You Are Ketchup: And Other Fly Music Industry Tales. Kokayi. 2022. Backbeat Books. 212 pages. [Source: Public library.] As a longtime DMV* resident and fan of countless musicians originating here, I’m not a stranger to seeing Kokayi’s name, well, everywhere. I wasn’t, however, familiar with the full scope of his career, and when the opportunity came to read his new release, You Are Ketchup, I jumped at the chance.  Y.A.K. is part memoir-part advice manual for up-and-coming musicians/artists, but is filled with career, life, and love lessons for anyone who picks it up.  Using the metaphor of ketchup as a commodity, Kokayi sets artists up for critical thought and planning about their talent, marketability, aspirations, and expectations — nearly every aspect of their career .  He’s not preachy or even “one size fits all,” in his approach, and he doesn’t hold any cards.  The game is the game, and the way he presents his own experiences allows for direct advice to help artists move through their career with intentionality so they can actually enjoy one with longevity and viability. Kokayi is a brilliant storyteller and deftly balances painful memories and honest truths with just enough humor to take the edge…

Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur. Sheldon Pearce. 2021. Simon & Schuster. 288 pages. [Source: Public library.] How does one approach writing about Tupac Shakur more than 25 years after his death? He’s one of the most well-known hip-hop artists of all time, and is among the most controversial artists, period. Tupac has been the subject of films (documentary and biopic), books, countless articles, and even academic courses. What else is there to possibly bring to the conversation? That’s where Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur comes in. Changes is not simply another take on Tupac’s life and legacy from someone waxing philosophically about his career and controversies. As Pearce acknowledges, the book seeks to “probe the collective memory” and serve as an “examination of influence.” As such, there’s little in the way of Pearce interpreting and translating the words of people interviewed for the book. Instead, the first-hand accounts of the “chorus” are presented largely as-is, pieced together to present a chronology of Shakur’s life. This group is wide-reaching and intentionally centers voices that have not often been the most sought-after; included are former teachers, business associates, family friends, medical personnel, journalists, and contemporary artists whose insight…

Through the Storm. Beverly Jenkins. 1998. HarperCollins. 388 pages. [Source: Public Library.] I am far too late on the Beverly Jenkins train; luckily, I’ve corrected course and thoroughly enjoyed the first in her historical fiction series that follows the Le Veq family in Civil War-era New Orleans. With an unexpected and dramatic escape from the plantation she’s always know as home, Sable finds herself newly free during the ongoing Civil War. Through what can only be described as divine intervention, she comes crosses paths with Raimond Le Veq at a refugee camp. While the disarming general is obviously enamored with her, Sable is suspicious and disinterested in any connection that doesn’t make good use of her newfound freedom. Unfortunately, things never play out in simple terms, and a spur of the moment decision pulls the two apart, with Raimond left resenting Sable, who he’s come to see as a traitor. Just a year later, Sable finds herself in Raimond’s hometown of New Orleans. They’re one again thrown together by chance, this time in a marriage of convenience so that Raimond’s family can access the much-needed family inheritance they need to recover from the war. There is constant tension between the…

The Guy Next Door. DL White. 2019. 244 pages. [Source: Public Library.] Life is full of happy accidents, even if they start from bad ones. When Evonne and Taj cross paths in Potter Lake’s medical clinic, both assume it’s a one-off meeting after he patches up her injury from an unfortunate fall. They’re both chagrined when the cute yet hysterical patient happens to be the new tenant of the sexy male nurse with whom she traded barbs. While the connection starts off with professional distance, it’s clear that their paths in and around Potter Lake are going to increase — being neighbors aside. What neither realizes is that their connection is closer to home than either realizes, and that has the potential to derail their attempts to figure out if their chemistry will lead to anything more than lustful looks. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and found Evonne and Taj’s interactions hilarious, even with their significant emotional baggage. Despite a decade having passed, Evonne still lives under the shadow of mistakes she made in college. Her attempts to move past it seem to work for everyone except her mother, and her newfound independence threatens the relationships that she actually values….

The Dead Are Arising. Les Payne & Tamara Payne. 2020. Liveright. 601 pages. [Source: Public Library.] But people are always speculating-why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from birth, must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient. Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X I first heard of The Dead Are Arising when it was awarded the 2020 National Book Award for Nonfiction. The book represents over three decades of research to portray a clearer picture of who Malcolm X was, shedding light on aspects of his life that hadn’t been made public previously. I was captivated by the intensive labor started by the late Les Payne in the 1990s and concluded by his daughter Tamara Payne after his death in 2018. The result is truly an epic read that emcompasses not only Malcolm’s story but that of those closest to him. Like many who are familiar with Malcolm X, I was introduced to much of his life story through The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Yet, where the autobiography serves as Malcolm’s distillation of his experiences, The Dead Are Arising…