The Latest And Greatest Books To Read Before Summer’s End

Josh Rosenberg | August 3, 2016 3:15 pm

Wishing you got to read a good book this Summer? With the heat looking like it’s around to stay, there’s still time to head to the beach with a good read and some sun. Here’s a list of some great new releases from your favorite artists and stories of music’s past to get you going.

1. Kanye West Owes Me $300: And Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made It Big by Jensen Karp

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Jensen Karp, a.k.a. “Hot Karl” was almost music’s next big battle rapper. After Vanilla Ice but before Eminem, Karp had a failed million-dollar recording and publishing deal with Interscope Records when he was only 19, hoping to be the next big white rapper but never succeeding. In his memoir, Karp discusses what it was like trying to be a white rapper, shares stories about how Kanye West still owes him money, and explains why his debut record never saw the light of day.

2. My Voice: A Memoir – Angie Martinez (with a foreward by J. Cole)

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Angie Martinez, Hot 97 and Power 105.1 radio host legend, discusses her rise to fame and the most important conversations of her career in her New York radio memoir, My Voice. With a foreward from rising hip-hop artist J. Cole, My Voice showcases a universally recognized voice for the latino and hip-hop community.  

3. Emotional Rescue: Essays on Love, Loss, and Life — With a Soundtrack by Ben Greenman

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Co-Author of Mo’ Meta Blues, a memoir by ?uestlove, drummer of the legendary hip-hop group The Roots,  Ben Greenman compiles a series of essays to discover the answer to “what songs make up someone’s life soundtrack?” From artists such as Little Richard, Lou Reed, Led Zeppelin, Sly and the Family Stone, and the Rolling Stones, Greenman dives into how music affects us and has an impact on our lives.

4. SLASH: A Punk Magazine from Los Angeles by J.C. Gabel & Brian Roettinger

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The legendary punk and new wave alternative weekly magazine SLASH was founded in Los Angeles in 1977, publishing a total of 29 issues until 1980. Slash: A Punk Magazine From Los Angeles, pays homage to the magazine’s legacy with reproductions of every cover from the publication’s run and reprints of some of the magazine’s best articles and interviews.

5. Signifying Rappers by David Foster Wallace & Mark Costello

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David Foster Wallace, famous author of Infinite Jest and Consider the Lobster, grew up and went to college just like the rest of us. Living with his roommate Mark Costello in Cambridge in 1989, the two write about Boston’s hip-hop scene, Schooly D’s rise in Philly with his record Smoke Some Kill, and a shared love of musical discovery.

6. Born to Run by Bruce Sprinsteen

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“Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.” —Bruce Springsteen. From the very beginning to massive stadium shows today, Born to Run is the autobiography of a singer, songwriter, and rock n’ roll legend, Bruce Springsteen.

7. Never a Dull Moment: 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth

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When David Hepworth was a music critic back in 1971, he was 21 years old, around the same age as most of the rock legend come-ups of the time. Looking at the lives of David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Paul McCartney, Never a Dull Moment pays homage to the crazy era of rock n’ roll at its peak.

8. Every Song Ever: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty by Ben Ratliff

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How do we listen to music differently in the digital age? With the ease of digital streaming and greater access to music than ever before, we can listen to nearly anything, at any time. In Every Song Ever, New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff discusses what the concept of “music appreciation” is in 2016.

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