Are you into hip-hop origin stories? Do you dig New York City histories? Can’t get enough of the 1970s? Then if you haven’t yet seen Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down on Netflix, you’re missing out – it’s all that and more, a compulsively watchable musical drama that’s fast-paced, stunning and brilliantly acted. Only problem? There’s only 6 episodes on Netflix – and the rest won’t be released until next year. If you need more stories like young poet and Bronx orphan Zeke trying to make a name for himself as a rapper, or Puma-sporting drug hustler Shaolin Fantastic struggling to make ends meet while he strives to master the turntables, or Mylene Cruz’ fraught path to celebrity as a disco singer, these awesome non-fiction reads will tide you over until the next drop.

Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, by Jeff Chang

This one was a no-brainer: widely considered the definitive history of hip-hop, Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop dives deep into rap’s inception and subsequent spread across the United States and the world. It doesn’t have the incredible set pieces or theatrical direction of Luhrmann’s story, but as far as historical accuracy is concerned, Chang’s book can’t be beat.

Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco by Peter Shapiro

The Get Down isn’t just about the rise of rap – it’s also about 1970s disco, which serves as the spark for some of the show’s most exciting dance sequences. These often feature Mylene Cruz, an aspiring disco star with a hell of a voice and killer moves who is forbidden from pursuing music by her strict religious father. That doesn’t stop her from wanting to be the next Donna Summer. If you get as much a kick out of disco as Mylene, pick up a copy of Turn the Beat Around, one of the most thorough histories of this cultural movement from its birth in black and gay cultural circles to is demise with the “Disco Sucks” campaign of the late '70s.

The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats by Grandmaster Flash with David Ritz

In one of the most exciting scenes of The Get Down’s opulent thriller of a pilot, Zeke, Shao, and the rest of the gang duck into an underground Bronx party where they witness a watershed moment in rap history. On the turntables: DJ Grandmaster Flash (Mamadou Athie) performing his “quick-mix theory” – the technique of repeating the drum break in a single track using duplicate records, which came to be known as his innovation. It’s unlikely that Zeke’s house-bringing-down freestyle over Flash’s beat made it into The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats, but you can read about the development of Flash’s pioneering DJ techniques and more in this illuminating rap history.

The Wu Tang Manual, by The RZA with Chris Norris

Sure, the Wu-Tang Clan wasn’t formed until the 90’s, but their ethos best reflects the enormous influence of Asian culture on hip-hop music, especially kung fu movies and Eastern mythology. If you dig Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore) the mysterious, subway-tagging, parkour-doing hustler and disciple of Grandmaster Flash, you’ll find this key to unlocking the intricacies of the Wu-Tang Clan a total page-turner.

Don 1, The King From Queens, by Louis “K.R. ONE” Gasparro
Speaking of Shaolin Fantastic, one of Shao’s most ardent fans is Dizzee Kipling (Jaden Smith), an aspiring graffiti artist awestruck by Shao’s mystique. Dizzee would’ve also been a fan of the enigmatic Don1, a real-life reclusive graffiti artist whose identity was secret, but whose tags were known across the city. Check out this fascinating biography of the influential subway tagger of the 70’s, written by Louis Gasparro, himself a graffiti artist known as “K.R. ONE.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning, by Jonathan Mahler

Another terrific history book renowned for its thoroughness and detail, Mahler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning zooms in on one year in New York City’s life: 1977, right around the year that The Get Down is set. Telling the story of the racial tensions and socioeconomic upheaval that threatened to tear New York apart, this book is a must-read for any Get Down viewer intrigued by Francisco Cruz, the Bronx community advocate and power broker with a penchant for shady deals and menacing threats. His storyline, which involves influencing the mayoral election in an effort to reroute city funds to his struggling neighborhood, isn’t strictly non-fiction – but it is based on the corruption and racism that pervaded politics in late '70s NYC. If you want to learn more, get a copy of Mahler’s account today.

Do you have any other non-fiction reads to pair with The Get Down? Shout them out in the comments below!