Music & Movies

Learn the story behind the song performed by Andra Day in United States vs. Billie Holiday now on Hulu Recorded by jazz legend Billie Holiday in 1939, "Strange Fruit" is considered the first significant song of the Civil Rights movement and the first...

Covering six decades of performers - from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to John Coltrane and Miles Davis - this collection is as much a comprehensive catalogue of jazz greats as it is a salute to the photographers who captured them - Herman Leonard,...

Notes and Tones is one of the most controversial, honest, and insightful books ever written about jazz. It consists of twenty-nine no-holds-barred conversations which drummer Arthur Taylor held with the most influential jazz musicians of the '60s and...

Straight from the old-school streets of NYC at the dawn of the hip-hop scene comes Back in the Days Coloring Book. Here is your chance to redraw the birth of old-school hip-hop fashion: hangin' in Harlem, kickin' it in Queens, and cold chillin' in...

An illustrated highlight reel of more than 100 women in rap who have helped shape the genre and eschewed gender norms in the process The Motherlode highlights more than 100 women who have shaped the power, scope, and reach of rap music, including...

Prince was a musical genius, one of the most beloved, accomplished, and acclaimed musicians of our time. He was a startlingly original visionary with an imagination deep enough to whip up whole worlds, from the sexy, gritty funk paradise of "Uptown" to...

Part tell-all, part cautionary tale, this emotionally charged memoir from a former video vixen nicknamed 'Superhead' goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip-hop dancer industry--from the physical and emotional abuse...

With iconic imagery and engrossing text, Black TV is the first book of its kind to celebrate the groundbreaking, influential, and often under-appreciated shows centered on Black people and their experiences from the last fifty years. Over the past...

Tracing the steps taken by the author on his musical journey, So You Want to Learn to Improvise? offers teachers and students a step-by-step guide to acquiring the skills needed to improvise at the piano. The book is deliberately stylistically...

Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century. He wasn't known to mainstream audiences, even though...

Book 4 charts the rise of Dr. Dre and Def Jam records, and introduces new branches on the tree: Will Smith, Salt-N-Pepa, Rakim, and Biz Markie. This volume is also jam-packed with films Hollywood released in an attempt to cash in on the phenomenon, like...

From funny and fearless entertainment journalist Sesali Bowen, Bad Fat Black Girl combines rule-breaking feminist theory, witty and insightful personal memoir, and cutting cultural analysis for an unforgettable, genre-defining debut.Growing up on the...

From the photographer behind the Instagram sensation Brown Girls Do Ballet, this stunning coffee-table book showcases breathtaking images of ballerinas of color of all ages and levels that reflect today's beautifully diverse world of dance. For decades...

The triumphant story of how an all-Black Broadway cast and crew changed musical theatre--and the world--forever. This musical introduced Black excellence to the Great White Way. Broadway was forever changed and we, who stand on the shoulders of our...

The Cover Art of Blue Note Records is Graham Marsh and Glyn Callingham's classic collection of the finest record sleeves produced by the celebrated Blue Note record label. This new edition is the complete compilation of the original volumes published...

A stunningly illustrated oracle deck featuring 52 of hip-hop's most influential queens (from Lauryn Hill to Megan Thee Stallion) serving as compass points for spiritual growth and portals to guidance and meditation--from the author of God Save the...