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From Boom Bap to Trap was successfully funded on Kickstarter, raising over $28,000 for the project.
The Kickstarter project was featured on Vibe, Hypebeast, Weekly Rap Gods, The Vinyl Factory, DJ Magazine, and more. Additional press inquiries came in after the conclusion of the campaign. This early exposure provides a foundation, and a story, for press around the title's release.
Hip-hop producers have never had a book dedicated to them, and the closest comp is
The Rap Yearbook (9781419718182), which sold over 120,000 copies.
About the author
Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Riley Wallace started his career as a musical artist—emerging from the rubble of MySpace with a big enough fan base to earn early viral success and a major-label deal. He later left the industry, which was (sonically) in a precarious state at the time, in search of a new outlet for self-expression, namely writing professionally. Beginning at the end of the infamous blog era, he built a thriving platform—Above Average Hip Hop—and then parlayed his success into a contributing role with XXL magazine, and later HipHopDX and Exclaim! (Canada’s oldest print-based music publication).
Summary
There has never been a hip-hop book like this. Written and illustrated by noted hip-hop journalist Riley Wallace, From Boom Bap to Trap: Hip-Hop’s Greatest Producers is a groundbreaking compendium that not only digs deep into the stories and catalogs of icons like Pete Rock, RZA, Dr. Dre, and DJ Premier, but also features highly influential beatmakers who have been slept on—sometimes criminally (Easy Mo Bee, Daz, Paul C, and Johnny “J,” for example.)
Until now hip-hop heads have been forced to navigate a sea of wiki entries, incomplete bios, and confusing credits (or none at all), which has caused some mind-melting tracks to be underappreciated or completely undiscovered. No more.
This book contains superb bios, brilliant lists of critical beats, punchy liner notes, and stunning artwork that finally do justice to the artists who have given hip-hop its backbone from the early ’90s to the present day.
Ultimately, From Boom Bap to Trap is a nostalgia bomb, a conversation piece, a must-own work of art for real heads made by a real head. Lovingly curated, it’s an essential resource that will satisfy the hunger of both new fans and hard-core hip-hop junkies for years to come.
