Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree Comic

[TheBigSleep]

Anybody else checkin' out this series? If so, what do you think and if not I made it easy for ya to get caught up:

http://www.thetroyblog.com/2013/03/28/r ... mily-tree/



Even if you aren't into comics, I still recommend it. He's tellin' the history from the beginning and is gonna be goin' up through at least the mid-nineties.

[TheBigSleep]

You guys are seriously missin' out. This was basically made for hip hop nerds like the ones here, even Biz Markie is a fan. Here's the first one to get you started:

http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/brain- ... -tree.html

Find out more and grab all sixty of 'em (that are out so far) over at the T.R.O.Y. Blog. They're a quick and fun read, regardless of whether you know the stories already or not.

[aleph]

This was inevitable. I'll be checkin for em. There was a UK monthly (I wanna say in the late 90s) that had a comic strip every issue recalling certain legends like Scott La Rock's murder or the day Crazy Legs was accepted into Zulu Nation, anyone catch that? iirc the artist/writer was a DJ

[HeRBaN LyRiX]

This is awesome, I`m definitely DiGG`n it! Thanks for sharing y`all!!!







1

[ecwclown]

This is incredible. Thanks for sharing it. I wish it was available in print, I'd snap them all up.

[fortuna]

Great stuff!!

[TheBigSleep]

Thanks for checkin' it everybody. Glad everyone is enjoying it, thought y'all would.

This was inevitable. I'll be checkin' for 'em. There was a UK monthly (I wanna say in the late '90s) that had a comic strip every issue recalling certain legends like Scott La Rock's murder or the day Crazy Legs was accepted into Zulu Nation, anyone catch that?

Yeah we've come a long way since Vibe (from Justice League of America), Rappin' Max Robot and The Wolfpack.

Don't think I know that one but I'd be interested in hearing more if anybody knows the name or anything else about it.

I wish it was available in print, I'd snap them all up.

First volume is dropping by the end of the year. Preorder is available now.

061 - Afrika Bambaataa Planet Rock



http://boingboing.net/2013/04/02/brain- ... ee-53.html

[Reggie]

This is awesome. Print book has been pre-ordered.

[fortuna]

Thanks for checkin' it everybody. Glad everyone is enjoying it, thought y'all would.



http://boingboing.net/2013/04/02/brain- ... ee-53.html

That's incredible!

[TheBigSleep]

This is awesome. Print book has been pre-ordered.

Not sure if it's worth to people to cancel preorders and regrab them from somewhere else but Amazon has 'em for closer to fifteen dollars than twenty five, so you can save yourself ten bucks by goin' here instead of straight from the Fantagraphics site.

It really is half entertainment, half history book. Dude is saying this could potentially be his life work and that he'll still release them all for free online even if his book deal goes through and he's not being paid. I hope he does sell a bunch of copies though because I definitely want there to be more physical volumes.

Right now he's signed up for at least a five book deal as long as he sells the bare minimum he needs to for the publishers, which it sounds like he will. If he goes through with a volume a year and gets what he wants there may be upwards of ten books at the end of a decade of work.

That's incredible!

Yeah he says it's his favorite panel to date. Based off the old X-Men cover:



I don't think this one will make the cut off for the first book, it'll probably just be the first fifty two of them if he's really sticking to the one year equals one volume format. So the first year's worth of comics would compile everything from the mid seventies up to the beginning of the eighties.

By the way the picture you see on sites is not the actual cover. The final artwork will look something like this:



Here's somethin' from the author bio page:



And some pin-ups / burners (featuring other artists guesting various portraits):









And if anybody on Spotify wants to listen along, someone made a free playlist of the songs that occur in the series here.

[TheBigSleep]

I just watched a lecture called Hip Hop & Comics: Cultures Combining that had DMC, Jean Grae and Pete Rock, among others, talking about this subject. DMC talked about making a Run-DMC comic (and I know there's been one with GZA that also had Ol' Dirty Bastard and RZA that apparently got shelved), which had me thinking about hip hop artists and / or groups who have released and / or starred in their own comics. The list includes:

De La Soul, DJ Green Lantern & Styles P, Eminem, Felt, 50 Cent, Ghostface Killah, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Joint Chiefs (Fabolous, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, T.I., Trick Daddy & Twista), Kid Koala, Kid 'N Play, KRS-One, MC Hammer, Method Man, MF DOOM (as Madvillain), MF Grimm, 9th Wonder & David Banner, N.W.A., Onyx, Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, Vanilla Ice and Wu-Tang Clan.

I'm sure I'm missing some though, can anybody think of any others?

062 - Whodini, Magic's Wand



http://boingboing.net/2013/04/16/brain- ... ee-54.html

[Verge]

thanks for the heads up TBS, these are so dope, gonna have to get the pre-order on.

[TheBigSleep]

For sure man, I thought you'd be one of the ones who'd like it. In fact I haven't heard of anyone yet who has taken the time to check 'em out and then wasn't a fan.

Preorder update: Those who already got their preorder in at Amazon will still get it for fifteen bucks and change, those who haven't, it's up to just over sixteen now.

You can (still grab one from the Fantagraphics website for twenty five or you can) now get a copy from the author himself by sending thirty five through Paypal as a gift to wimpyrutherford@gmail.com (which I think includes shipping but don't quote me on that) and you'll get the first volume signed, plus an illustration of the MC of your choice.

