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Random House and Roc Nation
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Devoted to publishing books at the dynamic intersection of entertainment and genre-defying literature, Roc Lit 101 will feature exhilarating, innovative work from some of the biggest artists and most imaginative and incisive writers of our time across a wide variety of interests—from music, sports, pop culture, art, and activism to illustrated books, cookbooks, books for children and books that defy genre altogether.

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Lucky Me by Rich Paul, Jesse Washington

Lucky Me

Rich Paul, Jesse Washington

In theory, someone like me was never supposed to get the opportunity to be in my position.
 
I spent the early years of my life sleeping on floors and couches, running the streets as my mother dealt with the challenges of a drug addiction. Now I own what some say is the most influential and culturally relevant sports agency in America and do business with some of the biggest companies and most prominent people in the world. Back on my block, nobody could have predicted this. My trajectory is only supposed to happen to Ivy League types, or gifted athletes or entertainers—not someone who’s five-foot-eight and grew up with a pair of dice in one hand and a pistol in the other.

I’m finally ready to tell that story.

Rich Paul
Photo: © Darrell Ann

Rich Paul

Rich Paul is the founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group. A product of inner-city Cleveland, Paul proudly started his entrepreneurial journey selling throwback jerseys out of the back of his car. Prior to founding Klutch Sports, Paul was an agent with CAA Sports from 2008 to 2012 and has been a partner in the LRMR Marketing Agency since 2003. He is the father of Reonna, Richie, and Zane and maintains residences in Los Angeles and Cleveland.
Shine Bright by Danyel Smith

Shine Bright

Danyel Smith

Now in Paperback

American pop music is arguably this country’s greatest cultural contribution to the world, and its singular voice and virtuosity were created by a shining thread of Black women geniuses stretching back to the country’s founding. This is their surprising, heartbreaking, soaring story—from “one of the generation’s greatest, most insightful, most nuanced writers in pop culture” (Shea Serrano)

“Sparkling . . . the overdue singing of a Black girl’s song, with perfect pitch . . . delicious to read.”—Oprah Daily

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, The Root, Variety, Esquire, The Guardian, Newsweek, Pitchfork, She Reads, Publishers Weekly

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD

Danyel Smith

Danyel Smith

Danyel Smith is an author, award-winning journalist, and producer. She’s the creator and host the Spotify-exclusive Black Girl Songbook, a music and talk show that centers black women in music. A 2021 Yaddo Fellow, Danyel was a senior producer and editor at ESPN, and a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, where she cofounded HRDCVR, an innovative hardcover culture magazine. In addition to writing for NPR, The California Sunday Magazine, The New Yorker, Teen Vogue, and The New York Times, Danyel has served as editor of Billboard, editor at large at Time Inc., and editor in chief of Vibe. The author of two novels—More Like Wrestling (2003), and Bliss (2005)—Danyel lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Elliott Wilson.

The Book of Jose by FAT JOE, Shaheem Reid

The Book of Jose

FAT JOE, Shaheem Reid

Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum–selling artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Fat Joe pulls back the curtain on his larger-than-life persona in this gritty, intimate memoir about growing up in the South Bronx and finding his voice through music.

Fat Joe is a hip-hop legend, but this is not a tale of celebrity; it is the story of Joseph Cartagena, a kid who came of age in the South Bronx during its darkest years of drugs, violence, and abandonment, and how he navigated that traumatizing landscape until he found—through art, friendship, luck, and will—a rocky path to a different life.

This memoir, written in Joe’s own intensely compelling voice, moves with the momentum of pulp fiction, but underneath the tragicomedy and riveting tales of the streets and the industry is a thought-provoking story about a generation of survivors raised in warlike conditions—the life-and-death choices they had to make, the friends they lost and mourned, and the glittering lives they created from the ruins.

FAT JOE

FAT JOE

Fat Joe is a rapper, actor, and entrepreneur from the birthplace of hip-hop, the Bronx. He released his first solo album, Represent, in 1993, and founded the record label Terror Squad. Fat Joe is perhaps best known for his platinum-selling album Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.) and hits like "Lean Back" with Terror Squad, "What's Luv?" featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule, and "All the Way Up" with Remy Ma, French Montana, and Dre.
Till the End by CC Sabathia, Chris Smith

Till the End

CC Sabathia, Chris Smith

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A raw, compelling memoir of baseball, family, fame, addiction, and recovery, by one of the most beloved baseball players of his generation

“Beautifully rendered . . . Readers and fans will be rooting for him to enter the Hall of Fame and rooting even harder for him to stay sober.”—The Wall Street Journal

How does it feel to be born with enormous gifts, in a life shadowed by tragedy? What does it mean when the gift that opens the world for us is not enough to stop us from losing the things we love? And what new gifts do we find in that loss? 

“The end of the story doesn’t mean anything if you don’t know everything that came before it.” Under the Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story premieres December 22 on @hbomax.

Coming Soon

Lil Uzi Vert

Lil Uzi Vert

A mind-expanding illustrated novel that takes us into the imagination of one of the culture’s most innovative young artists.

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Meek Mill

Meek Mill

A personal narrative that expands into a broad exploration of survival and our criminal justice system.


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Yo Gotti

Yo Gotti

A brilliant storyteller with a twist-filled tale of family, crime, and the age of crack.


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