Three words come to mind to describe Milyn “Milli” Carter: luscious, vicious and very ambitious. But when it comes to the father of her child, Shade, she turns into pudding. He knows all the right things to say and the places to touch to make her fall back in love with him. Knowing he isn’t good for her, she can’t help the fact that she will always want him. In the middle of one of their many break ups she meets Hakeem Bentley, fresh out of federal prison, who sweeps her off her feet almost immediately. Milli is confused. On one hand Shade always has her back in the streets, and on the other Hakeem is trying to be the man that she needs, not want. After finding herself in a sticky situation, Milli has to do something hard that in the end, could tear her whole family apart. She may be the most feared woman, but in reality Milli is looking for the realest man that can deal with her cold ways.
Milli has returned and is ready to get her family back, but she is not sure of how Shade and Rico will receive her. The drama is still unfolding and her biggest fear has come to pass: her son wants to join the family business. As she tries to fight the notion that she’s failed as a parent, she can’t help but wonder if his desire to join the team is possibly a good thing for all involved. Milli and Shade are trying to figure out how they are going to deal with other drama that comes their way, but they know that no matter what, they won’t leave each other’s side until its finished. It’s no secret that Milli and Shade are made for each other, but what happens when a happy moment turns into a tragic nightmare for her? In this second installment, you will witness a love like no other and a man willing to go against everything he believes in for the sake of his family. Will Milli and Shade rise above this or will everybody fall at the hands of this unwanted beef that’s gotten larger than life itself?
After the events that occurred while on vacation with her family, Milli feels like God is playing a cruel joke on her. She isn’t in her right mind and she feels like she has too much to lose at this point. Shade is still sticking by his girl’s side and now that they are engaged, he’s done playing games, and wants nothing but to be with her for the rest of his life. Rico and Gucci are young and in love, but sometimes their love can get petty. Will it end in heartbreak? Everything that has happened up until this point was designed to bring us to this very moment. Will Milli finally experience the peace and happiness that they have been longing for, or will somebody rob them of it right at its peak?
"Having returned from a worldwide journey to reclaim his wife, Akemi, Midnight returns to Queens, where he hopes to create a new, less tumultuous life with his love. But things fall apart when violence targets his younger sister Naja. Forsaking his usual control, the ninja warrior kills his sister's attacker in cold blood, forcing him on the run and into the only shelter he can find: a seedy money laundering ring whose members are in league with the police. Though Midnight is promised temporary refuge, he's soon recognized for the murder of Naja's attacker, and lands in jail. Separated from his love, his city, and his family, Midnight must cling to his Muslim beliefs to stay strong. But soon enough, he meets Ricky Santiaga, the man who will become his leader and father figure...and perhaps, his only hope" --
Read the book that Kirkus Review called: "A complex, witty page-turner, ideal for YA fans of scandal and romance." Seventeen-year-old Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, nine weeks, and five days, and after what happened last time, she intends to keep it that way. Since then she’s lost eighty-five pounds, gotten four streaks of purple in her hair, and moved to Buttcrack-of-Nowhere, Ohio, to help her mom escape a bad relationship. All the girls in her new school want one thing—Jack Hunter, the Ice Prince of East Summit High. Hot as an Armani ad, smart enough to get into Yale, and colder than the Arctic, Jack Hunter’s never gone out with anyone. Sure, people have seen him downtown with beautiful women, but he’s never given high school girls the time of day. Until Isis punches him in the face. Jack’s met his match. Suddenly everything is a game. The goal: Make the other beg for mercy. The game board: East Summit High. The reward: Something neither of them expected. Previously published as Lovely Vicious, this fully revised and updated edition is full of romance, intrigue, and laugh-out-loud moments. The Lovely Vicious series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Love Me Never Book #2 Forget Me Always Book #3 Remember Me Forever
Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time. Praise for Decoded “Compelling . . . provocative, evocative . . . Part autobiography, part lavishly illustrated commentary on the author’s own work, Decoded gives the reader a harrowing portrait of the rough worlds Jay-Z navigated in his youth, while at the same time deconstructing his lyrics.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “One of a handful of books that just about any hip hop fan should own.”—The New Yorker “Elegantly designed, incisively written . . . an impressive leap by a man who has never been known for small steps.”—Los Angeles Times “A riveting exploration of Jay-Z’s journey . . . So thoroughly engrossing, it reads like a good piece of cultural journalism.”—The Boston Globe “Shawn Carter’s most honest airing of the experiences he drew on to create the mythic figure of Jay-Z . . . The scenes he recounts along the way are fascinating.”—Entertainment Weekly “Hip-hop’s renaissance man drops a classic. . . . Heartfelt, passionate and slick.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The pimp has reached nearly mythical status. We are fascinated by the question of how a guy from the ghetto with no startup capital and no credit -- nothing but the words out of his mouth -- comes not only to have a stable of sexy women who consider him "their man," but to drive a Rolls, sport diamonds, and wear custom suits and alligator shoes from Italy. His secret is to follow the "unwritten rules of the game" -- a set of regulations handed down orally from older, wiser macks -- which give him superhuman powers of charm, psychological manipulation, and persuasion. In Pimpology,star of the documentaries Pimps Up, Ho's Downand American Pimp and Annual Players Ball Mack of the Year winner Ken Ivy pulls a square's coat on the unwritten rules that took him from the ghetto streets to the executive suites. Ken's lessons will serve any person in any interaction: Whether at work, in relationships, or among friends, somebody's got to be on top. To be the one with the upper hand, you've got to have good game, and good game starts with knowing the rules. If you want the money, power, and respect you dream of, you can't just "pimp your ride," you need to pimp your whole life. And unless you've seen Ray Charles leading Stevie Wonder somewhere, you need Ken's guidelines to do it. They'll reach out and touch you like AT&T and bring good things to life like GE. Then you can be the boss with the hot sauce who gets it all like Monty Hall
B-boying is a form of Afro-diasporic competitive dance that developed in the Bronx, NY in the early 1970s. Widely - though incorrectly - known as "breakdancing," it is often dismissed as a form of urban acrobatics set to music. In reality, however, b-boying is a deeply traditional and profoundly expressive art form that has been passed down from teacher to student for almost four decades. Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York offers the first serious study of b-boying as both unique dance form and a manifestation of the most fundamental principles of hip-hop culture. Drawing on anthropological and historical research, interviews and personal experience as a student of the dance, Joseph Schloss presents a nuanced picture of b-boying and its social context. From the dance's distinctive musical repertoire and traditional educational approaches to its complex stylistic principles and secret battle strategies, Foundation illuminates a previously unexamined thread in the complex tapestry that is contemporary hip-hop.
