Specialty magazines don’t come any more special than Brooklyn’s Wax Poetics, now 25 gorgeous issues into their mission to serve record geeks. This anthology, gathered from the hotly sought-after first five releases, touches on jazz, funk, rock, soul, and every tiny offshoot of the genres that go into the melting pot of hip-hop sampling and crate-digging. Highlights: a history lesson with James Brown’s bassist, Q&As with RZA and Prince Paul, and an overview of forgotten seventies salsa powerhouse Fania Records.
Wax Poetics Anthology, Volume 1
$38.76