I truly cannot think of anyone better as a guide to 50 years of Hip-Hop than Questlove. He provides not only an incredibly detailed history of the genre, but also makes it personal to him and his relationship to Hip-Hop. Among many of the incredible anecdotes, one of my favorites was that Questlove found J. Cole’s iPhone in 2013 in the parking lot of a gas station across from a McDonald’s in Montauk. He tells the history in 5 year cycles spanning the very beginning in the 70's up through 2023. His thesis throughout is that "history is about cycles - ideas are born, run their course, and die or give way to afterlife."

Even though I would consider myself more of a casual fan, I learned so much and this book has made me want to start delving back into the beginnings and everything that I have missed in between. I highly recommend for anyone with an interest in the genre, you will end up learning so much and coming out with a new appreciation for Hip-Hop and Questlove. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the advanced copy.