Chart topping-and headline-making-rap artist Eminem shares his private reflections, drawings, handwritten lyrics, and photographs in his New York Times bestseller The Way I Am Fiercely intelligent, relentlessly provocative, and prodigiously gifted, Eminem is known as much for his enigmatic persona as for being the fastest-selling rap artist and the first rapper to ever win an Oscar. Everyone wants to know what Eminem is really like-after the curtains go down. In The Way I Am, Eminem writes candidly, about how he sees the world. About family and friends; about hip-hop and rap battles and his searing rhymes; about the conflicts and challenges that have made him who he is today. Illustrated with more than 200 full-color and black-and-white photographs-including family snapshots and personal Polaroids, it is a visual self-portrait that spans the rapper's entire life and career, from his early childhood in Missouri to the basement home studio he records in today, from Detroit's famous Hip Hop Shop to sold-out arenas around the globe. Readers who have wondered at Em's intricate, eye- opening rhyme patterns can also see, first-hand, the way his mind works in dozens of reproductions of his original lyric sheets, written in pen, on hotel stationary, on whatever scrap of paper was at hand. These lyric sheets, published for the first time here, show uncut genius at work. Taking readers deep inside his creative process, Eminem reckons with the way that chaos and controversy have fueled his music and helped to give birth to some of his most famous songs (including "Stan," "Without Me," and "Lose Yourself"). Providing a personal tour of Eminem's creative process, The Way I Am has been hailed as "fascinating," "compelling," and "candid."
"I love the way you write sis India Olowokande Ame'ye. Your words are sweet and honest. You do not attempt to coerce or seduce. You do not solicit a contract with misery but instead with power, purpose and love. Thank you." -S. Chatman_________________A lovingly mystical and refreshingly radical literary spellbook that charms, heals, glows, amplifies, and supports healing, self-care, body transformations, and the divine feminine within us all. Part warm and witchy, part how-to grow more ass (rootworkers) and activate breast tissues (caretakers), part learning to embody love as abundance, part natural healing of fibroids and heavy, painful moon times, part conjuring and sensual narratives, part flowers, herbal teas, and fairies, part full body orgasms and orgasmic living brilliancy, part prose and word/sound/power. Part dreamy and celestial, practical and purposeful, transformative and paradigm shifting. Part djembe and an acoustic guitar. Part ancient (Africa) and recent (Georgia/South Carolina/California). Many parts of the highest-vibrational whole of existence, the womb and its mysteries, nourishment, and total and complete darkness!!--------I am a highly feminine woman unfixed in my femininity. Bending. Weaving. Waddling. Diving. Leaping. Spreading. Spraying. Dripping with femininity. Courageously shapeshifting into a serpent, a pharoah, a Goddess of Love, a warm and transformative ocean, a fairy (with wings), passionfruit or liliquoi, Oshun's daughter, a 7 year old mathematician, a wood nymph, a deer, an altar, an elder person, a mother, a jackhammer, a herbalist, glitter and starlight. Ageless, timeless, spaceless, formless embodiments of royal movement. Sometimes it's growing my ass, thickening my fingers, or rounding out my face (heightening my youth) to get the medicine inside. Because anything stagnant dies." _______________________"She spends whole days in uncontrollable ecstasy. And no one is there but her and her higher self. Alone time feels good going inside." _____________________________In 2003, triple-Bachelor degreed, India Ame'ye resigned from her Sr. Accountant position in Corporate America in pursuit of passion, love (learning and embodying love), aliveness, and a big ol' adventure. There was also the wonder and magic of pain, grief, sadness, depression, and tiny steps into learning how to return ALL experiences back into love.... and most importantly, allowing the experiences to resonate as love in the body. "You Look Like Something Blooming" is a charming yet raw encounter with spirit, adventure, love, intimacy and sex, pleasure, nature, and so much more. Described as refreshingly radical, authentic, healing, opening, while being a bit dreamy, tender, faraway, lulling, ancient yet familiar. Occasionally quite funny alongside some brand of thrilling, womanly wildness. Chockfull of intimate and feminine arts in deeply honest ways, you are sure to transform in thought, action, pleasure, and/or adventure. There are also the more practical and serious bits as well as life is like that sometimes, where you have to hold the mirror up and say 'I am ready to stop hurting my organs!' It's steaming cauldron full of magical secrets and healthy living (blooming) tips, bit of this and whole lot of that! From skin to body sculpting tips to ways to come alive in your body and life, how one falls out of love and rises as love, the seed and harvest of her own love story. "You Look Like Something Blooming" is seriously 5 books in 1.
