All Rapped Up in Facts and Fun

Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein’s 1981 “The Book of Rock Lists” is widely viewed as a crucial rock music book. Now hip-hop has its own version, with “Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists” (St. Martin’s Griffin, $19.95).

Compiled by New York-based hip-hop journalists Jeff “Chairman” Mao, Elliott Wilson, Sacha Jenkins, Gabriel Alvarez and Brent Rollins, the comprehensive volume contains the typical best albums and best singles charts. But where the authors make the book one of a kind is with the inclusion of such off-the-wall lists as “10 Reasons Why Will Smith Loves Miami” and “Things Rappers Spend Their Money On.”

Although most of the information in “Ego Trip” could be viewed as esoteric, the insider information is presented in easy-to-understood charts and lists. Hip-hop novices should have little difficulty learning about the genre.

And like hip-hop music, which often samples the work of other artists, the authors of “Ego Trip” built on the idea of Marsh and Stein’s tome.

“We wanted to put our personality on that model,” Mao said. “We knew we had to cover the normal type of lists because that was what was expected, but it was more our trying to do things that were entertaining and informative.”

Borrowing another hip-hop technique, the “Ego Trip” editors timed the release of their book to coincide with the release of another one, “Vibe History of Hip-Hop,” (Three Rivers Press, $27.50), which, like “Ego Trip,” hit the shelves last winter. The authors hoped to garner attention along with the higher-profile book by founding Vibe editor Alan Light.

The plan worked.

“Ego Trip” has become a popular topic of discussion in the hip-hop industry, impressing artists, fans and journalists. Such mainstream periodicals as Rolling Stone and Spin have praised the book. (And so, too, did Vibe. Its review, excerpted on Amazon.com, called it “entertaining and encyclopedic, comedic and clinical, celebratory and unflinchingly critical. . . .”)

“Every page that you turn to, there’s some hip-hop knowledge that you can learn about,” said rapper R.A. The Rugged Man, whose “Top 10 Ways to Get Dropped From a Record Label,” is based on his own experience with the industry. “Any type of question about hip-hop that you could ask, the answer is in that book. Nothing seems to be left out. They’re like rap nerds who know everything. It makes me love hip-hop again.”

“Ego Trip,” which Spin once described as the “world’s rawest, stinkiest, laugh-out-loud funniest magazine about hip-hop,” was launched in June 1994. The editors, who had freelanced for such urban music magazines as the Source, Rap Pages and Rap Sheet, wanted their magazine to be an alternative to the mainstream, white-owned glossy publications that covered hip-hop culture.

Their original idea was that the book should be about their magazine, but since Ego Trip had stopped publishing in 1998 after failing to attract a national audience, they ruled that out. Others had already published histories of rap.

A book of lists seemed right. They figured that they could educate hip-hop fans as they made them laugh, as they had done in their magazine, which was known for its irreverent approach to the world of hip-hop.

“Some people would know that Ego Trip was a humorous zine that we used to put out,” said Wilson, also the editor in chief of the popular rap magazine XXL. “We wanted to keep our humor, but balance it out with facts and information. Humor draws you in. If something’s funny, people will check it out. We didn’t want to have to explain too much. If you get it, you get it. If it appeals to you, you’ll learn on your own. We wanted to be authoritative, but not alienate people.

“We felt people don’t want to be preached at about hip-hop at this point. This book is like conversations put on paper. There are funny little factoids that people talk about.”

And as with anything dealing with hip-hop, street credibility is essential. Word of mouth sells records, clothes and, in this case, books.

“Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists” also has its own soundtrack. Like the book, “The Big Playback: The Soundtrack to Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists,” attempts to educate listeners by featuring quality but nearly impossible-to-find work from such overlooked early 1980s artists as Latee and MC EZ & Troup.

“We were trying to put together good records that people don’t have,” Mao said, “yet they need to hear.”

The book and album have heightened the profile of the authors, who say they are weighing additional book and album offers, as well as Internet proposals.

They also hope, they say, to revive their magazine someday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Sink Your Teeth Into Rap Factoids From “Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists”

Things Rappers Spend Their Money On

1. Whips (cars).

2. Jesus pieces (jewelry).

3. Pieces.

4. Exorbitant allowances for straight outta wedlock children.

5. Cheeba, cheeba y’all (pot).

6. Champagne rooms.

7. Acting lessons.

8. Johnny Cochran.

9. Millions of thugs on salary.

10. What money? Ha-ha-ha!

Rappers Who’ve Made Forbes Magazine’s Annual Highest Paid Entertainers List

1. Master P: $56.5 million, 1998.

2. Sean “Puffy” Combs: $53.5 million, 1998.

3. Will Smith: $34 million, 1998.

4. MC Hammer: $33 million, 1990-91.

5. MC Hammer: $28 million, 1991-92.

Rappers Who Have Declared Bankruptcy

1. MC Hammer, 1994.

2. Luke, 1995.

3. Play (Kid ‘N Play), 1997.

4. Will Smith, 1989.