Jeff Chang
is an
American
journalist and music critic on
hip hop music and culture. His 2005 book,
Can't Stop Won't Stop, which chronicles the early hip hop scene, won an
American Book Award in 2005. His writings have appeared in publications such as
URB
,
The Bomb
,
San Francisco Chronicle
, the
Village Voice
, the
San Francisco Bay Guardian
,
Vibe
,
Spin
,
The Nation
, and
Mother Jones
.
Jeff Chang is a 1985 graduate of
Iolani School. He was a founding member of the
Solesides record label while a DJ at a
UC Davis
college radio station, which was the home to acts like
DJ Shadow and
Blackalicious before it was recreated as
Quannum Projects without Chang's involvement.
Chang's 2007 book,
Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop
, is an
anthology of essays and interviews documenting the impact of hip hop beyond music and the "
four elements
". According to its companion website, following the release of
Total Chaos
, Chang held a series of public panel discussions to further explore the subject.
Chang's next book is entitled
Who We Be: The Colorization of America
, where he moves away from
hip hop to focus on "the cultural implications of the new American majority" and "the social history, the cultural influence -- and the massive selling -- of multiculturalism in America over the last thirty years".
-
Video discussion with Chang and Eli Lake
on
Bloggingheads.tv