The 2021 revised edition of “Hip-Hop Tales” has an extended narrative and more details than the first printing of N.J. Sleuth’s 15 years of Hip-Hop adventures, experiences and memories. A reflection of his travels, navigation and understanding during the global paradigm shift of 2020, including 15 additional “Guest Tales” from his friends, family and associates that were along the ride in his life during the golden years of Hip-Hop music and film industries. Also added is N.J. Sleuth’s thoughts and feelings on his relationship with his friend and colleague the late Greg “Shock-G” Jacobs.
Excerpt from book
…It was 1985 and I was in college at New York Institute of Technology’s Central Islip Campus out on Long Island. Me and my homies were in my dorm room and had just smoked a blunt, drank a couple 40’s while watching silent Kung Fu flicks and listening to latest Mr. Magic or DJ Red alert tapes from their radio shows from the week before. There was a party on campus that night and it was time to go over to see what’s good. As we walked in the dimly lit room I vividly remember hearing for the first time the DJ back spinning Schoolly D’s “PSK (What Does that Mean)” and everybody was rocking to the beat in a magical blissful trance. It seemed like it was all happening in slow motion. I began to feel a surge of energy coming from inside my…
“Hip-Hop Tales” poetically contextualizes the Bay Area’s place in Hip-Hop history with critical documentation of the Bay’s underground “Golden Era” Hip-Hop scene, including intimate experiences with artists, journalists, D.J.’s and promoters like Digital Underground, Tupac, Too $hort, Saafir and Hobo Junction, Danyel Smith, Al Haymon, Chuck Johnson, Master Zi and many more. It delves into Bay Area Hip-Hop history while documenting what it was like traveling around the world behind the scenes in the music and movie-making industries. It also includes memories of working on many large-scale music tours, being the personal assistant of an iconic child star, and moving back and forth, to and from, the U.S. Virgin Islands. From the former management team of Bay Area’s legendary groups Digital Underground (Digital Underground discovered cultural icon Tupac Shakur), Raw Fusion, Saafir, The Whoridas and Capital Tax, N.J. Sleuth’s “Hip-Hop Tales” seeks to give a window into what it was like for a small-town boy to have a 15-year opportunity to play his humble part in the making of Hip-Hop history.
-Jeannine Etter
