Rap Dad: A Story of Family and the Subculture That Shaped a Generation

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This timely reflection on male identity in America that explores the intersection of fatherhood, race, and hip-hop culture is a page-turnerdrenched in history and encompasses the energy, fire, and passion that is hip-hop (D. Watkins, New York Times bestselling author).

Just as his music career was taking off, Juan Vidal received life-changing news: hed soon be a father. Throughout his life, neglectful men were the normhis own dad struggled with drug addiction and infidelitya cycle that, inevitably, wrought Vidal with insecurity. At age twenty-six, with barely a grip on life, what lessons could he possibly offer a kid Determined to alter the course for his child, Vidal did what hed always done when confronted with lifes challengeshe turned to the counterculture.

In Rap Dad, the musician-turned-journalist takes a thoughtful and inventive approach to exploring identity and examining how todays society views fatherhood. To root out the source of his fears around parenting, Vidal revisits the flash points of his juvenescence, a feat that transports him, a first-generation American born to Colombian parents, back to the drug-fueled streets of 1980s90s Miami. Its during those pivotal years that hes drawn to skateboarding, graffiti, and the music of rebellion: hip-hop. As he looks to the past for answers, he infuses his personal story with rap lyrics and interviews with some of pop cultures most compelling voicesplenty of whom have proven to be some of societys best, albeit nontraditional, dads. Along the way, Vidal confronts the unfair stereotypes that taint urban menespecially Black and Latino men.

A heartfelt examination of the damage that wayward fathers can leave in their wake (The Washington Post), Rap Dad is rich with symbolisma poetic chronicle of beats, rhymes, and life (NPR).

Reviews

"In Rap Dad, Juan Vidal captures all of the angles of being a rap fan who falls in love with the genre and then fights to stay in love with it at all costs, despite life's many twists. In reading this book, I learned a greater love for what I already love, I learned that there is a future in which that love can remain abundant, limitless, and endlessly fulfilling. I am thankful for this personal, funny, insightful ride."Hanif Abdurraqib, author of They Can'tKill Us Until They Kill Us
"Rap Dadis a page-turner. Its drenched in history and encompasses the energy, fire, and passion that is hip-hop. Vidal is a brilliant storyteller with a knack for prose. This bookis a reminder of why I cant live without writing.D.Watkins, New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Beast SideandThe Cook Up
"Rap Dad is a tender, occasionally heartbreaking, and exceedingly honest look at what it means to be a modern father in America (and, really, what it's meant to be a father in America in decades past). Vidal writes with all the grace and insight you'd want from someone untangling such intricate, intimate subject matter.Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author ofThe Rap YearbookandBasketball And Other Things
A heartfelt examination of the damage that wayward fathers can leave in their wake.Washington Post
Vidal's writing on diverse topics is thoughtful and funny a complex take on the often simplified topic of contemporary manhood, with relevance to current cultural controversies regarding immigration and identity.Kirkus Reviews
Between narrative passages of memoir that relate his life as a child, father, and writer, Vidal discusses rap tracks, albums, and artists, with energy and soul.Booklist

Author Bio

Juan Vidal is a writer, journalist, and cultural critic, who reviews books for NPR and contributes to Vibe, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and GQ. His work has been mentioned in The New York Times and has appeared in Billboard, Complex, HuffPost, and others. Rap Dad is his debut book.