Who Shot Ya

Nearly thirty years ago, Ernie Paniccioli, considered by many to be the James Van Der Zee of the hiphop generation, began photographing graffiti art throughout New York City as well as the young people creating it. Armed with a 35-millimeter camera, Paniccioli literally recorded the beginning salvos of hiphop, today the most dominant youth culture on the planet. Be it Grandmaster Flash at the Roxy, a summer block party in the Bronx, the fresh faces of Jay-Z and Will Smith, the cocksure personas of Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and Eminem, or the regal grace of Lauryn Hill, Ernie Paniccioli has been there to showcase hiphop’s emerging talent. With more than 200 photographs that have been culled from a vast archive, Who Shot Ya? is the first major pictorial history of hiphop culture.

Snitching is the new side hustle. Unfortunately for the Wests, the alphabet boys are always hiring: no experience is needed. After the melee on the Westside of Manhattan, the government is no longer playing fair. The FBI and DEA compete to ensnare the West organization into a trap blurring the boundaries of what's legal, moral, and ethical. And with the once tight-knit family bifurcated, their power weakened by dissension; the cartel mobilizes to finally end the Wests reign at the top. Meyer, not ready to put his temper on pause, has a lot of scores to settle. However, a significant blow to their empire has him handcuffed and wondering how to process his new normal. With the losses adding up and bodies piling up, will the West family realize that all they have is each other?

The lives of both Tupac Shakur (2pac) and Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.) are as similar as they are different paradoxically. And they will forever be intertwined especially, when both their stories will continue to be sold and told dually together throughout the rest of history and eternity. And they can only be described as the proverbial yin and yang to one another. They were both raised by strong black mothers. Tupac was raised by the very wise and intelligent Afeni Shakur, while Christopher (Biggie Smalls) was reared by the very loving and affectionate Violetta Wallace. Both of their mothers were intricate and central parts of their lives, upbringings, and musical careers. And Afeni and Voletta were both left behind to pick up the pieces of their son’s musical businesses, careers, as well as their legacies, after they were tragically murdered in the streets by their assailants. Afeni and Voletta are two more grieving mothers of young black men who were victims of high-profile murders that both have yet to be solved as closed cold cases, and also in the court of public opinion. 2Pac and Biggie Smalls both grew up in poverty situations. Biggie had it a little bit better being that his mother was well-educated, and she ending up becoming a school teacher. 2pac experienced a very different struggle growing up and being raised in the Black Panther community. Although they were poor Afeni and 2pac were both well-educated and highly intelligent beings. The music industry can turn best friends into enemies. Sadly, 2pac and Biggie didn't get the chance or opportunity to get things right between the two of them before both of their untimely deaths, destructions, and demises. Neither one of them had their fathers in their lives to teach them how to be men and settle their differences and opinions like gentlemen. BIG did have the chance and opportunity to experience fatherhood for himself and if he had some more time, I believe that him and Tupac would have eventually squashed their media-driven and musical industry differences. They are both hip-hop legends and they will both continue to inspire and influence the masses as well as the rap music industry, culture, future, and community. 2pac and Biggie Smalls both believed that they would suffer untimely deaths and demises at a very young age. And both of their predictions, projections, and prophetic intuitions ended up becoming a very tragic reality.

Filled with more than 250 images of artists including Ice Cube, The Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J, Naughty by Nature, Public Enemy, 50 Cent, N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, Lil' Kim, Flavor Flav, Lauren Hill, Queen Latifah, TLC, many that have never before been published, this book is set to become the new hip-hop photography bible With exclusive, behind-the-scenes access, preeminent photographer Brother Ernie captures the last four decades of the evolution of hip-hop--the styles that grew from it, and the artists who shaped it. Complete with Brother Ernie's personal anecdotes of time spent with subjects, and stories behind the photographs, Hip-Hop at the End of the World shares intimate moments from the most important era of hip-hop. After picking up a camera in the 1973 to document the graffiti art that dominated New York City, Ernest Paniccioli started his journey of whole-heartedly capturing the scene during the most fertile years of hip-hop. Always armed with a 35mm camera, he successfully photographed nearly every rapper of note since the genre's inception, making him the go-to photographer for magazines like Word Up and Rap Masters. Hip Hop at the End of the World is a carefully curated selection of photographs from Brother Ernie's extensive archives, celebrating over 40 years of swag in one of the most complete records of the most crucial movements in American music.

