WELCOME TO THE CYPHER

Join the cypher in this exploration of the poetic power of hip-hop for young readers.

Cyphers are foundational to hip-hop culture, speaking to the ritual practice of rappers, beatboxers, or break dancers gathering in a circle, allowing each participant to take a turn in the spotlight. It’s meant to be a protected space to experiment and improvise within a friendly, supportive group. Dill, who’s also an anti-racist educator, debuts as a children’s author by showcasing the character-building possibilities of the cypher. A white-haired Black male hip-hop elder narrates throughout, highlighting how hip-hop has now grown across multiple generations: “Welcome to the cypher! / Now huddle up nice and snug / You feel that circle around you? / Well, that’s a hip-hop hug!” There’s certainly a teacher at work here, mobilizing a relatively sanitized understanding of hip-hop that avoids some of the troublesome content choices that can make mainstream rap a minefield for young children. The boombox, the microphone, and the vinyl record are some of the key motifs as Afful’s animation-influenced illustrations take readers across the urban landscape, displaying young people across genders and skin tones finding their place within the hip-hop scene. Altogether, it exemplifies much of the same rhyme schemes and patterns found in most records, serving as a fun read-aloud and a safe introduction to hip-hop as a pathway to healthy child development.

Good for the children of a rising hip-hop generation.