Review: Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City, by John Klaess

Book Review| March 01 2024 Review: Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City, by John Klaess John Klaess. Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2022. 232 pages. Anthony Kwame Harrison Anthony Kwame Harrison Virginia Tech Anthony Kwame Harrison is the Edward S. Diggs Professor in Humanities and Professor of Sociology, with a joint appointment in Africana Studies, at Virginia Tech. Kwame is author of Hip Hop Underground (Temple University Press, 2009). Email: email protected Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Email: email protected Journal of Popular Music Studies (2024) 36 (1): 153–155. https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2024.36.1.153 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures Review: Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City, by John Klaess. Journal of Popular Music Studies 1 March 2024; 36 (1): 153–155. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2024.36.1.153 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of Popular Music Studies Search Years ago, when I interviewed for a job at Amoeba Music's San Francisco store, a manager explained that one issue with people claiming musical expertise in hip hop is that they tend to know only about hip hop and no other genres. This might sound like a dubious mischaracterization since hip hop's musical compositions have historically been predicated on the knowledge and sampling of previously released songs. Where the genre's foundations may be rooted in soul and funk (e.g. James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic), many of its most celebrated beat makers have broken boundaries with regard to source material, techniques, and imagination. Nevertheless, over a lifetime of movement in and out of hip-hop corridors, I have witnessed a level of truth to the store manager's claim and, at times, would even count myself among the (semi-)siloed. It is with this paradox in mind that I consider the expansive contributions of... You do not currently have access to this content.