Language English Pages 176 pp Originally published 2009 Genre Non-fiction Subject Hip hop | Publication date 2009 ISBN 978-0-19-533406-7 Publisher Oxford University Press Country United States of America | |
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Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York is a book by Joseph G. Schloss which looks at b-boying and the culture surrounding it. It features excerpts from interviews the author did with major figures in the b-boying world such as Ken Swift of Rock Steady Crew, Alien Ness, and Trac 2.
The author, hip-hop scholar Joseph Schloss (whose previous work on hip-hop won the International Association for the Study of Popular Music’s 2005 book award), attended every b-boy event in New York City for five years, learning b-boying as he researched the book.
The book also makes arguments against other hip-hop non-fiction books, mainly saying they do not engage the actual hip-hop/b-boy communities enough when doing scholarship of this kind.
Reception
The Boston Globe calls it "the best work ever produced on b-boying, and one of the finest books yet to emerge from the swiftly proliferating ranks of hip-hop scholarship". It has also received positive reviews from Liberator Magazine and Jeff Chang.