---
title: Black Privilege review
date:  2017-05-06
tags:  book, hip-hop, review
tldr:  Charlamagne Tha God can write a good book. Who knew?
---

Charlamagne Tha God is a radio personality of a nationally syndicated show
called "The Breakfast Club" on Power 105.1. He's not well-liked by most people,
especially the people he's interviewed and has disagreements with — this is
because he speaks his mind. He doesn't like your latest album? He'll tell you.
Are you embroiled in controversy? He'll ask about it. Basically, he asks the
questions or says the things many listeners want to ask or are thinking. I
count myself as one of his fans.

When Charlamagne mentioned he was writing a book, I knew I had to check it
because…*who the hell would give this man a book deal* (Touchstone Books[1],
apparently)?

While reading, I found myself nodding in agreement when he arrived at the
conclusion of a life lesson or when he realized he had to change his thought
process. I also couldn't help noticing similarities in our lives. We loved
getting those Pizza Hut coupons for free personal pizzas when we read lots of
books in elementary school. Music was a means of both inspiration and escape in
our teens. We never finished college. Despite that, we've been able to succeed.

I was reminded that I used to live out my "hood dreams" vicariously through
artists like Clipse[2]. While glamorizing the gangsta life, they also rapped
about the obvious downsides. This was at a time when my peers listened to
Jay Z[3], The Lox[4], Dipset[5], &c. I was almost exclusively Neptunes[6] and
Will Smith. Yes, *I know*. I was clowned for liking Big Willie's music
throughout all of middle and high school.

Anyhoo, if you're an aspiring radio host or anyone aspiring to do anything
really, I highly recommend this book. The full title is "Black Privilege:
Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It[7]". 🕸



---

[1]: http://www.simonandschusterpublishing.com/touchstone
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipse
[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Z
[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lox
[5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diplomats
[6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neptunes
[7]: http://amzn.to/2qMSdIo