In the early '90s world of inky music weeklies, Neil Kulkarni was a rare thing - a powerful, passionate and often funny as hell non-white voice in a sea of white journalism. His reviews in Melody Maker still linger - Neil put me on to so much new stuff and, inadvertently, parted me and my hard-earned on many occasions. In January he died suddenly, and I lost another hero, as did music, as did his home town of Coventry.
It's great to see his Periodic Table of Hip Hop get republished (originally out in 2017) by Penguin this month, and heartening to have Neil on our shelves.
Here the influential MCs, DJs, rappers and producers of Hip Hop are given elemental form, that take us from pre-Hip Hop instigators (James Brown, George Clinton, Iceberg Slim, etc), through the old and new school, the golden age and the diaspora that saw Hip Hop exploding across the globe. This isn't just about headline acts either - for every Public Enemy and Tupac, there's a Large Professor or a WC and the Mad Circle to broaden the view.
Much missed he will be, but his words are eternal.
Size: 128 x 97mm (Paperback)
Pages: 160
Publisher: Penguin
