The Best-Selling Rap Music Books of All Time

DMX is an international superstar who has sold more than twenty million albums and defined hip-hop culture better than any of his peers. He also lived the kind of rags-to-riches story that has molded some of the best American heroes. From a smart and mischievous young boy to a teenager dubbed "Crazy Earl" to the most feared MC on the street, DMX never stopped struggling for the kind of life he knew belonged to him. Born in Yonkers, New York, to a father who abandoned him and a mother ill equipped to raise her only boy, Earl Simmons grew to hate and distrust the world around him.

But a passionate talent to rhyme gave him a dream, while a lifelong companionship with stray dogs gave him the strength to go on. His journey of self-discovery began with beatings, robbery, and group homes, lead to jails, car chases, gun battles, and rap wars, and culminated in commitment, love, fame, and fortune. This is the extraordinary first-person account of a man who gives expression to the thoughts and feelings of those who have never been heard. In the process, Earl Simmons became a father, a husband, a role model, and an international icon know as DMX. This is his story.

Tupac Shakur's most intimate and honest thoughts were uncovered only after his death with the instant classic The Rose That Grew from Concrete. His talent was unbounded a raw force that commanded attention and respect. His death was tragic—a violent homage to the power of his voice. His legacy is indomitable—as vibrant and alive today as it has ever been. This collection of deeply personal poetry is a mirror into the legendary artist's enigmatic world and its many contradictions. Written in his own hand from the time he was nineteen, these seventy-two poems embrace his spirit, his energy—and his ultimate message of hope.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. “As wild, unpredictable, and fascinating as the man himself. ” —Complex. “A cautionary tale that ends in triumph.” —GQ. “A revelation and a welcome addition to hip-hop’s literary legacy.” —All Hip Hop. The highly anticipated memoir from Gucci Mane, “one of hip-hop’s most prolific and admired artists” (The New York Times). For the first time Gucci Mane tells his story in his own words. It is the captivating life of an artist who forged an unlikely path to stardom and personal rebirth. Gucci Mane began writing his memoir in a maximum-security federal prison.

Released in 2016, he emerged radically transformed. He was sober, smiling, focused, and positive—a far cry from the Gucci Mane of years past. Born in rural Bessemer, Alabama, Radric Delantic Davis became Gucci Mane in East Atlanta, where the rap scene is as vibrant as the dope game. His name was made as a drug dealer first, rapper second. His influential mixtapes and street anthems pioneered the sound of trap music. He inspired and mentored a new generation of artists and producers: Migos, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, Zaytoven, Mike Will Made-It, Metro Boomin. Yet every success was followed by setback. Too often, his erratic behavior threatened to end it all. Incarceration, violence, rap beefs, drug addiction. But Gucci Mane has changed, and he’s decided to tell his story. In his extraordinary autobiography, the legend takes us to his roots in Alabama, the streets of East Atlanta, the trap house, and the studio where he found his voice as a peerless rapper. He reflects on his inimitable career and in the process confronts his dark past—years behind bars, the murder charge, drug addiction, career highs and lows—the making of a trap god. It is one of the greatest comeback stories in the history of music. The Autobiography of Gucci Mane is a blunt and candid account—an instant classic.