Chris Rock presents this documentary offering an insight into the fiercely competitive world of Afro-American hairdressing. The film includes a visit to the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show, the annual trade show for the African-American hair care industry. It also looks into the dangers of many common hair-straightening treatments, reveals the alarmingly high cost of regular hair 'relaxing' and weaves, and asks what the ongoing pursuit of straight hair says about African-American cultural identity.

Award-winning actor, rapper, and producer Ice-T unveils a compelling memoir of his early life robbing jewelry stores until he found fame and fortune—while a handful of bad choices sent his former crime partner down an incredibly different path. Ice-T rose to fame in the late 1980s, earning acclaim for his music before going on to enthrall television audiences as Odafin “Fin� Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But it could have gone much differently. In this “poignant and powerful� (Library Journal, starred review) memoir, Ice-T and Spike, his former crime partner—collaborating with New York Times bestselling author Douglas Century—relate the shocking stories of their shared pasts, and how just a handful of decisions led to their incredibly different lives. Both grew up in violent, gang-controlled Los Angeles neighborhoods and worked together to orchestrate a series of jewelry heists. But while Ice-T was discovered rapping in a club and got his first record deal, Spike was caught for a jewelry robbery and did three years in prison. As his music career began to take off, Ice made the decision to abandon the criminal life; Spike continued to plan increasingly ingenious and risky jewel heists. And in 1992, after one of Spike’s robberies ended tragically, he was sentenced to thirty-five years to life. While he sat behind bars, he watched his former partner rise to fame in music, movies, and television. “Propulsive� (Publishers Weekly, starred review), timely, and thoughtful, two men with two very different lives reveal how their paths might have very well been reversed if they made different choices. All it took was a split decision.

The Rap Year Book takes readers on a journey that begins in 1979, widely regarded as the moment rap as a genre became recognised as part of music's landscape and comes right up to the present. Shea Serrano deftly pays homage to the most important song of each year. Serrano also examines the most important moments that surround the history and culture of rap music-from artists' backgrounds, to issues of race and safety, to the rise of hip-hop and the struggles among its major players-both personal and professional. Covering East Coast and West Coast, famous rapper feuds, chart toppers and show stoppers, The Rap Year Book takes an in-depth look at the last thirty-five years of the most influential genre of music to come out of the last generation. Complete with quizzes, infographics, lyric maps, hilarious and informative footnotes, portraits of the artists, and the occasional rebuttal essay by other prominent music writers, The Rap Year Book is both a narrative and illustrated guide to some of the most iconic and influential songs ever created under the umbrella of rap music. Serrano cites a variety of sources to form his arguments including biographies, magazines and documentaries, as well as his own experiences growing up at a time when hip-hop was becoming a prevalent force in the music industry. With its all-encompassing look at the ups and downs of rap music, and the landmark songs that are its tent-poles, this book will be perfect for anyone who is a fan of the genre.

He's a hip-hop icon credited with single-handedly creating gangsta rap. Television viewers know him as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola on the top-rated drama "Law & Order: SVU." But where the hype and the headlines end, the real story of Ice-T--the one few of his millions of fans have ever heard--truly begins. "Ice" is Ice-T in his own words--raw, uncensored, and unafraid to speak his mind. About his orphan upbringing on the gang-infested streets of South Central, his four-year stint in the U.S. Army, his successful career as a hustler and thief, and his fateful decision to turn away from a life of crime and forge his own path to international stardom. Along the way, Ice shares never-before-told stories about friends such as Tupac, Dick Wolf, Chris Rock, and Flavor Flav, among others. And he offers up candid observations on marriage and monogamy, the current state of hip-hop, and his latest passion: mentoring at-risk youths around the country. With insights into the cutthroat world of the street--and the cutthroat world of Hollywood--"Ice" is the unforgettable story of a true American original.

Trick Baby charts the rise of White Folks, a white Negro who uses his colour as a trump card in the tough game of the Con. Blue-eyed, light-haired and white-skinned, White Folks is the most incredible con man the ghetto ever spawned, a hustler in the jungle of Southside Chicago where only the sharpest survive. With his partner Blue, an old hand who teaches him the tricks of the trade, White Folks rises to the top of his profession. The cons he pulls off get more and more lucrative and dangerous until one day they go too far...

"Iceberg Slim was true to where he came from. He ruled the streets of Chicago for twenty-five years and he chose not to write about what he didn't know. He knew pimping. He knew hustling. He knew the streets. . . . Two decades after he wrote it, Doom Fox remains fresh to the game. What he calls 'The Life' is still the same roller-coaster ride it's always been." -from the introduction by Ice-T Propelled by the story of Joe "Kong" Allen and his gorgeous, treacherous wife, Doom Fox is the last in Iceberg Slim's legendary series of underground novels. Written in 1978 and unpublished until now, Doom Fox is a tale of the Los Angeles ghetto that begins just after World War II and spans the next thirty years. In the no-holds-barred tradition of Chester Himes, Doom Fox captures the violent, vivid world of low-riding chippie-catchers, prizefighters, prostitutes, and smooth-talking preachers. With books such as Pimp, Trick Baby, and The Long White Con, Iceberg Slim detailed life among the hustlers in the inner city and reinvented the concept of cool. His books became underground classics, advertised and circulated by word of mouth. Stylish and uncensored, Doom Fox brings his unforgettable voice to the players of today.

Twenty years ago, Marcus "Crush" Casey was the leader of the Vicetown Kings, the most powerful crime syndicate in New York City. Then he was betrayed by his second-in-command and sent to prison.
Now he's back on the streets and he has a lot more on his mind than just getting even.
He needs to take back everything he lost: Find the friend who betrayed him and killed his only son, keep the cops at bay, and resist the one woman he knows he can't have. His time on the inside gave him a conscience and he also wants to help clean up the crime-infested neighborhoods that used to be his home.
Crush will take back the Vicetown Kings and guide them to protect the city and its citizens...or die trying.
Ice-T's experience with crime and gangs in Los Angeles and his years on "Law & Order: SVU" make him the perfect person to tell this thrilling story of revenge and redemption. "Kings of Vice" marks a new entry into the type of urban fiction immortalized by writers like K'wan, Elmore Leonard, and Donald Goines.