Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies
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Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Villard (June 12, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812977750

By Brian Coleman

Hip-hop fans, mark your calendars for the June 12, 2007 release of Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies (Random House / Villard), by veteran music journalist Brian Coleman.

Presenting never-before-told, behind-the-scenes histories ranging from influential ‘80s masterpieces De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising and Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back to ‘90s classics like the Fugees’ The Score and the Beastie Boys’ Check Your Head, the book’s approach is one that Coleman calls Invisible Liner Notes – retracing the story of an album step by step, in collaboration with the artists themselves. Weighing in at over 500 pages, the 36-chapter book includes lively, in-depth, provocative interviews with 75 artists, DJs, producers and industry insiders. [See below for full chapter list]

As Coleman explains, “My goal with Check the Technique is to let people eavesdrop on some amazing conversations I’ve had with hip-hop legends over the years. To me, the most important thing about the book is that the facts, stories and opinions come from the artists themselves. Hip-hop artists have a certain image on video screens and in press-junket interviews, but Check the Technique does its best to strip all of that away and talk to these innovators as people, with respect and fan-fueled curiosity. My hope is that readers will walk away feeling that it was one of the most entertaining music guidebooks they’ve ever read.”

Coleman’s self-published 2005 book, Rakim Told Me: Hip-Hop Wax Facts, Straight from the Original Artists,received worldwide praise from press, artists, industry insiders and around-the-way rap fans alike. “This is the hip-hop book of 2005” – Paine, AllHipHop.com. “Rock historiography is full of lore about the making of canonical albums, but there hasn’t been much like that for the rap world – until now.” – Michaelangelo Matos, VillageVoice.com. “Ounce for ounce, Rakim Told Me is one of the most intimate glances at the magic behind hip-hop that I’ve ever experienced.” – Chris Faraone, Weekly Dig. “If you like reading about hip-hop as much as you like listening to it, there are few better literary companions to the music.” – Spine Magazine (UK)