Growing up Hip Hop in Rap Dad

Juan Vidal writes of his burgeoning rap career in Rap Dad, his ambitions shifting with the birth of his children. The now music journalist explores his early success in the music industry and his even earlier disappointment in his own father for his infidelity and drug addiction.

Vidal does an interesting job of showing the world of Hip Hop in Miami in the eighties and nineties, educating his reader about the intersections of music, graffiti, and skateboarding. All of these are thrown into a different context once Vidal has his own children, and Hip Hop pioneers like Nas, Jay-Z, and Will Smith are given credit for their influence in his own child-rearing. Without a strong role model for fatherhood in his real life, the author points to these Hip Hop giants as guide posts for his own role as dad.

While the anecdotes Vidal shares can feel repetitive at times, he’s giving voice to a subculture of men who were raised by Hip Hop, then used its lessons in parenting their own kids. It’s all heart, and a lot of good music.

Thank you to the Boston Public Library for recommending Rap Dad.