Jeff Chang

Jeff Chang is a prolific writer, journalist, and music critic who has his finger on the pulse of culture, politics and music. Described as “nothing less than the finest rap history extant” by Rolling Stone magazine, his book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (2005) chronicles the history of hip-hop with urban funk and well-researched fact. Chang’s in-depth analysis of the historical, cultural and political climates that gave rise to the movement, as well as his careful tracing of hip-hop’s myriad transformations over the past decades, earned him the American Book Award in 2005. In 2007, Chang published Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop, which will be followed by the forthcoming Who We Be: The Colorization of America. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity of the Arts and the Committee of Black Performing Arts at Stanford University and is the co-founder of ColorLines, a daily news site that confronts and discusses issues of race, politics and culture.

Lives and works between Oakland and Stanford, CA