19 Jul / Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Young Adult Edition): A Hip-Hop History by Jeff Chang and Dave “Davey D” Cook [in School Library Journal]
Over a decade and a half after its 2005 publication, the young readers edition of historian/journalist/music critic Jeff Chang’s seminal Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation seems almost overdue. The enhanced collaboration with historian/journalist/professor Dave “Davey D” Cook adds new generations of makers and shakers, resulting in an enlightening, entertaining, sobering masterpiece. Covering over a half-century of history from the 1960s through the COVID-19 pandemic, Chang and Cook provide a stunning political, socioeconomic, musical melding.
The audiobook, unfortunately, is disheartening. The duo alternates voicing the four “Loops,” with Chang’s steady gravitas making him the stronger narrator. Cook’s passionate delivery occasionally hampers his enunciation; mispronunciations (“Sa-I-Gu,” for example) loom. The most egregious blunders belong to the production team, with countless jarring insertions reminiscent of spotty cell connections. And why awkwardly embed just phrases – “with its redbrick buildings,” “from San Fernando Valley” – instead of re-recording full sentences?
Verdict: For sound purists, choose the page.
From the introduction: All the titles here are nonfiction; most feature difficult subjects including history, climate change, systemic racism. Some might ask, why expose younger readers to challenging, unpleasant, haunting truths? One of the featured writers, Hilary Beard, provides the consummate answer back in her introduction to The Burning:
“…the fact that something is upsetting to us doesn’t mean that we should not engage it. Facing the truth empowers us to understand our self, our neighbors, and our world more accurately; to make appropriate choices and decisions; to heal the past and present and build a more promising future. Together.”
Readers: Young Adult
Published: 2021