s not just doin’ a comic book, he’s doin' a piece of history."
― Darryl “DMC” McDaniels

"These are dookie-gold-chain d-o-p-e."
― Darcy MacDonald, CultMTL

"These stories are carefully researched and detailed along with great comic book style art..."
― The Source

"Extraordinary effort. Even if you are not a hip-hop fan, you need to read this."
― Jatin Varma, The Economic Times

"A superhero-riffing, world-building, toe-tapping, beat-hitting story of a whole lot of people, some brilliant, some lucky, some crazy, and some all of the above."
― Alex di Campi, 12th Dimension

"Gripping."
― NPR

"[A] rapid-fire telling of the early days of rap and hip hop culture… There’s a lot to learn even if you think you’ve heard it all."
― Gene Ambaum, Unshelved

"This is the comic of all time."
― Biz Markie

"Being in an Ed Piskor comic is cool enough to freeze hot water."
― Fab Five Freddy

"Captures the personalities, imagery and milestones with a hilarity and efficiency that no other medium could."
― Billboard

"Action-packed, fun and funny."
― Seattle Times

"Ed Piskor is the sh#t!!"
― De La Soul

"Even if you are not a fan of hip hop or rap per se, one cannot deny its pervasive influence on the world at large. If nothing else, this first volume, covering the years 1975 through 1981, demonstrates the nonstop merging of style and culture that is part and particle of the American experience."
― Gregg Reese, Our Weekly

"An avid lover of hip-hop music and superhero comic books from a young age, Ed Piskor has combined his two passions to create a remarkable reading experience ... Hip Hop Family Tree imagines real-world events through the filter of 1980s Marvel Comics, bringing hip-hop visionaries to the page in a style that exaggerates their energy and style to capture the intensity of the music without having the beats."
― The A.V. Club

"One of the defining histories of hip hop… Ed created a portal into the beginning of hip hop, and just saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is a poor way of explaining why its impact is greater than that of a detailed book."
― Daniel Genis, The Daily Beast

"When cartoonist Ed Piskor decided to unspool the labyrinth history of one of America’s greatest artistic accomplishments, he spared no effort to immerse his readers in the era of jump suits and scarred vinyl. Everything in Hip Hop Family Tree screams nostalgia: the Ben-Day dots, the sepia discoloration…even the print feels course and pulpy, like a priceless cultural artifact unearthed in a garage sale or your dad’s basement. Flipping through the oversized pages, you can almost hear the slap bass, horn swells, and ricocheting rhymes of hip-hop’s inaugural years."
― Sean Edgar, Paste

"An astonishing feat of cultural archaeology, in both ambition and execution. The project somehow doesn’t seem quite real: a comic-book history of hip-hop going back to the very beginning ― the late 70s ― where lore is thick and documentation scarce. To tell this story in any language would be a challenge; to tell it in the language of comics feels like a magical summoning."
― Lary Wallace, Vice

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B013XRZKOM
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fantagraphics (October 30, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 30, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 773684 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 114 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #267,647 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #26 in Historical Fiction Graphic Novels
- #41 in Nonfiction Graphic Novels
- #152 in Educational & Nonfiction Graphic Novels

Customer Reviews:
4.9 231 ratings

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motivatedbysun

great hip hop art

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2020

Verified Purchase

beautiful book. it was bigger than i expected.. quite a large book, but that was actually kind of cool. the illustrations are incredible and it looks great. i haven't fully read it yet but i can tell it's awesome so far

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is a perfect gift to yourself or anyone else who is a fan and can appreciate (re)learning the history of Hip Hop. The level of detail is just right for a comic and it stays interesting and informative from the beginning to the end. I personally enjoyed readying it from the beginning to the end. It left me wanting to read more. I look forward to the next one.

3 people found this helpful

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John Innes

Amazing book

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2019

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This is not my world or my music, but it a hugely important part of the culture today. I enjoyed learning the complexity of how hip hop developed without over simplifying or glossing over the rough spots. Learning the history really helped me appreciate current hip hop culture

One person found this helpful

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Bluefish

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh way!! =D

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

This thing is huge. Much bigger then I thought! Same size as them old comics that were like the larger ones. The pages of the whole thing on the inside feel like an old comic.. I don't know what paper that is, but it's some official old school paper, but durable, not thin. Even the paper has that "vintage" smell to it!!!! I guess if you want a vintage feel, actually use the same material as they used to!!! This is too ill.. I can't believe this.. <3

18 people found this helpful

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Yovani Munoz

Hip Hop heads will love this dope book

Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2018

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The comic book is awesome! It really gives you the insight to the beginnings of hip hop while giving you visuals in form of a comic book. I had a lot fun reading it and looking to get the second book soon.

One person found this helpful

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Marc Horne

Basically Perfect

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

The comic book format allows Piskor to nail the narrative rather than just string together interviews and old video clips: no documentary could do as good a job as this. But the graphic novel format also allows him to nail the look and personality of the era like a prose book couldn't. A great achievement. I didn't want it to end. Except he has future volumes coming, which is even better. Also great production values.

One person found this helpful

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K. S. Fredericks

And ya don't quit. Brilliant.

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

Fascinating on many levels. I have been transformed by this book.

If you have any affection for the culture if music then this book will reward you and deeply inform your understanding of the 20th century's funkiest moments.

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is a great comic book that teaches Hip Hop origin and history in a light fare that stays true to the genre. Illustrations are great and if you are a true hip hop head you will be enlightened to how things came to be.

2 people found this helpful

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Jesse

Very cool high quality book

Reviewed in Canada on November 26, 2020

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I've never seen a book like this before, It's bound exactly like a hardcover but without the hard cardboard in the cover. Very cool touch!

If you care about hiphop this is a great way to get a little history lesson! If you know this stuff already, it's fantastic just to see it all beautifully drawn!

NJ

Da bomb ! Fresh book for a fresh story

Reviewed in France on May 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Awesome series , the HHFT is a great depiction with style of the Hip Hop story.
I highly recommend these books, which, on top of everything, feel funny to hold (soft touch of the paper and smell of the press)...

Amazon Kunde

Überragend gut...

Reviewed in Germany on May 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

War am Anfrang skeptisch und nun habe ich fast alle Teile des HipHop Family Trees zuhause..
Super gezeichnet und wer sich für die Geschichte von HipHop, Graffiti etc. interssiert ist hier genau richtig.
Lese schon seit vielen Jahren die unterschiedlichsten Comics, HHFT gehört mittlerweile zu meinen absoluten Favoriten.
Absolute Empfehlung!

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Catalin

amazing $#%£

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

The old school comic book graphics combined with an accurate history of hip hop make this literally the best gift you can make to any hip hop fan out there (including yourself).

I didn't expect this, but the book format is quite big (bigger than A4) and the content is really consistent, going way beyond a simple pretty coffee table comic book. It took me 2 days of intense reading to finish it and will definitely go back to page 1 soon to get some inspiration for my playlist.

We're so lucky the author is a great illustrator (probably specialized in old school graphics) and an avid hip hop fan, And he has a good sense of humor. Can't wait for volume 2!

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Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1 Kindle & comiXology

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

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Ed Piskor

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