Hip Hop Family Tree - Vol 1Review by Jon Evans
This first paragraph is where I confirm my credentials for writing this review. I am a middle class white man, living in the south of England with two children, a cat and a sensible car. Nevertheless, I have been a huge Hip Hop and Rap fan since the early days of Run DMC, Public Enemy, De La Soul and the Beastie Boys. I’ve been lucky enough to see several of these bands live in my time, The Beastie Boys were mental, bouncing around on stage like electrified monkeys but I was utterly transfixed all the same. Public Enemy got 40,000 people, including myself, to jump up and down and shout 'Peace!' in adoring fervour at the Reading festival, and their music and others created a passion in me for the verbal twists and turns of Hip Hop and to seek out and consume all the varied spin-off music inspired by these great powerful poets; from the Trip Hop of Massive Attack and Portishead to the mellifluous vibrant tones of Nightmares on Wax (they know how to gig, with a big phat Sofa on stage that they sat on and sang from), to the evolution of drum and bass where I used to follow Grooverider around to all his gigs when I lived in the North of England. I have salacious memories of blasting out all the most offensive lyrics of NWA's ’Straight Outta Compton' at my posh boarding school where I was forced to live my formative years, just to piss off my Latin teacher in the floor below. I’m pretty sure my love of electronica has also stemmed from this and I do genuinely thank Hip Hop for all that has done to add to my aural culture.
Ed Piskor has comic book ink running through his veins, with an amazing CV of cult comics under his belt. He illustrated for Harvey Pekar in American Splendour Comics, producing two graphic Novels, the Beats and Macedonia, with Pekar. He has also produced Wizzywig, a comic about hacking and Phone Phreaking (a favourite past time of Steve Jobs before he built computers) and he has designed characters for the Adult Swim Series, Mongo Wrestling Alliance. The Hip Hop Family tree is a dedicated work of passion by a Hip Hop obsessive. This is a genunie (pronounced jen-you-wine) historical record for the Hip Hop culture. Piskor has collated anecdotal and historical evidence of all the greats of the Hip Hop industry from the early days of one DJ Kool Herc on his decks experimenting by looping 'breaks' of his favourite tracks and liking what he heard to Fab Five Freddy appearing in Blondie’s Video of ‘Rapture’ which essentially broke Hip Hop out of the streets and clubs and onto the MTV generation. The Comic has been (and still is) serialised on Boing Boing in the traditional style of pithy newspaper comic shorts, and this collection takes all those, and put them into a gorgeous volume for your delectation. |
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The presentation of the comic is perfect. Presented on a faux-authentic stock meant to resemble the style and feel of design of 70's and 80’s era publishing. It’s what you would expect if a graffiti artist from the south Bronx would produce if asked to put spray can to paper. Piskor is fond of sampling retro comics, reminiscent of Hip Hop sampling, to give the weathered, faded appearance of the early prints of those days and this process has produced a piece of art that feels right (heck Ed has even said some of his readers can smell the age of his comics, which he finds hilarious). The portrayal of the hip Hop artists in his comic shows love and respect for the people without overt caricature, but still hits the spot perfectly in terms of recognition. This is not some sarcastic, joke-ridden parody like the old 'Bluffer’s Guides…’ I used to read in the New Musical Express, but a celebration of musical culture with all its interweaving relationships and plots. Piskor is often asked if his research is overwhelming, but he maintains that as Hip Hop actually occupies quite a small area, historically, with plenty of easily found links and interactions it lets his story flow. He’s actually signed up for 6 volumes and hopes to chart the Family Tree all the way up to 1987.
Despite my love for the musical oeuvre, I still found massive gaps in my knowledge, and for a Hip Hop Fan, what is really interesting about this comic is how the genre started and how it developed and spread over quite a small time period. Originally a cottage industry among a small group of enthusiasts on the street, it was a mixture of gang culture, genuine musical talent, the desire to make a buck and proper old school love for the music-form that was evolving that made Hip Hop the musical monolith it is today. There were some genuine geniuses on the streets, with an amazing capacity to generate lyrics on the fly wrapped up in a exquisitely cool culture. The Hip Hop family tree encapsulates this so well. It’s a whirlwind tour and Piskor sets quite a pace, which can be bewildering at times, but there are plenty of musical hooks to latch onto as you work your way through. In fact, I started making a Spotify playlist (see above) of some of the tracks that Piskor references while reading and drenched myself in the music. A smile came to my face as I listened to the Funky Four Plus One MC-ing and reaching the panel with their lyrical introductions matching the dialogue in the comic to the track I was listening. Awesome.
Towards the end of the comic, as I began to recognise more and more of the musicians who were part of my childhood, I felt like I’d lived through Hip Hop with them. The trials and tribulations of lyrics being plagiarised by rival artists, the one-upmanship of making bigger and better speakers to phreak out the punters in the Hip Hop clubs, the ever-growing wealth and manipulation of Slyvia Robinson at Sugar Hill Records and the bemusement of Grand Master Flash having his name put on records he had no musical involvement with just to cash in on his name, all painted a picture of the industry I had never seen before. Believe me, this is the Hip Hop bible for purists, with every spare millimetre shining in authentic Hip Hop Kool. Best still is Piskor’s dedication, “This is Dedicated to the #!££@$ that was down from day one.” Buy it now. Word.
Despite my love for the musical oeuvre, I still found massive gaps in my knowledge, and for a Hip Hop Fan, what is really interesting about this comic is how the genre started and how it developed and spread over quite a small time period. Originally a cottage industry among a small group of enthusiasts on the street, it was a mixture of gang culture, genuine musical talent, the desire to make a buck and proper old school love for the music-form that was evolving that made Hip Hop the musical monolith it is today. There were some genuine geniuses on the streets, with an amazing capacity to generate lyrics on the fly wrapped up in a exquisitely cool culture. The Hip Hop family tree encapsulates this so well. It’s a whirlwind tour and Piskor sets quite a pace, which can be bewildering at times, but there are plenty of musical hooks to latch onto as you work your way through. In fact, I started making a Spotify playlist (see above) of some of the tracks that Piskor references while reading and drenched myself in the music. A smile came to my face as I listened to the Funky Four Plus One MC-ing and reaching the panel with their lyrical introductions matching the dialogue in the comic to the track I was listening. Awesome.
Towards the end of the comic, as I began to recognise more and more of the musicians who were part of my childhood, I felt like I’d lived through Hip Hop with them. The trials and tribulations of lyrics being plagiarised by rival artists, the one-upmanship of making bigger and better speakers to phreak out the punters in the Hip Hop clubs, the ever-growing wealth and manipulation of Slyvia Robinson at Sugar Hill Records and the bemusement of Grand Master Flash having his name put on records he had no musical involvement with just to cash in on his name, all painted a picture of the industry I had never seen before. Believe me, this is the Hip Hop bible for purists, with every spare millimetre shining in authentic Hip Hop Kool. Best still is Piskor’s dedication, “This is Dedicated to the #!££@$ that was down from day one.” Buy it now. Word.
Issue Rating - 5/5
This issue is available in print from Fantagraphics Books and in Digital form from Comixology
