LL Cool J Presents The Streets Win

Authored by Hip-Hop legend LL COOL J with Vikki Tobak and Alec Banks, this momentous volume celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the influential culture, sound, and preeminent voices of American Hip-Hop music.

LL COOL J Presents The Streets Win commemorates the birth, rise, and progression of Hip-Hop’s culture and its indisputable impact on American music over the past fifty years. LL COOL J presents the journey of this music genre through rarely seen photographs of Hip-Hop from its inception, from block party performances to street shots, parties, sessions at recording studios, and more. The imagery is accompanied by first-person recollections from Hip-Hop’s MCs, B-Boys, graffiti artists, and DJs who share how they fell in love with Hip-Hop, broke into the business, their artistic and personal style inspiration, and their views on Hip-Hop’s culture and music. Stories are told by icons DJ Kool Herc, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, KRS-One, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Grandmaster Flash, Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Big Daddy Kane, Fat Joe, DJ Khaled and more.
Each page features a treasure trove of images by celebrated Hip-Hop photographers including Joe Conzo Jr., Ernie “Brother Ernie” Paniccioli, Jonathan Mannion, Janette Beckman, Estevan Oriol, Jamel Shabazz, Mike Miller, Clay Patrick McBride, and others who documented the growth; ephemera such as album covers, notebook drawings, and lyrics; party announcements; street scenes; clothing; and graffiti art. This definitive volume of the most important origin stories from the last fifty years of Hip-Hop is the perfect gift for music and photography fans.

Review

"A beautifully illustrated homage to 50 years of hip-hop in the words of the icons who were there at the beginning. Includes rarely seen images and recollections from Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy, Run-D.M.C., Mary J. Blige and more. Peep Ludacris as a cutie child on page 288." -- ASSOCIATED PRESS

"Celebrate half a century of a revolutionary musical movement with "The Streets Win: 50 Years of Hip-Hop Greatness," an LL COOL J joint that brings together stunning photography, illuminating artifacts and intimate testimonials from many of the people who took rap music from a Bronx block party to the world stage." -- THE NEW YORK TIMES

"And finally, equally as epic is LL Cool J Presents: The Streets Win, 50 Years of Hip-Hop Greatness, a photographic encyclopedia of the art form and the legends who birthed it, like DJ Kool Herc, to today's titans, like Jay-Z." --Neil Patrick Harris, WONDERCADE

"For the culture! On the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop, rap statesman and entertainer LL COOL J adds to the celebration with this book that traces the journey of the genre that shaped music, fashion and culture. It's filled with icon stories from all the greats, as well as photos from back-in-the-day block parties, street scenes, album covers, graffiti art and music videos." --MANSION GLOBAL

About the Author

LL COOL J is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy Award-winning Hip-Hop icon, Kennedy Center Honoree, actor, New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, founder and CEO of Rock The Bells. Vikki Tobak is an author, journalist, and curator of music photography and contemporary culture. Alec Banks is a journalist and the editorial director of Rock the Bells.