Here's the updated cover with quotes from Bill Adler (director of publicity at Def Jam), Biz Markie and Fab Five Freddy:



And here's a pin-up that'll be included in volume two, Debbie Harry by Katie Skelly:



063 - Jonzun Crew and Beyond



http://boingboing.net/2013/04/23/brain- ... ee-55.html

[kartman]

i'm not pre-ordering yet for two reasons:
a. the release date is in october, i mean it's a long way till then, plus if there are any delays i'll be really pissed off
b. i hope it gets a deluxe treatment. you know, with a cd/vinyl or t-shirt, a poster etc and if it goes for a fair price maybe i'll grab a bundle

[TheBigSleep]

I think it'll probably drop in or around October, definitely before the end of the year. The original idea was to get it out in the fall, sometime before the holidays.

And not to try to persuade you or anyone to do anything but if you preorder with Amazon and then the price goes up you'll still get it for the price you ordered it at and they're not gonna bill you 'til it ships. Plus you can cancel the preorder any time before that so there isn't a real reason not to do that, if only for a fall back option that you can opt out of later if you want.

From what I've read I doubt there is gonna be any sort of deluxe version other than the autographed and signed copy from Ed Piskor himself. He just told someone that there won't be a deluxe hardcover version. Agree that that would be cool though.

Here's another burner for volume two, Rock Steady Crew by Wilfred Santiago:



Another one off from Ed, Flash standing under a lamppost:



064 - Russell Simmons Slowly Builds His Empire



http://boingboing.net/2013/04/30/brain- ... ee-56.html

[kartman]

i see what you're saying big sleep, but the guys from amazon.com don't ship to Greece, i've tried to order stuff many times but i had no chance
(i'm talking about the official amazon store)
so i have to wait till there are some options...

[TheBigSleep]

Yeah I thought that might be the reason. I'm sure Fantagraphics has the same sort of thing going though. And if you're gonna do that you might as well get it directly from the artist himself and get it signed, plus a drawing for an extra ten bucks. Pretty sure those are your options and I'm thinkin' that's as deluxe as it gets. Hope I'm wrong though.

KMD drawing Ed did for some magazine last year:



Another burner from the book, Beastie Boys by Jeffrey Brown:



065 - The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five



http://boingboing.net/2013/05/07/brain- ... ee-57.html

[kartman]

just checked Fantagraphics, there is a shipping option for Greece but i need to register first and then i'll know how much is the shipping cost
i'm too lazy to register a.t.m., it's 3:15 at night here after all :P

if you got any info on that directly-from-the-artist order with the drawing and stuff, please let me know, thanks in advance!
edit: all right, i just saw the paypal email address above, thanks again!

[TheBigSleep]

Yeah if you want you can ask him (either on Twitter or) in the notes section of PayPal if there's anything more deluxe planned but I'm guessing he'd have announced it by now.

[Verge]

KMD drawing Ed did for some magazine last year:

i know im partial, being a doom fan, but this is real dope.

[Architek]

I'm the exact opposite of a Doom fan, i don't even know if those lines are lyrics (off "Who Me" probably?), and it's still really dope. The only awkward moment is the website ad on the gravestone..

Thank you Big Sleep for introducing me to this series, in my book handmade drawings are unfuckwitable - not to mention the archival importance of this particular effort. I'd love to hold these in my hands one day, i'm hoping for more issues to come (covering the 90's too) but obviously such a thing would take years to happen.

[TheBigSleep]

Hopefully everybody that wants a copy can get one before the end of the year. Dude says he thinks this could be his life work and he wants to go up to at least the mid-nineties, but yeah, it'll be a while before he gets there.

Just read that Kurtis Blow and Thomas Dolby are also fans of what he's doing, which is cool, that people depicted approve.

Front inside cover endpapers for the first volume:



066 - Compton, Lonzo Williams and the Wreckin' Cru



http://boingboing.net/2013/05/21/brain- ... ee-58.html

[TheBigSleep]

Looks like Lonzo Williams was cool with the last one.

Here's an updated (but not completely up to date) family tree chart:

http://www.bigtrendy.com/temp/hipHopFam ... FT_v3.html

Back inside cover endpapers for the first volume:



067 - Ice T's First Record and Uncle Jamm's Army



http://boingboing.net/2013/05/28/brain- ... ee-59.html

[TheBigSleep]

068 - Dr. Dre



http://boingboing.net/2013/06/04/brain- ... ee-60.html

[TheBigSleep]

The first volume is goin' to print now, so everything is on schedule and should hopefully be ready on time. And he's already fifty pages into volume two.









069 - Chuck D and Spectrum City



http://boingboing.net/2013/06/18/brain- ... ee-61.html

[TheBigSleep]

070 - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Break Up



http://boingboing.net/2013/06/25/brain- ... ee-62.html

[TheBigSleep]

071 - Proto-Run DMC



http://boingboing.net/2013/07/02/brain- ... ee-63.html

[Verge]

so dope

[TheBigSleep]

072 - Downtown 81 and Some Hits of 1982



http://boingboing.net/2013/07/09/brain- ... ee-64.html

[TheBigSleep]

073 - The Death of Junebug, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl



http://boingboing.net/2013/07/16/brain- ... ee-65.html