From Staircase to Stage

June 1, 2021

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist De Vis� (Andy and Don) offers an extensively researched biography of B.B. King, the immortal King of the Blues. Former New York Times music critic Horowitz investigates the crucial issue why classical music in America has remained white despite Dvor�k's Prophecy that a "great and noble" school of American classical music would emerge from the Black music he had heard while visiting America. Edited by novelist Cameron, Solid Ivory ranges from fabled director Ivory's first meeting with work-life partner Ismail Merchant through his memories of Satyajit Ray, Federico Fellini, Vanessa Redgrave, George Cukor, Kenneth Clark, Bruce Chatwin, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala to his winning the Academy Award at 89 for Call Me by Your Name. Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Muldoon, who benefited from dozens of interviews with McCartney over five years, The Lyrics presents the definitive texts of 154 McCartney songs with personal commentary; look for an international press conference on Facebook event upon publication. The grandson of Gandhian freedom fighters and immigrant parents, Penn ignored advice to do something practical and, as he chronicles in You Can't Be Serious, became a leading actor; he also served as President Obama's Liaison to Young Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Arts (125,000-copy first printing). Readers travel with influential rapper Raekwon the Chef as he ascends From Staircase to Stage, from performing on Staten Island stairs to cofounding the Wu-Tang Clan to making a platinum solo debut (75,000-copy first printing). Author of the New York Times best-selling The Beatles, Spitz now documents the ferociously successful Led Zeppelin.

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September 13, 2021
Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon debuts with a sincere albeit wearying look at his rise from street hustler to star. The rapper’s arduous path to hip hop fame started in a rough neighborhood in Queens, where as a child in the ’70s he saw “bodies hung from poles,” and later Staten Island, where he began selling drugs for cash. But by age 11, after discovering rap from block parties in his neighborhood, Raekwon’s interests shifted: “music was dope.” At 19, while recuperating after being accidentally shot by a neighbor, he began writing rhymes and his reflections on life around him. Soon after, he started collaborating with his friend Robert Diggs (“aka the RZA”) and the Wu-Tang Clan began to take form. RZA and Raekwon were later joined by Ghostface, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, GZA, and U-God, releasing their first hit “Protect Ya Neck,” in 1992 to commercial and critical acclaim. Raekwon laboriously traces the making of the group’s numerous gold and platinum albums up through the 2000s—in addition to his own records, including 1999’s Immobilarity—and the tensions that eventually broke the group apart. Remarkable as his story is, though, the narrative unfortunately moves at a plodding pace. Still, fans will relish Raekwon’s story of finding success against steep odds. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore and Co.

October 15, 2021
Raekwon the Chef, a founding and integral member of the famous rap group Wu Tang Clan and revolutionary solo artist as well, tells the unvarnished truth about his life growing up in the Park Hills area of Staten Island in poverty while organically and methodically transforming his love of hip-hop and rap from a hobby into a passion. With best-selling music writer Bozza, Raekwon delves into the intricacies involved in creating Wu Tang Clan's various hits as well as his own albums and tracks the personal and professional politics on the business side of things. In his youth, Raekwon would hang with friends on neighborhood staircases, listening to music and smoking weed. "That was our hideout, and just like outlaws, when anyone came up the stairs, we'd scatter . . . Kids brought radios in there, sometimes a portable record player if they had one. Next thing you knew it evolved and dudes were beatboxing." Raekwon's story is one of perseverance, discovery, and vision as he strives to become a better man and outstanding musician.

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November 1, 2021
A memoir from the celebrated rapper. The Wu-Tang Clan has always cultivated an air of mystery, and Raekwon is one of the most secretive of the Staten Island rappers, so it's refreshing to see how forthcoming he is in his first book. Unlike most rappers, Raekwon, aka The Chef, doesn't really speak or rhyme directly. The force behind the Wu-Tang hit "C.R.E.A.M." and the classic solo album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... makes his points more through imagery and vivid descriptions than straightforward boasts. However, with the help of noted biographer Bozza, Raekwon tells his own compelling story with a limited number of artistic flourishes. The author tells his truth unflinchingly, refusing to gloss over his mistakes or the mistakes of others. He covers his troubled youth of petty robbery and drug-dealing and the realization after he was shot that he had a skill for writing rhymes. He offers a cleareyed walk-through of the decision-making process struggling hip-hop artists go through when faced with their first record deals. Even though they may not be getting what they are due, they often have no real leverage. The author applies his no-nonsense approach to the world around him. "When you grow up a young black man in a poor urban community," he writes, "you become accustomed to what is in front of you and numb to circumstances that ain't right. If you keep your wits about you and find a potential way out, you grab it and hold on with all you've got. As a fan, hip-hop was my escape from reality." Raekwon offers revelations about how his relationship with Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA soured. He also discusses the Hulu series Wu-Tang: An American Sagaas well as how a rare Wu-Tang album ended up in the hands of "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli. Raekwon's raw memoir holds nothing back about his stormy life in Wu-Tang Clan and as one of hip-hop's most-admired artists.

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