Hey everybody, I'm Dan from Portland, Oregon.

I'm Kate from Minneapolis.

I'm Zach from Madison, Wisconsin.

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It's the Sound of Young America.

I'm Jesse Thorn.

My guest on the program is Dan Charnes.

He's held basically every position

there is to hold outside of artist in the world of hip hop.

And has made the transition from a record company guy to writer.

His new gargantuan book is, I think, one of the better books about hip hop.

I've ever read.

It's called The Big Payback,

the history of the business of hip hop.

Dan Charnes, welcome to the Sound of Young America.

Thanks for having me.

So the obvious question is,

there are all these books of hip hop history.

...