Shea Serrano's 'The Rap Year Book' Is A History Of Rap

Shea Serrano just released his book, “The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed” which chronicles the ongoing evolution of rap from 1979 to 2014.

Serrano, who used to use rap to teach science to middle school students in Houston, is now a Grantland staff writer.

In his book, he illustrates – literally – how rap is the product of disco, rock n' roll, spoken word and jazz, while the lyrics stem from the anger and sadness that the cultural oppression of blacks in the U.S. caused.

He joins Here & Now's Robin Young to talk about why rap has been and still is relevant to American listeners.

Book Excerpt: ‘The Rap Year Book’

Excerpted from the book The Rap Year Book. Copyright © 2015 by Abrams Books. Reprinted by permission of Abrams Books. All rights reserved.

Guest

• Shea Serrano, author of “The Rap Year Book” and writer for Grantland. He tweets @SheaSerrano.

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