This may come as a shock to the lotta youse, but I’m not exactly timely when it comes to reviewing stuff around here. This may be a side-effect of interviewing too many Rapper Dudes 1 over the years, resulting in my having been inflicted with some sorta ‘Hip-Hop Time’ condition which leads to scenarios where Large Professor left an HHC photographer waiting for hours in Flushing Meadows while he was taking his new push bike for a spin. Anyhoo, it must have been a full moon over Staten Island because I was suddenly inspired to pluck my advance copy of Lamont ‘U-God’ Hawkins 2018 autobiography, Raw, from the bookshelf, take that pillow from my head and put book in it 2.
As is the case for other rap books of this ilk, Raw focuses on three major topics – the author details how he overcame tremendous odds to become a ‘rap superstar’ through true grit (protecting his bags of new gear getting snatched when leaving Albee Square Mall), moral fortitude (‘I never sold to a pregnant woman’) and being really good at punching people in the face. Most of the book is the story of how U-God earned his stripes on the streets of Staten Island before he got eventually did a series of short stints in the pokey, before he drops some amusing tour stories and then sours proceedings at the end by ragging on the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan in the final chapter.
In terms of his rapping, U is refreshingly honest about his initial shortcomings, admitting that he was ‘laughed out of the booth’ the first fourteen times he tried to lay down raps for Wu songs, building up the Golden Arms Redemption that was Wu-Tang Forever, where he demonstrated a Phife Dawg level of improvement. Lamont states that ‘I took over that album’, but I’d argue that it Inspectah Deck was the real star of that (bloated) show.
Some of the highlights, in terms of anecdotes, include:
– Prince Rakeem’s nickname was ‘RZA Radish’ because he ignored deodorant and was ‘smelling like a goddamn onion’.
– While selling vials on the corner one time, someone gave Method Man a sheet of acid and he ended up hiding in the bushes for hours because he was so out of it.
– Cappadonna would have been on 36 Chambers but was in jail for someone else’s drug stash that was dropped next to his feet during a raid.
– ODB’s had an unexplained, blind hatred for Akinyele that led to multiple fist fights on stage, both on and off stage.
– The hook for ‘Method Man’ was inspired by Hall & Oats ‘Method of Modern Love’.
– A dude fresh out of jail got really carried away with a dancer at a Luke Skyywalker party and ends up falling out of a car while getting the brakes beatin’ offa him by someone else in the crew, who was apparently so enraged that he would embarrass the entourage in front of Uncle Luke that he tried to murder the guy on the way back to the hotel?
There’s also a story about how a fan staged-dived at a Wu show but the crowd didn’t catch him, so he landed straight on his noodle and fled the venue clutching his neck. Then on the next page U details how he later met a guy in a wheelchair who claimed that he was paralysed at a Wu-Tang concert. I’m 95% sure it was the same guy but he didn’t seem to make the connection?!
In terms of the classic ‘unsung hero’ claims that we expect from any autobiography, U-God is pretty restrained here, and only claims credit for the following:
– Finding and dropping Cappadonna off at the studio for to record verse for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… which broke the creative blockage that Rae and Ghost were facing to finish the album.
– Encouraging Raekwon not to give up rapping when he was caught-up in the street life.
– Supporting Method Man financially so he could concentrate on writing rhymes and inspired the idea for ‘You’re All That I Need’ since Meth was in love with U-God’s baby mother’s sister.
The highlight of the entire tome was finally finding out who Scotty Watty was! 3 All in all, this is an enjoyable read, and as a result I’ll be scouring ebay for the next ten years in search of Method Man’s first demo, ‘Panty Raider’.
Man, I may have to pick that up in my local second-hand book store.
I appreciate your detailed review of U-God’s “Raw.” It’s fascinating to get an insider’s perspective on the Wu-Tang Clan’s early days and the challenges U-God faced. The anecdotes about RZA’s hygiene, Method Man’s acid trip, and the origin of the “Method Man” hook are particularly intriguing. It’s also refreshing to see U-God’s honesty about his initial struggles with rapping and his relatively modest claims about his contributions to the group. The book seems to offer a balanced mix of street life stories, music industry insights, and personal growth. Your review has definitely piqued my interest in reading “Raw” to learn more about the Wu-Tang Clan’s journey and U-God’s unique perspective.
I can’t work out if this is a real comment or an AI summary of the post…
The world needs a Shorty Shitstain autobiography.
@TM agreed his story’s the most intriguing cause I wanna know how he earned that nickname
@Ben
My guess is when he was a shorty, he often had a shitstain somewhere on his clothing. We Usually Take Niggas Garments, but not after Shorty Shitstain’s through with them.
Wasn’t his record the first Wu-Tang solo album that flopped? Who or what did he blame for that?
This book is even more ridiculous than P’s autobiography. For this, I
salute it wholeheartedly.
Rapper autobiographies keep winnin’.