A Hip-Hop Story [Paperback]

The first novel to truly capture the fast and furious world of hip-hop—one in which the line between art and life is blurred for two ambitious MCs whose battle to be #1 is fought with weapons and words.

Rappers Flawless and Hannibal are two talented young men moving toward the same dream: To be the best, take over the world, see the big picture, and become the most respected rap artists of their generation. Along the way, they battle the business of mainstream hip-hop, industry honchos, crazy fans, and—most of all—each other.

Caught up in their intense rivalry are Erika, Flawless's sister, and Micah, Hannibal's protegé, who are two young lovers with loyalties toward each rapper that threaten to ruin their future together. A vivid journey through the underworld of urban music, it is aWest Side Storyremixed to the movement of hip-hop; a story of desire and dreams, all tied to the beat of hip-hop eternal.Heru Ptah is a Jamaican-born writer, poet, philosopher, and author ofLove, God and RevolutionandA Hip-Hop Story.He lives in Brooklyn, New York.Chapter One

I ain't gotta spit

'Cause ma farts

Flow better than you

Smell better than you

Ma shit is just better than you

I'm a skinny dude

But dude don't be fooled

I'll knock a fat fuck

Back to Bellevue

'Cause you must be crazy

Comin' wit' that weak shit

Cough one line

An' yo fat ass is outta breath

The words are sharp, pungent and cut through shells with a razor's edge. It takes a thick shell to bear it, to hear it, to stand still, all the while crafting an evermore denigrating comeback. As such this pudgy prodigy waited his turn, engulfed in the melee of his peers, pretending not to be fazed by his skinny opponent's stinging aspersions. Waiting for his retort, he meditated on his course of action and how to turn the affections of the ever-growinlã&