Above the Law takes us into the 1990s, when hip-hop became king. Paula Abdul represents the 1980s pop diva for whom the dance was at least as important as the voice. A cappella is the unaccompanied singing style favored by early rock-and-roll vocal groups of the 1950s. Reading the first four entries-“Paula Abdul,” “Above the Law,” “Herb Abramson,” “a cappella”-we cover most of the historical time frame this book represents. But it is also instructive simply to read through a few entries in succession. Encyclopedias are, of course, especially useful in directing us to a particular topic. Because chronological sequence is not a factor, we wander as through a museum, forming our own impressions of the connections among the things we observe.
From this leveled landscape, a reader is often led to unlikely observations of affinity and confluence among the encyclopedia’s disparate entries. The only organizing narrative force is the alphabet. Signal feature of any encyclopedia is its presentation of the elements of a historical mosaic unassembled. University at Albany (SUNY)Īppendixes 293 Glossary of Music Terms 305 Further Reading and Research 313 Editorial Board of Advisers 317 Index 319 Rhythm and Blues, Rap, and Hip-Hop Frank Hoffmann Foreword by Albin J.
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