SHEA SERRANO presents THE RAP YEAR BOOK with DEVON MALONEY, SEAN FENNESSEY and CHRIS RYAN

The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed (Abrams Books)

JUST ANNOUNCED: Former editor for Grantland, Chris Ryan will be joining the panel this evening.

The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed takes readers on a journey that begins in 1979, widely regarded as the moment rap became recognized as part of the cultural and musical landscape, and comes right up to the present. Shea Serrano deftly pays homage to the most important song of each year. Serrano also examines the most important moments that surround the history and culture of rap music from artists backgrounds to issues of race, the rise of hip-hop, and the struggles among its major players both personal and professional. Covering East Coast and West Coast, famous rapper feuds, chart toppers, and show stoppers, The Rap Year Book is an in-depth look at the most influential genre of music to come out of the last generation. 

Complete with infographics, lyric maps, hilarious and informative footnotes, portraits of the artists, and short essays by other prominent music writers, The Rap Year Book is both a narrative and illustrated guide to the most iconic and influential rap songs ever created. 

Shea Serrano is an award-winning writer, author, and illustrator. His first book, Bun B’s Rap Coloring and Activity Book, was widely praised, receiving accolades from Rolling Stone, GQ, Esquire, the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, MTV, and more. Currently, he is a staff writer for Grantland.

Devon Maloney is a journalist and writer living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, New York magazine, WIRED, GQ, Grantland, Vice, Nylon, Out, Billboard, Pitchfork, MTV, the Village Voice and Spin.

Sean Fennessey is a deputy editor at Grantland. He lives in Los Angeles with 10,000 CDs he ignores.