Rakim Told Him: Brian Coleman

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SOME THINK LINER NOTES are a mark of distinction for an album and an artist, proclaiming, "Listen, son: You can't understand my musical genius without someone explaining it to you."

A jazz album can't be released without somebody droning on about its superior quality, and classical recordings often feature text that delves into the historical aspects of a piece of music. But liner notes almost never occur in rock — and virtually never in rap — except when a disc is reissued.

Getting inside the creative process is what led Brian Coleman to research, write and self-publish "Rakim Told Me: Wax Facts Straight From the Original Artists — The '80s." Coleman interviewed hip-hoppers such as Rakim, De La Soul, Public Enemy and more, asking them about making classic albums such as "Paid in Full," "3 Feet High and Rising," "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and 18 others.

The 2005 book received great reviews and word-of-mouth buzz, which led to Villard/Random House to commission Coleman's new work, "Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies." The book builds off "Rakim Told Me," even using some of its prose, but there are 21 chapters added, taking the book to 36 albums and into the early 1990s.

For hip-hop heads, and even casual fans, "Check the Technique" is highly addictive reading. Coleman's writing is snappy, but even better is his ability to draw out hugely entertaining and revealing tales from a pantheon of hip-hop artists.

» EXPRESS: Why did you publish "Rakim Told Me" by yourself?
» COLEMAN: Basically, I'm not a patient person and didn't feel like dealing with the inevitable b.s. by trying to convince a major publishing house that my idea was worthy. Self-publishing turnaround from finished manuscript to in-stores is about six weeks. With a "real" publisher it's about six months if it's a rush job. That amount of time is a difference for me. I honestly never figured that a major house would pick it up, so when Villard/Random House came in with an offer last year it was a nice surprise. And I decided to give the real publishing thing a try, so I could compare and contrast. I never had bookstore distro for "Rakim Told Me," so being in malls is a big thing for me. Big shout out to Des Moines! Evanston, Illinois, throw your hands up!

» EXPRESS: Would you consider this edition of the book "the remix"?
» COLEMAN: This is definitely a brand new book as far as I'm concerned, with a "bonus book" of the already-self-published chapters. Just look at the layout of this one — no comparison! There are 21 chapters in "Check the Technique" that no one has ever seen before, so that's a full book in itself — all '90s albums. Of the 15 that were already in "Rakim Told Me," two hugely important ones were revamped and expanded in a big way: Ice-T and De La Soul. My main goal was to make anyone who had already bought "Rakim Told Me" not feel ripped-off and I think I accomplished that. This book is twice as long and retails for $1 less than "Rakim Told Me" did.

» EXPRESS: I know you were planning a second volume of "Rakim Told Me," and it morphed into "Check the Technique." But will their be a 100 percent new follow-up for "Check the Technique" featuring the folks you didn't get a chance to chat with?
» COLEMAN: I'm not sure about any follow-up to this one just yet, although I have played around with ideas and even done some interviews. If I do get a chance to do one, it'll be the same philosophy as I detailed above, how I approached "Check the Technique." Let's put it this way: I finished a total of 50 chapters for "Check the Technique" and only 36 made it, so you can do the math. I'm already well underway on my next one, and there are some heavy chapters already finished: Ice Cube's "Amerikkka's Most Wanted," Stetsasonic's "In Full Gear," Naughty by Nature, The Coup, etc. etc. etc. But even so, there are still a ton of people I still want to talk to.

» EXPRESS: Which albums did you really want to feature and just couldn't because of timing and/or space?
» COLEMAN: Like Mark McGuire, I'm not here today to talk about the past. Let's just say that there are tons that still need to be done. Nas, Dr. Dre, LL Cool J and Queen Latifah are four glaring omissions — and, yeah, I'm aware of them. ?uestlove feels that Son of Bazerk needs a chapter, too. I told him that I'd wait for his book for that one.

» EXPRESS: Who was the most difficult interview?
» COLEMAN: Tough question. Most of these interviews were difficult to get done, just 'cause dudes are hella busy and hard to get focused. It probably took me 10 tries to finally get Erick Sermon on the phone, but once I did it was one of my favorite interviews ever. Rakim was a tough one also, schedule-wise. But the difficulty is always only in the scheduling, not with the interviewees actually being difficult to talk to. Once I get them locked-in and focused it's always all good.

» EXPRESS: Who was the best interview?
» COLEMAN: Best is a really, really tough one, too. I love all of these chapters and interviews. The question of which artist I idolize the most might help answer the question a little better. That would be Chuck D. He's a dream to interview, because he thinks about music and takes it apart even more than a nerd-ass writer like me. Ice-T is very deep on that front, too. Of the '90s guys, it was amazing to really dig deep with guys like ?uestlove and Evil Dee.

» EXPRESS: What was the most shocking revelation?
» COLEMAN: Man, there are so many crazy things that I've been told. The most bizarre story might be how The Roots basically fled the country right after they finished "Do You Want More?!!!??!" and were convinced they'd just live in Europe for the next many years, maybe forever. When ?uestlove recalled the day they decided to leave, it really seemed like it was a life-or-death situation, although I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Still, it's a pretty ill story.

» EXPRESS: Have any of the artists not liked what you printed — even though it's mostly their words? You know how famous athletes are always misquoting themselves in their bios.
» COLEMAN: If they have, I haven't heard about it. I tape all my interviews and transcribe them word for word — I never take notes while I'm talking to people — so if there was ever a dispute I'd just bust out my cassettes. If any artists were ever upset, I'd be upset, too, because the only thing I want to do is tell their stories. Everything I've heard from all the dudes in the book that I've talked to has been all good, even from the ones who are hard to please. Schoolly D, for example. He sent me a note on MySpace the other day about how he dug it. I know it was him 'cause he signed it "number 1 in the hood, G." Master Shake would be jealous.

» EXPRESS: Have any hip-hop albums had liner notes when they first came out, versus when they get the deluxe reissue treatment? Do you foresee that ever happening?
» COLEMAN: Off the top of my head, you've got the first two Salt N' Pepa albums and The Roots' "Do You Want More?!!!??!" Shout outs don't count for liner notes. I'm sure there were more, but not many more. That's why I'm doing this [stuff]! But I don't foresee the next 50 Cent or Chingy album having liner notes, if that's what you're asking. I did some liners for the recent Ultimate Force "I'm Not Playin'" album — recorded in 1991, never issued until 2007 — on Strong City/Traffic. That was fun, and an honor.

» EXPRESS: Since your book covers classic jammies, who are some current hip-hop artists you like?
» COLEMAN: I love a lot of modern dudes, but almost none of them are on major labels. My pals Mr. Lif and Edan continuously push themselves creatively — music and lyrics — so they always deserve props. I think that anything Madlib touches is brilliant — his mind just never stops going. The Roots are still making important, thoughtful, innovative music despite all the b.s. I'm sure they have to put up with on Def Jam. I'm definitely ready to peep the new Common. On the DJ front, Z-Trip still kicks ass if you ask me, on the turntables as well as on the production front. He's got a new one coming out on Decon that's pretty great. I could go on and on, but basically, any so-called fan out there who says "hip-hop is dead" is just lazy and/or stupid. Dig deeper, fools!

Photo by Carina Mastrocola; images courtesy Wax Facts