The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop is a book by
Dan Charnas
Daniel Louis Charnas (born August 30, 1967) is an American author, radio host and record company executive. He is considered to have played a role in the creation of hip-hop journalism.
A native of New York City, Charnas graduated with honors f ...
chronicling the business history of the
hip hop industry.
Reception
The book was generally well-received. ''
The Village Voice'' described it as "epic."
Evelyn McDonnell
Evelyn McDonnell is an American writer and academic. Writing primarily about popular culture, music, and society, she "helped to forge a new kind of feminism for her generation." She is associate professor of journalism and new media at Loyola Ma ...
of the ''
Los Angeles Times'' named it a "must-read...character-driven narrative" for anyone interested in "the music business or hip-hop."
Dan Charnas revealed that his research for ''The Big Payback'' included interviewing "over 300 people: record executives, entrepreneurs, artists, managers, producers, DJs, journalists," research which McDonnell praised as "meticulous." She also wrote that the book has a "fine sense of both the macro and the micro," calling out in particular how it highlighted the "intertwining of commerce and art." However, McDonnell also wrote that despite its "ambitious scope," the book was "not always balanced...largely ignoring Atlanta, Houston, Miami, etc." while focusing on hip-hop mostly from an East and West Coast perspective.
''
Publishers Weekly'' called the book a "stylish, lavishly detailed love letter to the genre and the industry," and praised it for its "nuanced treatment of the impresarios behind signature sounds."
Notes
* Charnas, D. (2011). ''The big payback: The history of the business of hip-hopN''. Penguin.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Payback (book)
2011 non-fiction books
Business books
New American Library books