Rapper’s Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made The World: A Conversation and Book Signing with author Dr. Todd Boyd and Chuck D
Overview
Join author Dr. Todd Boyd and the iconic artist Chuck D as they discuss how Hip Hop came to shape culture, fashion, and art worldwide. This event marks the global debut of Rapper’s Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made The World. The book will be available for purchase on-site and Dr. Todd Boyd will be signing copies.
According to author Dr. Todd Boyd, “To tell the story of contemporary American culture is to tell the story of Hip Hop. From its humble, underground origins, Hip Hop transcended the confines of rap music and spread its influence across a broad spectrum of American life – fashion, film, art, sports, politics, language – to become a cultural movement of profound influence.”
Rapper’s Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made The World (published by Phaidon, February 2024) is a critical contribution to America’s cultural canon. Drawing on a broad range of curated imagery–from photographs and fine art to advertisements, album covers, film stills, and more–this visual history re-examines Hip Hop’s legacy, tracing its meteoric rise to reveal its indelible impact.
Organized chronologically from the 1970s to the present, the book’s eye-catching pages show the people, places, events, objects, outfits, and inspirations that redefined the world as we know it–from fur-coated fans lined up outside Madison Square Garden for a Muhammad Ali fight to legendary parties in the “Boogie Down” Bronx, through the hoods of South Los Angeles and the trap houses of Atlanta, to the Met Gala’s extravagant red carpet looks. Dr. Boyd’s vivid narrative makes insightful connections across eras, exploring how Hip Hop has remixed ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, past and present, to create a style that is uniquely its own.
Filled with colorful stories and clever wordplay, Rapper’s Deluxe is a tale of transformation,
following Hip Hop’s arduous, but always triumphant, journey from underground trailblazer to global tastemaker.
Please note that this event takes place after The Broad closes at 5 pm, so the museum galleries and The Shop at The Broad will not open during this event. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Walk up tickets available as capacity allows.
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Dr. Todd Boyd
Dr. Todd Boyd, a.k.a. “Notorious Ph.D.,” is the Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. A media commentator, author, producer, consultant and scholar, Dr. Boyd is an intellectual and creative force who transcends boundaries and defies conventional categorization. In the immediate aftermath of the 1992 L.A. riots Dr. Boyd arrived at USC and began developing a new field of study centered around hip hop culture. His pioneering work would make connections across film, music, art, sports, fashion, and politics, establishing him as a preeminent expert and distinctly authoritative voice on the role of culture in American society.
Dr. Boyd is especially well known as a commentator, appearing in numerous documentaries, including the award-winning The Last Dance (ESPN/Netflix, 2020)—winner of the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series”—and Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013)—winner of the Academy Award for “Best Documentary Feature” and the Grammy Award for “Best Music Film.” Other recent documentary appearances include, Ken Burns’ Muhammad Ali (PBS, 2021), Say Hey, Willie Mays! (HBO, 2022), We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime, 2022), Vick (“30 for 30” ESPN, 2020) The Movies (CNN, 2019), Dennis Rodman: For Better or Worse (“30 For 30” ESPN, 2019), I Am Richard Pryor (Paramount Network/Comedy Central, 2019), Sammy Davis, Jr.: I Gotta Be Me (“American Masters”/PBS, 2019), The Nineties and The History of Comedy (CNN, 2017), among numerous others. Dr. Boyd was an Advisor on Ken Burns’ Muhmmad Ali (PBS), consultant on the Sony Pictures Animation feature film Vivo (2021), Executive Producer of the Netflix documentary At All Costs: Life Inside AAU Basketball (2016), and Writer/Producer on the Paramount Pictures celebrated cult classic The Wood (1999). He has written over one hundred articles, essays, reviews, and other forms of commentary, with his work having appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, ESPN, and Chicago Tribune, among other publications. Dr. Boyd’s seven books include Young Black Rich and Famous, The New H.N.I.C., Am I Black Enough For You?, and The Notorious Ph.D's Guide to the Super Fly 70s. His eighth book, Rapper’s Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made the World, will be published by Phaidon in February 2024.
Chuck D
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, icon and hip-hop legend, Chuck D is a social activist, author, multimedia producer, digital music pioneer and visual artist. He first rose to acclaim in the 1980’s with a string of critically lauded and commercially successful albums that addressed weighty issues about race, rage, and inequality with a jolting combination of intelligence and eloquence never before seen.
The New York Times has named Public Enemy’s music to their list of the “25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century” and in 2005 The Library of Congress added Fear of a Black Planet to their National Recording Registry. In 2013, Public Enemy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2020 received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the GRAMMYs. Iconic items from the group’s history are in the permanent collection of National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
In 2020, Chuck released the single “SOTU (STFU)” with Public Enemy and opened the 2020 BET Awards with “Fight the Power Remix 2020.” From 2016-2019, Chuck released an album and toured with the Prophets of Rage with former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk, Cypress Hill’s B-Real and DJ Lord of Public Enemy. Chuck D is a visual artist whose work is the subject of a fine art book, “Livin’ Loud,” featured in several graphic novels and exhibited nationally. In 2017, he authored a best-selling book, This Day In Rap and Hip Hop History.
Chuck has been a prominent member of music industry non-profit organizations MusicCares and Rock The Vote, which honored him with the Patrick Lippert Award in 1996 for his contributions to community service. He is Co-Founder and President of the Hip Hop Alliance and has served as national spokesperson for Rock The Vote, the National Urban League, the National Alliance of African American Athletes and Hip Hop Public Health. In 2022, Chuck was named UCLA’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence for its new Hip-Hop Initiative.
Chuck’s production company Channel Zero partnered with BBC Studios and PBS for the docu-series, Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World, which he Executive Produced and created with his Lorrie Boula.