Bust a Move

Praise for Bust a Move

“Relic’s enthusiasm for the subject is infectious, and his writing brings readers (of a certain age) to one of the most fun periods of American music, when hip-hop and pop collided, changing the face of popular music forever. His book—based on extensive interviews, including one shocking one in the final chapter—is both informative and wildly entertaining. You want an engaging look at late-’80s rap? Baby, you got it.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Throughout the 1980s, hip-hop had stormed pop culture’s citadel, yet it didn’t take over until it came out west—where Matt Dike, Mike Ross, and the artists who built Delicious Vinyl were concocting an undeniable sound. Like the big hits they delivered, Peter Relic’s narrative is well crafted, deep with stars, and full of life. Bust a Move perfectly captures hip-hop’s dawn-breaking energy just at the moment it came of age.” —Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation

“When Peter Relic stepped to me fifteen years ago about doing a book on the early years of the label, it sounded like a good idea. Little did I know how deep he’d go. Pete uncovered things I had forgotten about, or maybe never knew. He definitely dug in and delivered. And now, Freak-A-Zoid robots, please report to the dance floor, the true story behind Delicious Vinyl is about to drop!” —Mike Ross, co-founder of Delicious Vinyl

“This is a rare book about creating art, and creating a scene that is also art. Peter Relic conveys how alive you can feel up close to the best stuff and how baffled you can feel when close to the artist who made it. Bust a Move is a deeply informed book that wears its research lightly, puts you at the center of an urgent and frivolous time, and makes you wish it were here again.” —RJ Smith, author of Chuck Berry: An American Life

“Like unearthing a rare gem in a record store crate, Bust a Move spotlights the legacy of a true, unsung pioneer of American hip-hop. With vivid, addictive storytelling, Peter Relic transports you to the late ’80s when tracks being cut in a musty closet on Santa Monica Boulevard magically ascended into global pop culture. This is the stuff of legend—and tragedy. A must-read for any music lover.” —Luke Korem, director of Milli Vanilli and Dealt

“A work of deep journalism and profound passion, Peter Relic’s Bust a Move is a vivid chronicle of Delicious Vinyl and its founders Matt Dike and Mike Ross. It charts the unlikely tale of the label—from seismic hits by Tone Loc and Young MC to collaborations with the Beastie Boys and Brian Wilson, through Dike’s retreat from the music business and his tragic passing—that thrust rap into the musical mainstream. In doing so, Relic has fashioned a perfect blend of biography, musicology, and cultural history.” —Bob Mehr, New York Times bestselling author of Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements

“Hip-hop is a music that contains multitudes, as Peter Relic’s immensely readable Bust a Move proves. Relic lets his attention roam freely from funk to punk, electro to pop, hair metal to Lil Nas X. Along the way, the author’s wry prose style makes this that rarest of rarities, an important book that is blessedly free of self-importance. It seems crazy that nobody has written a book about Delicious Vinyl before. Maybe nobody has been crazy enough to try. As Relic observes, the label’s legacy has been overlooked ‘like a meteor so bright it had created a blind spot.’ Not anymore.” —Rob Kenner, author of The Marathon Don’t Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle

“Bust a Move tells the extraordinary story of two young music producers who unleashed new sounds upon the world with their record label Delicious Vinyl, ensuring LA’s hip-hop scene would match, or surpass, the scene in New York City, as master storyteller Peter Relic zooms smoothly from the big social picture to the most intimate, personal details that offer a front-row seat of a scene as it simmered, boiled, and exploded. Relic’s account of visiting the reclusive Matt Dike at his home is itself worth the price of the book—a killer read.” —James Lough, author of This Ain’t No Holiday Inn: Down and Out at the Chelsea Hotel 1980–1995

“Part mystery, part oral history, Bust a Move exposes a hidden hub in the hip-hop network and the characters it connected on the cusp of the 1990s. This is the secret story of music obsessive Matt Dike and a Who’s Who of those who knew him, as well as a fresh look at how LA Loc’ed and loped onto the map of rap—Relic’s writing is as delicious as the vinyl.” —Roy Christopher, author of Dead Precedents: How Hip-Hop Defines the Future

“You hold in your hands a gift: Peter Relic has given us a thorough and passionate page-turner about a fascinating era in hip-hop history. It is a tale of rivalries, ambition, and pure love for an art form that would eventually rise to the tippiest heights of global culture. As soon as I finished, I wanted to drop that beat again.” —Reid Mitenbuler, author of Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age

“Peter Relic’s Bust a Move is a glorious ode to a bygone era of crate-digging wizards. In the figure of Matt Dike, we get a glimpse of the silent movers who remade the world in hip-hop’s image.” —Saul Austerlitz, author of Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century

“A lively, sharply observed chronicle of one of hip hop’s most unconventional success stories. . . . Relic’s writing is energetic and packed with anecdotes that feel too wild to be true. . . . Bust a Move is an affectionate, deeply researched tribute to a label that helped define a corner of hip hop history that might otherwise have been overshadowed. . . . For anyone interested in hip hop, Los Angeles culture, or the beautiful disorder of independent music, it’s a thoroughly satisfying read.” —Music Existence