Sing a Black Girl's Song: The Unpublished Work of Ntozake Shange
Date: 2023
Medium: hardcover book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-020
Collection of previously unpublished work by playwright and poet Ntozake Shange, edited with contributions from Imani Perry and Tarana Burke, published in 2024 by Legacy Lit.
Who's Watching Shorty?: Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly's Abuse
Date: 2026
Medium: hardcover book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-019
Memoir by Reshona Landfair recounting her experience of abuse by R. Kelly and her path to reclaiming her story, with a foreword by Drew Dixon, published in 2026 by Legacy Lit.
Black Fashion Legends ABC
Date: 2021
Medium: hardcover book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-018
Illustrated alphabet book by fashion historian Shelby Ivey Christie celebrating Black fashion icons, published in 2024.
Ode to Hip-Hop: 50 Albums That Define 50 Years of Trailblazing Music
Date: 2023
Medium: hardcover book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-017
Book by journalist Kiana Fitzgerald's profiling 50 albums that define hip-hop's first 50 years, published in 2023 by Running Press Adult.
The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop
Date: 2021
Medium: paperback book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-016
Book by journalist Clover Hope profiling over 100 women who shaped hip-hop, published in 2021 by Abrams Image . Illustrations by Rachelle Baker.
The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop—and Why It Matters
Date: 2008
Medium: paperback book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-021
Tricia Rose's 2008 follow-up to Black Noise, examining the major debates around hip-hop's commercialization, misogyny, and violence, and arguing for a more nuanced public conversation about the genre's cultural impact.
Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America
Date: 1994
Medium: paperback book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-026
Tricia Rose's landmark 1994 academic study of hip-hop's origins and cultural impact, widely regarded as one of the first serious scholarly texts on the culture and a foundational reference for hip-hop studies.
Confessions of a Video Vixen: An Eye-Opening Memoir of Survival, Abuse, and Redemption in the Music Industry
Date: 2005
Medium: paperback book
Object number: GUM-BK-2026-024
Memoir by Karrine Steffans, a former hip-hop video vixen, recounting her experiences in the industry during the early 2000s. A bestseller that sparked wide debate about women's treatment in hip-hop's visual culture.