Jelani Cobb’s To The Break Of Dawn

A New Book On Hip Hop…Unlike Anything You’ve Read To Date!

Peep What People Are Saying About Jelani Cobb’s Latest Book:

To The Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic

 

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“To the Break of Dawn” dissects the evolution of hip hop lyricism from its most primitive beginnings to its current manifestation as a global phenomenon. Author Jelani Cobb examines issues of race, geography, genre and bravado in this overview of hip hop’s lyrical art. Covering words from B.I.G., Cube, Obie Trice and Pimp C, Cobb offers an intellectual and up-to-date report on hip hop’s most powerful element.”
—The Source Magazine

“With poetic passion and surgical precision, William Jelani Cobb’s engaging exploration of the hip hop aesthetic lovingly demonstrates that, when it comes to beats and rhymes, the beauty of the (bass) god resides in the details.”
—Joan Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost

“Finally, a hip hop study that captures the verve and swagger that marked the work of our critical forebears Albert Murray and Amiri Baraka. In his brilliant new tome, William Jelani Cobb bridges the gap between the majesty of the blues and the gully regality of hip hop.”
—Mark Anthony Neal, author of New Black Man

“To the Break of Dawn tells the serious story of hip hop’s artistic roots, and in the process revels in the great MCs who stand at the crossroads of music and literature. In a crowded field of hip hop scholars, pundits, and journalists, To the Break of Dawn puts William Jelani Cobb way out in front.”
—Ta-Nehisi Coates

“On literally every page he displays a tremendous command of language and history. . . . This groundbreaking work is an artfully constructed and vividly written look. . . . Brilliantly displays how hip-hop has its own aesthetic. . . . Much of the book’s pleasure also comes from Cobb’s ability to ‘freestyle’ serious and humorous insights.”
—Publishers Weekly

Who Is Jelani Cobb?
William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of History at Spelman College. He specializes in post-Civil War African American history, 20th century Amebrican politics and the history of the Cold War. He is also a critic, essayist and fiction writer whose writings on politics, the African Diaspora and contemporary African American culture have appeared in a number of national outlets. His column “Past Imperfect” appears regularly on AOL BlackVoices.