> ARRIVALS

These five new books about music really hum.

Jay-Z: Made in America, Michael Eric Dyson Most of us know two facts about Jay-Z (or JAY-Z as he styles himself ): he’s a rap megastar and he’s married to Beyoncé. Cultural commentator Michael Eric Dyson, who teaches hip-hop sociology, most recently at Georgetown University, takes us deeper into what Jay-Z can teach us. Dyson compares him favourably with fellow U.S. poets Robert Frost and Walt Whitman, and regards him as emblematic of the African-American ethos, which is all about hustle — using street savvy and audacity to get what you need. Well worth a read if you want to learn more about rap and what it means to be a massively successful American entrepreneur.

Rock Chronicles: Every Legend, Every Line-up, Every Look, editor David Roberts This is an encyclopedia of what editor David Roberts and his researchers regard as the 250 seminal rock acts of the past 50 years, ranged alphabetically from AC-DC to Frank Zappa. Each entry includes an overview of the individual or group along with infographics showing troop movements, sales figures and images of the musicians involved. TMI for most of us, but possibly crucial for the library of true believers.

Not Afraid: The Evolution of Eminem, Anthony Bozza In April 1999, when Eminem was a newbie cultural phenom, Anthony Bozza wrote the first national cover story on the young white rapper, in Rolling Stone. “Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem.”“Not Afraid” is Bozza’s revisiting of the hip-hop star, including Eminem’s creative plateaus, heartache (the death of Proof, his best friend and muse, in a bar fight), substance abuse (tequila, Tylenol PM, Valium and Vicodin), weight gain (Taco Bell, McDonald’s) and the good place he and his music are at today.

The Age of Anxiety, Pete Townshend Pete Townshend, the Who’s guitarist and author of rock operas “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia,” conceived “The Age of Anxiety” as a novel that will form the basis of an opera or, perhaps, a one-man show with soundscape (he recently told Rolling Stone that he has written the libretto). The narrator, a dealer in outsider art, presents a story involving complicated family relationships, plus sex (and the sticky issue of consent), drugs (and hallucinatory transcendental states in general) and, inevitably, rock and roll.

Acid for the Children, Flea Flea is the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and this is his origin story. It begins, following a poem — “Innocence” by Patti Smith — with his birth as Michael Peter Balzary in Melbourne, Australia, in 1962. It ends in 1983, when what would become the RHCP plays its one song and one dance routine before an audience of 27 at L.A.’s Grandia Room. Flea’s story is a volatile, exhilarating freefall through the City of Angels, dotted with hits of PCP, MDMA, cocaine, heroin and, of course, weed and acid. A second volume is planned.