Five bestselling rap memoirs

In honor of a robust boost in the rap book canon, we’ve selected five must-reads… Support our news coverage by subscribing to our Kindle Nation Daily Digest. Joining is free right now!

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Let Love Have the Last Word: A Memoir

by Common

4.5 stars – 115 reviews

Kindle price: $13.99

Common—the Grammy Award, Academy Award, and Golden Globe–winning musician, actor, and activist—follows up his New York Times bestselling memoir One Day It’ll All Make Sense with this inspiring exploration of how love and mindfulness can build communities and allow you to take better control of your life through actions and words.

Common believes that the phrase “let love have the last word” is not just a declaration; it is a statement of purpose, a daily promise. Love is the most powerful force on the planet and ultimately, the way you love determines who you are and how you experience life.

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The Autobiography of Gucci Mane

by Gucci Mane and Neil Martinez-Belkin

4.8 stars – 544 reviews

Kindle price: $11.99

The New York Times bestselling memoir from the legendary Gucci Mane spares no detail in this “cautionary tale that ends in triumph” (GQ).

The platinum-selling recording artist began writing his remarkable autobiography in a federal maximum security 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.

A critically acclaimed classic, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane “provides incredible insight into one of the most influential rappers of the last decade, detailing a volatile and fascinating life…By the end, every reader will have a greater understanding of Gucci Mane, the man and the musician” (Pitchfork).

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Hurricanes: A Memoir

by Rick Ross and Neil Martinez-Belkin

4.7 stars – 125 reviews

Kindle price: $14.99

The highly anticipated memoir from hip-hop icon Rick Ross chronicles his coming of age amid Miami’s crack epidemic, his star-studded controversies and his unstoppable rise to fame.

Rick Ross is an indomitable presence in the music industry, but few people know his full story. Now, for the first time, Ross offers a vivid, dramatic and unexpectedly candid account of his early childhood, his tumultuous adolescence and his dramatic ascendancy in the world of hip-hop.

Born William Leonard Roberts II, Ross grew up “across the bridge,” in a Miami at odds with the glitzy beaches, nightclubs and yachts of South Beach. In the aftermath of the 1980 race riots and the Mariel boatlift, Ross came of age at the height of the city’s crack epidemic, when home invasions and execution-style killings were commonplace.

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Decoded

by Jay-Z

4.5 stars -369 reviews

Kindle price: $4.99

“One of a handful of books that just about any hip hop fan should own.”—The New Yorker

Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time.

“Hip-hop’s renaissance man drops a classic. . . . Heartfelt, passionate and slick.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius

by Rakim

4.7 stars – 40 reviews

Kindle price: $12.99

On the heels of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize, as the world begins to recognize the creative side of Hip-Hop, comes a writing guide from a musician and “The greatest MC of all time,” Rakim.

The musician and Hip Hop legend—hailed as “the greatest MC of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk—reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that incorporates the soulful genius, confidence, and creativity of a master artist.

When he exploded on the music scene, musical genius Rakim was hailed for his brilliant artistic style, adding layers, complexity, depth, musicality, and soul to rap. More than anyone, Rakim has changed the way MCs rhyme. Calm on the mic, his words combine in a frenzy of sound, using complicated patterns based on multisyllabic rhymes and internal rhythms. Rakim can tell a story about a down-on-his-luck man looking for a job and turn it into an epic tale and an unforgettable rhyme. He is not just a great songwriter—he’s a great modern writer.