ASSATA's life has been a rollercoaster of bullets, blood, and heartbreaking losses. Somehow, he's managed to navigate the tragedies and remain solid to the core. But monumental trouble is on the horizon, and it will test what the man is truly made of. Will his principles remain intact? Or will he become an unprincipled animal who's willing to do anything to survive? Assata craves that which may cause him more trouble than it's worth. With his heart fixated on guilty pleasures, can he withstand the war he's about to face? His gangsta is unquestioned. But everyone in his inner circle isn't as loyal as they pretend to be. Assata is in a deadly race against time to find out who the serpent might be. In WHO SHOT YA 3, the snake will be exposed and the terror will reach it's zenith. Hold your breath!

The authorized biography of the legendary artist, Tupac Shakur, a “touching, empathetic portrait” (The New York Times) of his life and powerful legacy, fully illustrated with photos, mementos, handwritten poetry, musings, and more Artist, poet, actor, revolutionary, legend Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just twenty-five, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated, and influential figures in modern history. Drawing on exclusive access to Tupac’s private notebooks, letters, and uncensored conversations with those who loved and knew him best, this estate-authorized biography paints the fullest and most intimate picture to date of the young man who became a legend for generations to come. In Tupac Shakur, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson—who knew Tupac from their shared circle of high school friends in Marin City, California, and who was entrusted by his mother, Afeni Shakur, to share his story—unravels the myths and unpacks the complexities that have shadowed Tupac’s existence. Decades in the making, this book pulls back the curtain to reveal a powerful story of a life defined by politics and art—a man driven by equal parts brilliance and impulsiveness, steeped in the rich intellectual tradition of Black empowerment, and unafraid to utter raw truths about race in America. It is a story of a mother and son bound together by a love for each other and for their people, and the relationship that endured through their darkest times. It is a political story that begins in the whirlwind of the 1960s civil rights movement and unfolds through a young artist’s awakening to rage and purpose in the ’90s era of Rodney King. It is a story of dizzying success and its devastating consequences. And, of course, it is the story of Tupac’s music, his timeless, undying message as it continues to touch and inspire us today.

Reality first appeared in the late 1980s—in the sense not of real life but rather of the TV entertainment genre inaugurated by shows such as Cops and America’s Most Wanted; the daytime gabfests of Geraldo, Oprah, and Donahue; and the tabloid news of A Current Affair. In a bracing work of cultural criticism, Eric Harvey argues that reality TV emerged in dialog with another kind of entertainment that served as its foil while borrowing its techniques: gangsta rap. Or, as legendary performers Ice Cube and Ice-T called it, “reality rap.” Reality rap and reality TV were components of a cultural revolution that redefined popular entertainment as a truth-telling medium. Reality entertainment borrowed journalistic tropes but was undiluted by the caveats and context that journalism demanded. While N.W.A.’s “Fuck tha Police” countered Cops’ vision of Black lives in America, the reality rappers who emerged in that group’s wake, such as Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac Shakur, embraced reality’s visceral tabloid sensationalism, using the media's obsession with Black criminality to collapse the distinction between image and truth. Reality TV and reality rap nurtured the world we live in now, where politics and basic facts don’t feel real until they have been translated into mass-mediated entertainment.

One of Amazon's Best Books of 2016 So Far Music critic Steven Hyden explores nineteen music rivalries and what they say about life Beatles vs. Stones. Biggie vs. Tupac. Kanye vs. Taylor. Who do you choose? And what does that say about you? Actually--what do these endlessly argued-about pop music rivalries say about us? Music opinions bring out passionate debate in people, and Steven Hyden knows that firsthand. Each chapter in YOUR FAVORITE BAND IS KILLING ME focuses on a pop music rivalry, from the classic to the very recent, and draws connections to the larger forces surrounding the pairing. Through Hendrix vs. Clapton, Hyden explores burning out and fading away, while his take on Miley vs. Sinead gives readers a glimpse into the perennial battle between old and young. Funny and accessible, Hyden's writing combines cultural criticism, personal anecdotes, and music history--and just may prompt you to give your least favorite band another chance.