Rap, Race and Revolution
By Ashahed M. MuhammadAssistant Editor | Last updated: Jun 19, 2009 - 2:38:05 PM
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Solutions for our Struggle Author creates a series of hip hop guides for community development and social change
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This is his second book, containing historical anecdotes and a street-wise analysis of events emerging from his own personal experiences and learning from the experiences of others. The foreword of the book was written by revolutionary rapper Stic.Man of Dead Prez.
His first book, “How To Hustle and Win: A Survival Guide for the Ghetto” became an underground classic, surpassing his expectations. Despite the title of the book, it is not a manual on how to commit illegal acts. The book achieved widespread popularity primarily through word of mouth and social networking sites like MySpace. The book is selling well in Canada, the United Kingdom and he recently shipped copies to Ghana.
The author hopes that his second offering using stories covering the full spectrum of what has become known as the “urban” experience, will be met with the same amount of enthusiasm.
“At first, I did not expect the book to have the kind of appeal that it has had,” he said. “This has all been grassroots, without the major bookstore chains, without any major media coverage. I have not paid for any advertisements. I think what has really helped it spread is that it resonated with people. I think everything that people were thinking that they did not have a way to verbalize is found somewhere in the book.”
Both books were written at the same time, however, strategically released at different times. Supreme Understanding says his desire was to write books that flow using a very conversational and easy to read tone. True stories dealing with the perils and pitfalls of organizations, to the rise and fall of revolutionary leaders are all contained in the book for study and analysis by those seeking understanding of events happening around them.
“Everything has been a determined idea from day one,” he said. “They were split up strategically so that people would not be intimidated by such a big book and so that it could move sequentially. My first book ‘How to Hustle and Win' appeals to people who do not even read books. It will lead them into having to pick up ‘Rap, Race and Revolution,' which they may have never looked at otherwise. ‘Rap, Race and Revolution' on the other hand is going to attract people that are more advanced.”
And then, there is a third book called “The Knowledge of Self” which according to the author is “a collection of wisdom on the science of everything in life.”
“The first book was about personal development and the second book was about social change. This third book is about the mental change that has to occur among us as a people, first to get the knowledge of God, the knowledge of the Devil. The knowledge of who and what we are and where we fall in society and what needs to be done to really create the change that needs to occur.”
This book contains some strong language used within the context of the subject matter.
(For more information or to purchase books by Supreme Understanding, go to http://www.hustleandwin.com/)