The magazine of the photo-essay
November/December 2023 issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
The Book of
Rhyme & Reason
In the mid 1990s, filmmaker Peter Spirer embarked on a three-year project
interviewing over 80 Hip-Hop artists who shaped one of the most important cultural
movements of the 20th century. The result was Rhyme & Reason, the pioneering
Hip-Hop documentary that captured the scene at this seminal moment, featuring
many of the most influential rap artists and music makers of our time.
Spirer’s recently unearthed photographic archive features pioneers such as KRS-
ONE, CHUCK D, TUPAK SHAKUR, KURTIS BLOW, DR DRE, SALT-N-PEPA, Q-
TIP, LL COOL J, LAUREN HILL, JAY-Z and so many more; candid shots
documenting intimate, unguarded moments.
Alongside directing and producing the documentary, Spirer shot accompanying stills
using a medium format Rolleiflex camera: “The Rollei allowed me to capture some
amazing moments: Puffy getting a trim in his office while doing three tasks at once,
Biggie opening record plaques on his couch, Ice-T and Mack 10 hanging with their
homies, Heavy D at the barber, playing pool. ... There were magical moments such
as Redman and Erick Sermon freestyling on the mic to amazed onlookers at a block
party in Newark and watching Wu-Tang Clan chop it up on the block in Staten Island
before they exploded.”
by Peter Spirer
Biz Markie © Peter Spirer
Chuck D © Peter Spirer
Craig Mack © Peter Spirer
DA BRAT © Peter Spirer
DOITALL (WITH DJ LORD JAZZ) © Peter Spirer
ERICK SERMON © Peter Spirer
JAY Z © Peter Spirer
NAS (WITH JUNGLE & WIZ, L-R) © Peter Spirer
Sean 'Puffy' Combs © Peter Spirer
Sean 'Puffy' Combs © Peter Spirer
WU TANG-CLAN © Peter Spirer