Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)\n“Sparkling . . . the overdue singing of a Black girl’s song, with perfect pitch . . . delicious to read.”—Oprah Daily\nONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly\nA weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop. Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo.\nSmith’s detailed narrative begins with Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, and continues through the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, as well as the under-considered careers of Marilyn McCoo, Deniece Williams, and Jody Watley.\nShine Bright is an overdue paean to musical masters whose true stories and genius have been hidden in plain sight—and the book Danyel Smith was born to write.

Biographies & Memoirs

Smith, Danyel

Arts & Literature

Roc Lit 101

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)\n“Sparkling . . . the overdue singing of a Black girl’s song, with perfect pitch . . . delicious to read.”—Oprah Daily\nONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, The Root, Variety, Esquire, The Guardian, Newsweek, Pitchfork, She Reads, Publishers Weekly\nSHORTLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD\nA weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop. Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo.\nSmith’s detailed narrative begins with Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved woman who sang her poems, and continues through the stories of Mahalia Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey, as well as the under-considered careers of Marilyn McCoo, Deniece Williams, and Jody Watley.\nShine Bright is an overdue paean to musical masters whose true stories and genius have been hidden in plain sight—and the book Danyel Smith was born to write.

A raw, compelling memoir of baseball, family, fame, addiction, and recovery, by one of the most beloved baseball players of his generation How does it feel to be born with enormous gifts, in a life shadowed by tragedy? What does it mean when the gift that opens the world for us is not enough to stop us from losing the things we love? And what new gifts do we find in that loss? Baseball had been CC Sabathia's life since he was a kid in gritty, baseball-obsessed Vallejo, California. He was a star by the time he was a preteen and a professional athlete when he was still a teenager. Everything he knew about how to be a person-an adult, a husband and father, a leader-he learned in rhythm with the baseball season, the every-fifth-day high-intensity spotlight of a starting pitcher, all while dealing with one of the sport's most turbulent eras- racism in a sport with diminishing black presence; the era of performance-enhancing drugs; and the increasing tension between high-value contracts and sports owners who moved players around like game pieces. But his biggest struggle was with his own body and mind- Buoyed his whole life by talent and a fiery competitive spirit, CC found himself dealing with the steady and eventually alarming breakdown of his own body and his growing addiction in a world that encouraged and enabled it. Till the End is the thrilling memoir of one of the most beloved players in the game, a veteran star of the sport's marquee team during its latest championship era. It's also a book about baseball-about the ins and outs of its most important and technical position and its evolution in this volatile era. But woven within it is the moving, universal story of resilience and mortality and discovering what matters.

Till the End

Smith, Chris

Sabathia, CC

Community & Culture

The Book of Jose: A Memoir

Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum–selling artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Fat Joe pulls back the curtain on his larger-than-life persona in this gritty, intimate memoir about growing up in the South Bronx and finding his voice through music.\n“An adrenaline rush . . . buckle up and lean back.”—Spin\nFat Joe is a hip-hop legend, but this is not a tale of celebrity; it is the story of Joseph Cartagena, a kid who came of age in the South Bronx during its darkest years of drugs, violence, and abandonment, and how he navigated that traumatizing landscape until he found—through art, friendship, luck, and will—a rocky path to a different life.\nJoe is born into a sprawling Puerto Rican and Cuban family in the projects of the South Bronx. From infancy his life is threatened by violence, and by the time he starts middle school, he is faced with the grim choice that defined a generation: to become predator or prey. Soon Joe and his crew dominate the streets, but he finds his true love among the park jams where the Bronx’s wild energy takes musical form. His identity splits in two: a hustler roaming record stores, looking for beats; and a budding rapper whose violent rep rings in the streets. As Joe’s day-to-day life becomes more fraught with betrayal, addiction, and death, until he himself is shot and almost killed, he gravitates toward the music that gives him both a voice to tell the stories of his young life and the tools he needs to create a new one. The challenges never stop—but neither does Joe.\nThis memoir, written in Joe’s own intensely compelling voice, moves with the momentum of pulp fiction, but underneath the tragicomedy and riveting tales of the streets and the industry is a thought-provoking story about a generation of survivors raised in warlike conditions—the life-and-death choices they had to make, the friends they lost and mourned, and the glittering lives they created from the ruins.

FAT JOE

Reid, Shaheem

Humor & Entertainment

Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds

In theory, someone like me was never supposed to get the opportunity to be in my position. &nbsp; I spent the early years of my life sleeping on floors and couches, running the streets as my mother dealt with the challenges of a drug addiction. Now I own what some say is&nbsp;the most influential and culturally relevant sports agency in America and do business with some of the biggest companies and most prominent people in the world. Back on my block, nobody could have predicted this. My trajectory is only supposed to happen to Ivy League types, or gifted athletes or entertainers - not someone who's five-foot-eight and grew up with a pair of dice in one hand and a&nbsp;pistol&nbsp;in the other. &nbsp; Some people say I'm lucky, and in one sense they're right. I survived experiences that killed some of my friends. I avoided situations that could have been disastrous. I made choices that I'm still trying to put behind me, and I'm not sure I ever will.&nbsp; &nbsp; I also believe that you create your own luck. I believe that luck is&nbsp;when&nbsp;preparation meets opportunity. Luck is the accumulation of all the decisions I made prior to getting lucky, and how hard I worked after. Everything on both sides of that moment was earned.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; A lot of people think they know who I am, but they don't understand what kind of assembly line I was built on.&nbsp; &nbsp; I'm finally ready to tell that story.

Paul, Rich

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A memoir of will, success, and the luck we make--from the founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group and one of the most influential figures in the multibillion-dollar sports industry "One of the greatest stories of growing up in America's ghettos and overcoming adversity."--Jay-Z &nbsp; "The minute I&nbsp;met Rich, I knew he was different."--LeBron James, from the Foreword A BET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR There's a story about Rich Paul that everyone knows: A twenty-one-year-old kid from Cleveland who sells sports jerseys out of his car meets a high school basketball phenom named LeBron James at an airport--the two become friends and forge a decades-long partnership that reinvents the business of sports. That random meeting might seem like the lucky break that changed Paul's life. But a moment of good fortune means nothing without the struggle that gets you there. And the truth is, Paul had always been lucky. Rich Paul became a gambler at an early age--his fast mind and gift for finding an edge made him a devastating dice roller who could hold his own with grown men, win big, and walk away alive. Shooting dice wasn't just a pastime; it was a way to earn money for his family as his mother struggled under the weight of drug addiction. He learned the secret science of dice in the same place he found all the lessons of his young life: the corner store his father operated, the center of the neighborhood's frantic action. Paul's father had another family but kept his son close working at the store. Paul dreamed of becoming a star athlete, but the streets were where he thrived, building a lucrative enterprise on shaky ground. When he found himself at a dangerous crossroads, he summoned the teachings of his past to create a different future. Readers will follow the riveting journey of a young Rich Paul narrated by the Paul of today, who looks back with wit and insight, drawing out the lessons he learned at every stage--about business, people, and the values that lead to success. It's the inspiring story of the luck that's all around us, if we know where to look.

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Books by Roc Lit 101

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Roc Lit 101 publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

Till the End

The Book of Jose: A Memoir

The Book of Jose: A Memoir

Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds

Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds