''Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York'' is a book by Joseph G. Schloss which looks at
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
ing and the culture surrounding it. It features excerpts from interviews the author did with major figures in the
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
ing world such as
Ken Swift of
Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song "(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...
, Alien Ness, and Trac 2.
[ ]
Joseph Schloss is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Black and Latino Studies and Sociology at
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pr ...
and who also lecturers at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...
. Schloss attended every
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
event in New York City for five years, learning
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
ing as he researched the book.
The book makes arguments against other hip-hop non-fiction books, mainly saying they do not engage the actual
hip-hop/
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
communities enough when doing scholarship of this kind.
Reception
The
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
calls it "the best work ever produced on
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
ing, 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.
Notes
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foundation (B-Boy Book)
Hip hop books