Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1 by Ed Piskor

Putting the music in the hands of producers and taking away venues and jobs for live performers essentially destroyed the funk music, and the crippling poverty and economic recession of the late 70s further stalled gains made by African-Americans. Once again, however, assimilation came in the face of disco, which took the danceability of certain funk records and fused them with the gay, underground club scene in cities like New York. James Brown's 'Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm Proud' was the harbinger for a new renaissance of music, fashion, dance, art and literature centering around the communal and improvisational nature of funk music. What was initially different about funk music of the late 60s and early 70s was that it was in part a joyful expression of the gains made thanks to the civil rights movement.

One could see that play out with blues, jazz, R&B, and rock 'n roll. That expression inevitably is initially demonized by the dominant culture before it is accepted, assimilated and made popular, often at the expense of the form's originators.

This is when a marginalized culture, but in particular African-American culture, creates a new form of aesthetic expression. It wasn't even a new idea in African-American culture, but rather a continuation of what writer Leroi Jones calls 'assimilation-revitalization syndrome'. This was not a new idea Richard Wagner created the term Gesamtkunstwerk ('total work of art') to reflect the way that he thought operatic productions must fuse with music to expose greater cultural truths. In many respects, Piskor's theoretical and historical mouthpiece in the book is Fab Five Freddy, the influential graffiti artist who intuitively understood the connection between rapping, graffiti, fashion and breakdancing as part of a cultural whole and their overall vibrancy. Nowhere is that clearer than with the first volume of what promises to be a five volume history, Hip-Hop Family Tree (Fantagraphics). I've been following Ed Piskor's career for quite some time, and he's managed to turn his obsessions into his art.

Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1 by Ed Piskor