Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ

It's all about the scratch in Groove Music, award-winning music historian Mark Katz's groundbreaking book about the figure that defined hip-hop: the D.J. . Today hip-hop is a global phenomenon, and the sight and sound of D.J.s mixing and scratching is familiar in every corner of the world. But hip-hop was born in the streets of New York in the 1970s when a handful of teenagers started experimenting with spinning vinyl records on turntables in new ways. Although rapping has become the face of hip-hop, for nearly 40 years the D.J. has proven the backbone of the culture. In Groove Music, Katz (an amateur D.J. himself) delves into the fascinating world of the D.J., tracing the art of the turntable from its humble beginnings in the Bronx in the 1970s to its meteoric rise to global phenomenon today. Based on extensive interviews with practicing D.J.s, historical research, and his own personal experience, Katz presents a history of hip-hop from the point of view of the people who invented the genre. Here, D.J.s step up to discuss a wide range of topics, including the transformation of the turntable from a playback device to an instrument in its own right, the highly charged competitive D.J. battles, the game-changing introduction of digital technology, and the complex politics of race and gender in the D.J. scene. Exhaustively researched and written with all the verve and energy of hip-hop itself, Groove Music will delight experienced and aspiring D.J.s, hip-hop fans, and all students or scholars of popular music and culture.

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