In telling the story of musical performance, the Cambridge work offers a kind of social history as well, describing private and communal music-making and the men and women who gathered to hear it.
Mona Scott-Young is a former hip-hop dancer who later managed hit-making producers Trackmasters before becoming one of the most influential women in music, overseeing the careers of Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Maxwell and Fantasia at Violator Management.