So, why am I doing this? Rip it Up is such a rich resource, espe­cial­ly in the ear­ly years. Nothing else was real­ly doc­u­ment­ing pop cul­ture, let alone the nascent alter­na­tive cul­ture that was start­ing to boil up. The pre­vail­ing atti­tude in the main­stream media of the day seemed to be that pop music was kid’s stuff.