NEW READ! Animal II: The Omen, by K'wan Foye

For interviews and more information on K'wan Foye

please contact:

Donna Torrence

donna@mediasavvypr.com

201.854.7082

Amazon.com #1 “Top Rated Fiction” Bestselling Author

K’WAN FOYE

Set to release

“ANIMAL II: THE OMEN”

from CASH MONEY CONTENT/ATRIA BOOKS

On November 19, 2013

K'wan to Kick off Book Tour

November 8, 2013 –    K’wan Foye, one of this generations most talented and gritty writers, is set to release Animal II: The Omen on November 19, from Cash Money Content books, the book publishing arm of the iconic record label Cash Money Records.  Animal II: The Omen, Foye’s most anticipated release yet, is the follow up to last year’s #1 bestselling urban crime thriller, Animal.

Animal is Urban Lit’s newest hit series, with strong sales that have not slowed since its 2012 release.  The novel enjoyed unprecedented success with a #1 debut on Amazon.com’s list of “Top Rated Fiction,” and recognition by Library Journal as one of the “Top 5 Street Lit Novels of 2012,” along with a Library Journal starred “Pick of the Month” for October 2012.  Additionally, Animal is currently #2 on the Power List Best-Selling Books List compiled by Black bookstores.

With Animal II, Black Press Radio’s 2008 “Author of the Year,” K’wan Foye, continues the bloody saga of Animal, the infamous fugitive from K’wan’s well‑known Hood Rat Series, as he sets out on a complex and tragic quest in search of the truth. 

K’wan Foye’s previous novels include the bestsellers Welfare Wifeys (an African American Literary Award-winner), Section 8, Gutter, Still Hood, Hood Rat,Eve, Hoodlum and Street Dreams, all released by St. Martin’s Press.  K’wan has sold a cumulative total of 500,000 books.

Praise for K’wan

   “Animal is a masterpiece” – Ronald “Slim” Williams, Co-CEO Cash Money Records/

                    Cash Money Content

  

 “You don’t get more hood than K’wan” – Bryan “Birdman” Williams, Co-CEO Cash Money

                   Records/Cash Money Content

  “…the characters become so alive that watching them spin toward their inevitable ends

                  is heartbreaking.”  - Entertainment Weekly on “Street Dreams”

“The big draw here is the electric prose, which is imbued with profane, comic lyricism.”

                         - Publishers Weekly on “Hood Rat”

“K’wan ... produces thrilling plots, and his descriptive prose holds its own against many top-selling authors.”

                         - Library Journal on “Eviction Notice”

Catch K’wan at the following book signings in the following cities:

11/20                     Source of Knowledge bookstore, 867 Broad Street, Newark NJ, 5pm – 7pm

11/21                     TLJ Bookstore, New Location 4921 Suitland Rd, Suitland MD, 20747, 5:30 pm – 7:30pm

11/22                     Books A Million, 144 S. Clark St (Galleria Mall), Chicago, IL, 12Noon

                                Da Book Joint, 2311 East 71st St, Chicago, IL, 7:00pm – 9:00pm

11/23                     Dock Shop event, Location TBA, Dallas, TX, 3:00pm

                                The Dock Book Shop, Book Club hosted event, 6637 Meadowbrook Dr, Dallas TX, 7:00pm

11/29                     Books A Million, 901 East Market St, Suite 1285, Philadelphia, PA, 12Noon – 2:00pm

                                Black and Nobel, 1409 W. Erie Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 5:00pm – 7:00pm

11/30                     Medu Bookstore, Greenbriar Mall Atlanta, GA, 2:00-4:00pm

For more info log onto www.kwanfoye.com.  Follow K’wan on twitter @K’Wan141 or @We_R_TeamAnimal and also find him at facebook.com/We Are #TeamAnimal.

For interviews and more information about Animal II or Cash Money Content books, contact:

Donna Torrence, mediasavvypr.com

email: donna@mediasavvyr.com, phone: 201.854.7082

About Cash Money Content

Cash Money Content (CMC) is a groundbreaking partnership that pairs the Cash Money Records brand with Atria Books, a division of the publishing powerhouse, Simon & Schuster.  CMC is publishing some of the most original and influential authors of urban fiction as well as life-changing books on success, motivation, money, health, and memoirs by some of the most prominent voices alive today.  Founded  by brothers Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams, from the label that is home to multi-platinum recording artists like Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Jay Sean, and Bow Wow, comes a whole new concept in book publishing.

For more information on Cash Money Content, log onto www.CashMoneyContent.com, follow on Twitter @CashMoneyBooks and on Facebook @CashMoneyContent.

About Cash Money Records

Cash Money Records is a legendary record company founded by brothers Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams.  The record label has grown from the housing projects of New Orleans into a multi-million dollar urban empire and is considered the most successful independent record label in America as well as an enduring global street brand. Cash Money is home to chart-topping, multi-platinum recording artists like Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Jay Sean, and Bow Wow.  Today, Cash Money operates as a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company.

