Grammy Museum celebrates the release of BUST A MOVE: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop
Tues. June 24 The Grammy Museum® hosts a panel discussion with author Peter Relic, Young MC, Delicious Vinyl founder Mike Ross & more. Tickets available now!
Hardcover edition dust jacket and cover of Bust A Move by Peter Relic
Tues. June 24 at 7pm PDT, The Grammy Museum@ will host a special pre-publication event for BUST A MOVE: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop, the new book celebrating the story, legacy, and cultural impact of record label Delicious Vinyl. There will be a panel conversation moderated by hip-hop journalist Justin Hunte with author Peter Relic, hip-hop legends Young MC, Mellow Man Ace, B-Real, and Body & Soul’s Rose Hutchinson, plus Delicious Vinyl co-founder Mike Ross. Attendees will have the first in-person opportunity to purchase the book, plus a post-program signing to follow.
BUST A MOVE tells the story of how, from a modest apartment on Santa Monica Boulevard, Delicious Vinyl cofounders Matt Dike and Mike Ross created a crucial turning point in hip-hop history, through era-defining releases by Young MC, Tone Loc, Mellow Man Ace and others. Published by Kensington Books and featuring a foreword by B-Real of Cypress Hill, BUST A MOVE reveals the secrets of a label that vaulted rap music further into the pop mainstream, and captures a unique tipping point in Los Angeles cultural history.
At its heart, Bust A Move uncovers the true story of Matt Dike — the brilliant, elusive architect of the era’s most influential records, the creative force who shaped Delicious Vinyl at its peak, and the legend whose disappearance from the scene created a myth.
Part music history, part oral history, and part cultural deep dive, BUST A MOVE centers on the breakthrough years of 1988 and 1989, when an independent label with a bold vision reshaped the sound and reach of rap music. With deep reporting and extensive interviews, the book is anchored by a rare visual archive of photos and ephemera that bring the world of Delicious Vinyl and 1980s Los Angeles to life.
BUST A MOVE: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop will be published by Kensington Books on June 30, 2026.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Peter Relic is a journalist who has worked on staff and written for the most prominent hip-hop publications of the past 25 years, including VIBE, XXL, Rap Pages, and the Beastie Boys’ highly influential zine Grand Royal. As associate editor at VIBE, he wrote the magazine’s first stories on Eminem and Serena Williams, and his XXL magazine story on the Geto Boys was anthologized in Best American Music Writing, edited by Mary Gaitskill. His work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, and The Plain Dealer. He lives in Georgia, where he is senior writer, public relations,at Savannah College of Art and Design.
“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 andTimes of Nipsey Hussle
“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
“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