The ultimate backstage pass: a photographic inside look at the making of the pioneering hip hop documentary Rhyme & Reason
In the mid-1990s, documentary filmmaker Peter Spirer embarked on a three-year odyssey to create a realistic portrait of hip hop, interviewing over 80 artists. Spirer captured a seminal moment as the culture balanced on the cusp of the mainstream. As Ice-T comments in the introduction to the book, "Rhyme & Reason is one of the few films that was there to document us before hip hop truly exploded." While filming, Spirer took stills using a medium-format Rolleiflex camera. These photographs form The Book of Rhyme & Reason. Spirer writes: "The Rollei allowed me to capture some amazing moments: Puffy getting a trim in his office while doing three tasks at once, Biggie opening record plaques on his couch, Ice-T and Mack 10 hanging with their homies, Heavy D at the barber, playing pool. There was the Jack The Rapper convention with Death Row making a statement, at a Disney World Hotel, that ended in chaos. There were magical moments such as Redman and Erick Sermon freestyling on the mic to amazed onlookers at a block party in Newark and watching Wu-Tang Clan chop it up on the block in Staten Island on a cold winter’s day before they exploded." This coffee-table volume features over 130 of Spirer’s photographs from 1994 to 1997. As hip hop commemorates its 50th anniversary in 2023, it is particularly fitting that many of these images from this formative period are being published for the first time. Peter Spirer (born 1963) is an Academy Award– and Emmy Award–nominated director and producer. His catalog of over 32 films includes Rhyme & Reason (1997), Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel, Life of an Outlaw (2002), the BEEF series (2003–5), Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life (2007) and The Legend of 420 (2017).
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Black + White
As a document of a cultural movement, this collection is essential.
Pastrami Nation
The result is a selection of candid scenes and posed portraits that offer an alternative perspective to the existing moving image. As a collection the book pays homage to the artistic success of both filmmaker and subject whilst taking the reader back to the roots of a genre that has become a global cultural phenomenon.
Design Week
Emily Gosling
Throughout the book, colour and typography are used to striking effect not just to create layouts that look nice, but to give a sense of pace, rhythm and sense-making.
Design Week
Emily Gosling
Throughout the book, colour and typography are used to striking effect not just to create layouts that look nice, but to give a sense of pace, rhythm and sense-making.
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Monday, November 27 at 6 PM, the Academy Museum presents a meet-and-greet and signing of Peter Spirer's new photography book, The Book of Rhyme & Reason: Hip-Hop 1994–1997, followed by a discussion between Spirer and infamous Los Angeles radio personality Big Boy and a screening of Spirer's 1997 documentary film Rhyme and Reason. Purchase tickets here. continue to blog
Featured spreads are from new release The Book of Rhyme & Reason: Hip-Hop 1994–1997, collecting 130 in-the-trenches photographs by acclaimed filmmaker Peter Spirer, taken during the making of his 1997 documentary about rap and hip hop, Rhyme & Reason. Featuring everyone from DJ Cool Herc to Tupac Shakur, Salt-n-Pepa, Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill and Ice-T, who contributes the Foreword, this volume undoubtedly captures some amazing moments, Spirer notes: “Puffy getting a trim in his office while doing three tasks at once; Biggie opening record plaques on his couch; Ice-T and Mack 10 hanging with their homies; Heavy D at the barber, playing pool, then celebrating at his ‘Nuttin’ But Love’ picnic. There was the ‘Jack The Rapper’ convention with Death Row making a statement, all at a Disney World Hotel, that ended in chaos. There were magical moments such as Redman and Erick Sermon freestyling on the mic to amazed onlookers at a block party in Newark and watching Wu-Tang Clan chop it up on the block in Staten Island on a cold winter’s day before they exploded.…” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 10.75 in. / 240 pgs / 15 color / 200 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $49.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $71.95 ISBN: 9781909526891 PUBLISHER: Reel Art Press AVAILABLE: 11/7/2023 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR ME
The Book of Rhyme & Reason: Hip-Hop 1994–1997 Photographs by Peter Spirer
Published by Reel Art Press. Foreword by Ice-T. Text by Soren Baker.
The ultimate backstage pass: a photographic inside look at the making of the pioneering hip hop documentary Rhyme & Reason
In the mid-1990s, documentary filmmaker Peter Spirer embarked on a three-year odyssey to create a realistic portrait of hip hop, interviewing over 80 artists. Spirer captured a seminal moment as the culture balanced on the cusp of the mainstream. As Ice-T comments in the introduction to the book, "Rhyme & Reason is one of the few films that was there to document us before hip hop truly exploded."
While filming, Spirer took stills using a medium-format Rolleiflex camera. These photographs form The Book of Rhyme & Reason. Spirer writes: "The Rollei allowed me to capture some amazing moments: Puffy getting a trim in his office while doing three tasks at once, Biggie opening record plaques on his couch, Ice-T and Mack 10 hanging with their homies, Heavy D at the barber, playing pool. There was the Jack The Rapper convention with Death Row making a statement, at a Disney World Hotel, that ended in chaos. There were magical moments such as Redman and Erick Sermon freestyling on the mic to amazed onlookers at a block party in Newark and watching Wu-Tang Clan chop it up on the block in Staten Island on a cold winter’s day before they exploded."
This coffee-table volume features over 130 of Spirer’s photographs from 1994 to 1997. As hip hop commemorates its 50th anniversary in 2023, it is particularly fitting that many of these images from this formative period are being published for the first time.
Peter Spirer (born 1963) is an Academy Award– and Emmy Award–nominated director and producer. His catalog of over 32 films includes Rhyme & Reason (1997), Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel, Life of an Outlaw (2002), the BEEF series (2003–5), Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life (2007) and The Legend of 420 (2017).