Animal II: The Omen

Ani                            by K'wan

Cash Money Content/Original

Pub Date: November 19, 2013

ISBN:  978‑1‑936399‑29‑1

eBook: 978-1-936399-30-7

Trim Size: 5 5/16 x 8 1/4

Price US: $14.99, Price CDN: $16.99

Format: Paperback

336 Pages

Courthouse News Service: Urban Fiction Writer Loses Suit Over Bootlegs

Courthouse News Service

Urban Fiction Writer Loses Suit Over Bootlegs
By ROSE BOUBOUSHIAN 

     (CN) - Teri Woods, reportedly the first writer to put the urban fiction genre on The New York Times bestseller list, cannot sue over bootleg copies of her novels, a federal judge ruled.
     Teri Woods and her Philadelphia-based, "mom-and-pop" publishing company sued DeSean Williams aka Jimmie Benjamin and several others in October 2011, alleging they conspired to produce and distribute 70,000 bootleg copies of her copyrighted books for sale.
     Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Kelly in Philadelphia dismissed the claims against two of those defendants - Baltimore-based bookstore Urban Knowledge and its principal, Carl Weber - in May 2012.
     Some months later, Woods filed another suit against many of the same defendants.
     She claimed that bootleg copies of her books, including the three-part Dutch and Deadly Reigns series, appeared for sale on Amazon.
     Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Kelly in Philadelphia preserved claims for copyright infringement and false-light invasion of privacy against Gasch Printing this past April.
     In dismissing most claims, Kelly noted that the "threadbare complaint" failed to show the need for a permanent injunction on top of the remedies available for copyright infringement.
     "The complaint lacks the 'what, how, where and when' underlying a proper fraud claim and is devoid of any injection of precision or measure of substantiation of such claims," Kelly wrote. "Plaintiffs assert a blanket list of acts in support of their RICO claims against all six defendants in this case. Even taking these allegations as true, as we must for the purposes of this motion, we find the actions listed to be vague and conclusory. Plaintiffs neglect to outline the specific role played by each defendant in the alleged fraudulent acts. Rather, the complaint groups the defendants all together under generalized allegations and conclusions. Likewise, there are no specific facts asserting how these illegal acts were committed by each defendant. Additionally, there is no mention of where the illegal activities occurred. Finally, plaintiffs have neglected to specify a time-period as to when the events allegedly took place. Overall, we are left to guess at who committed the illegal activities and where, when and how they were committed."
     Relying on that ruling Friday, Kelly dismissed all claims against Urban Knowledge and Weber, holding that many of Woods' claims are precluded by res judicata.
     Woods' current allegations "replicate almost exactly word-for-word the factual allegations set forth by plaintiffs in Woods I," Kelly wrote, referring to the 2011 action. "Furthermore, plaintiffs' current claims would require the same witnesses and evidence as their claims in the prior suit. In light of these similarities and the fact that the Deadly Reigns series was copyrighted at the time of the first suit, we conclude that these claims were available to plaintiff in Woods I and should have been properly raised at that time. Consequently, plaintiffs' failure to include these claims precludes their injection into the current litigation."
     Back in 2010, Woods sued a Bronx nightclub, the Greenhouse, over its alleged discrimination toward black guests trying to attend her novel release party.
     Guests had filed a class action over the club's alleged discrimination in 2009.
     Woods' website says her books have generated over $15 million in gross revenue. She is touted as the first writer to put urban fiction on The New York Times bestseller list. 

WORLD PREMIERE: "For Colored Boys" A web series written and directed by Stacey Muhammad

PREMIERES SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013, 7:00 P.M. EASTERN TIME.

WATCH.SUBSCRIBE.WATCH.SUBSCRIBE.WATCH.SUBSCRIBE.

NEW READ | Buck: A Memoir by MK Asante (2013)

Asante, M.K. (2013). Buck: A memoir. NY: Spiegel & Grau.
ISBN-13: 978-0812993417 | Hardcover | $25.00 USD

This memoir promises to be one of the most revered life stories depicting a contemporary young male coming-of-age in urban America, since Claude Brown's Manchild of the Promised Land and Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets. Author MK Asante is son of the founder of Afrocentricity, the legendary Black Studies scholar, Molefi Keti Asante. 

Born in Zimbabwe and raised in North Philadelphia, MK Asante paints a gripping portrait of what it means to be an American Black man coming of age in the streets of hip hop era Philadelphia. Asante is honest in his revelations of how family issues are often the "whys" for teens finding solace and identity in the streets. For those of us who follow the genre of Urban Literature, Asante's story is a welcome addition to the canon. Shucks, given its early stellar reception, this book may shove comparisons aside, to stand valiantly, on its own.

