Born in Kazakhstan and immigrating to Detroit with her family in the late ’70s, Tobak is passionate about hip-hop culture and photography, creating content about the arts, politics, social justice and music photography. Her work has helped to give a voice to those who have been marginalized in the music and art industries by organizing exhibitions on hip-hop photography and culture across the USA.
Vikki Tobak is an American author and journalist specializing in hip-hop culture since the 90s, having started out in the culture department of Paper magazine before being hired by legendary hip-hop label Payday Records Founded in 1992, to work with acts such as Gang Starr, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Show & AG and Jeru, among other hip-hop legends. After only a few months with the company, she was promoted to director of marketing and public relations, which included organizing photo shoots for artists.
She continued to work in the music industry throughout the 90s, experiences that gave her a behind-the-scenes perspective on the rise of hip hop culture. Her insider knowledge of the subject turned into work as a music journalist and also as a curator of music photography.
This collection of photos and interviews on the history of hip-hop, originally a column on the Mass Appeal website, is now published as an album by d’édition TASCHEN. It includes photos taken during photoshoots and artist interviews, providing an insight into the evolution of hip-hop.
As you can see, Tobak has largely succeeded in bringing his added value to the world of hip-hop by immortalizing the moments considered to be the most memorable. You can discover his books on sale in all traditional book retail outlets; amazon, Fnac, Cultura…