I particularly like the early review of Pierce Freelon (via Amazon.com) where he says: "MK has a fascinating story. His father is a famous scholar - the founder of Afrocentricity. His mother is drowning in prescription drugs and a broken household. His sister lives with dementia - literally in another universe. His role model is his older brother Uzi - constantly on the run from the law. And then you have Philly - the City of Brotherly Love - full of dime jawns, blunt smoke, hip hop, broken schools and young bucks. It takes [a] village to raise a child - and MK was BUCK wild!"

Book Description:

A rebellious boy’s journey through the wilds of urban America and the shrapnel of a self-destructing family—this is the riveting story of a generation told through one dazzlingly poetic new voice.

MK Asante was born in Zimbabwe to American parents: a mother who led the new nation’s dance company and a father who would soon become a revered pioneer in black studies. But things fell apart, and a decade later MK was in America, a teenager lost in a fog of drugs, sex, and violence on the streets of North Philadelphia. Now he was alone—his mother in a mental hospital, his father gone, his older brother locked up in a prison on the other side of the country—and forced to find his own way to survive physically, mentally, and spiritually, by any means necessary.

Buck is a powerful memoir of how a precocious kid educated himself through the most unconventional teachers—outlaws and eccentrics, rappers and mystic strangers, ghetto philosophers and strippers, and, eventually, an alternative school that transformed his life with a single blank sheet of paper. It’s a one-of-a-kind story about finding your purpose in life, and an inspiring tribute to the power of education, art, and love to heal and redeem us.

***************
Additionally, MK Asante is a poet, with two poetry books to his credit: Beautiful. And Ugly Too (2005) and Like Water Running Off My Back (2002). He's also previously published a treatise on Hip Hop entitled, It's Bigger Than Hip Hop: The Rise of the Post-Hip Hop Generation (2009). For more information on his publications, visit his website at: http://mkasante.com/books/buck/.  Asante is an Associate Professor at Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD.

New Read | Street Lit: Representing the Urban Landscape (coming November 2013)

Be on the look out to pre-order this critical anthology about Street Lit:

Norris, K. (ed). (2013). Street Lit: Representing the urban landscape. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. | Hardcover |  ISBN-13: 978-0810892620  | $38.00 USD

Here is the book description:

"Over the last few decades, the genre of urban fiction—or street lit—has become increasingly popular, as more novels secure a place on bestseller lists that were once the domain of mainstream authors. In the 1970s, pioneers such as Donald Goines, Iceberg Slim, and Claude Brown paved the way for novelists, poets, and short story writers who have embraced the subject matter of street fiction today, including Sister Souljah, Kenji Jasper, and Colson Whitehead.

In Street Lit: Representing the Urban Landscape, Keenan Norris has assembled a varied collection of articles, essays, interviews, and poems that capture the spirit of urban fiction and nonfiction produced from the 1950s through the present day. Providing both critical analyses and personal insights, these works explore the street lit phenomenon and help readers understand how and why this once underground genre has become such a vital force in contemporary literature. Interviews with literary icons David Bradley, Gerald Early, and Lynel Gardner are balanced with critical explorations of works by Goines, Jasper, Whitehead, and others.

With a foreword by bestselling novelist Omar Tyree (Flyy Girl) and an introduction by Norris that explores the roots of street lit, this book defines the genre for today’s readers and provides valuable insights into a cultural force that is fast becoming as important to the American literary scene as hip-hop has meant to music. Comprised of work by scholars, established authors, and new voices, Street Lit will connect with any reader wanting to grasp the significance of this sometimes controversial but unquestionably popular art form." - retrieved from Amazon.com.

This is an anthology of critical essays, edited by Keenan Norris, Ph.D.

Checkin: Vanessa Irvin Morris quoted in Salon.com!

Please check out the newly released article, "I write street lit because that's the life I lived" via Sunday's issue of Salon.com (date: July 28, 2013). It is a very good interview with street lit author and publisher, Deborah Cardona, who has penned a few novels (under the name, Sexy) such as A Better Touch, Twofold, Chained, Butterfly and Butterfly II. Cardona is Latina American and sets her novels in Spanish Harlem. She is also CEO of the urban fiction publishing label, Deja Vu Publications. Salon.com highlights Cardona's contributions to the urban literature genre, and also provides some literary context within which the genre thrives (that's where my quotes come in - yay!). Please enjoy this article, it is very informative. :-)

For more information on Deborah Cardona, you can visit her on social media via Facebook and Twitter.
A special thank you to Marlisse Silver Sweeney for her work on this piece.

Ice-T Presents: Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp (Official Trailer)

Here are some early reviews of the film:
-- Michael A. Gonzales, via Ebony.com
-- via Vibe Magazine
Official Website: IcebergSlimMovie.com

*****************************************************************************************