The New York Times Book Review - John Williams
The first half of the memoir is a visceral retelling of the rapper's childhood, with nary a paragraph that would escape a parental advisory sticker…There's a fascinating and almost dizzying alternation at times between U-God's gentler side, which he credits to his mother, and an almost reflexive, blustering belief in the edification of violence…"I wanna give you the epic journey," U-God says of his lyrics. "Make you feel what I went through." Raw certainly does that.
Publishers Weekly
★ 01/22/2018
“I don’t consider myself an ex–drug dealer or an ex-criminal,” rapper Hawkins writes in this sage, fast-paced memoir. “I consider myself to be an experienced fucking person who went through a lot of hell to come out right and get where I am today.” Hawkins, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, describes New York during the less glamorous (and more dangerous) 1970s through the early 1990s, when lived with his single mother in a crack-ravaged Staten Island neighborhood; he dealt drugs as a teenager, eventually running a mini-empire. During this time, Hawkins and his friend Method Man honed their rap skills. They joined other determined, songwriters to form the Wu-Tang Clan. Along the way, Hawkins spent a year in prison for drug possession and, sometime after, was admitted to a mental institution after he was found wandering around his neighborhood in a bathrobe (“Maybe one of my girlfriends poisoned me”); he became a father and later dated Janet Jackson, on whom he had had a crush as a kid. Hawkins is a wonderful storyteller who spares no detail (he writes of using plastic wrap as a prophylactic), and his willingness to share his wisdom in nonsaccharine terms yields an inspirational coming-of-age story. Agent: Marc Gerald, United Talent Agency. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"This book is great couldn't put it down finished it in 48 hours U GOD ALLAH REALLY LIVED HISTRUTH." – Charlamagne Tha God
"Mesmerizing." – Raekwon da Chef
"U-God has been with Wu-Tang since the start, and this book chronicles the entire saga: rough beginnings in Brooklyn, a vivid project adolescence in Staten Island, and a glorious leap into the insanely talented collective that would become the center of the music universe. There's never been a book that deserved its title more." – Questlove
"Unexpectedly moving...Raw feels cathartic, as Hawkins finds the language and perspective to reckon with his past. His moment in the spotlight may be over, but he now has something that few of his Wu-Tang brothers, still so admired by a younger generation, have: the distance to tell his own story. He has often been forgotten, and has sometimes been ridiculed, but he was part of one of the great hip-hop groups of all-time—perhaps the only member who is more man than myth." —Hua Hsu, The New Yorker
"A classic rags-to-riches tale, from drug dealing on the streets of New York City during the crack epidemic in the 1980s to fame and fortune. It’s a nostalgic look back on hip-hop music and the wild times in New York City before it became a playground for the rich." –The Washington Post
"You cannot tell the story of hip-hop without the Wu-Tang Clan, and you cannot tell the story of the Wu-Tang Clan without U-God. RAW is an insightful, moving, necessary book for anyone with even a passing interest rap." – #1 New York Times bestselling author Shea Serrano
"From its blunt opening line—'Time is a motherfucker'—Raw: My Journey Into the Wu Tang is brashly funny."
—Brag Magazine
"Eye-popping." –The Guardian
"Lamont "U-God" Hawkins reflects on his childhood and adolescence—raised by a single mother in the projects in Brownsville, New York—before his life took a major turn when he met his artistic collaborators and soul mates. Hawkins found compatriots in RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, and Masta Killa—the eight artists with whom he would found the Wu-Tang Clan, earning a ticket out of the unpredictable and underserved neighborhoods of New York City and into the spotlight as some of hip-hop's greatest performers." —Esquire (Best Non-Fiction of the Year)
"An absolute thrill ride and will most definitely please long-time fans of the group as well as give unknowing readers an amazing journey through an incredible life. Raw is full of jaw-dropping anecdotes about what growing up was like in some of the area’s roughest neighborhoods in the 80’s and full of rich life lessons that were won out of pure perseverance." –MetroUS
"Propulsive...In this timely memoir, Hawkins’ reflects on his childhood—a period when drugs exacerbated the violence in the streets—and the heady years of fame that followed, revealing a man grateful for the music that saved his life." –Esquire (Selected as a Best of the Year)
"A truly gripping book. Hawkins is a gifted observer and storyteller with a quick wit and an effortless freedom with the pen. This is a must-read for anyone with even a basic interest in the look and feel of New York during hip hop’s golden age, and a desire to know how one of the greatest rap crews ever assembled came to be. Unvarnished, honest, detailed, and at times magical, Hawkins weaves an immersive tale from street level to penthouse level without ever compromising his clarity of vision. Wu-Tang Clan Is among the most innately literary projects in all of hip hop history and with Raw U-God holds absolutely true to this vision." – Carvell Wallace, former music critic, MTVnews, and host of the podcast "Closer Than They Appear"
"The title says it all. Raw is a vivid, sometimes eye-popping and occasionally funny account of street life, drug-dealing and incarceration before and during the early days of one of hip hop’s greatest groups, the Wu-Tang Clan. U-God’s book sits in a tradition that runs from Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery to Charles Mingus’s Beneath the Underdog - accounts of African-American striving and transcendence which remind us what it’s like to live - and survive, and prosper - in a world set up to crush you. As such it’s essential reading - and not just for hip hop fans." – Will Ashon, founder of Big Dada Records
"Lamont "U-God" Hawkins has written a memoir that's impossible to put down. The energy in this infectious book is something else—but that should be of no surprise to fans. Storytelling was always a Wu-Tang superpower, but RAW: My Journey Into the Wu-Tang Clan manages to also chronicle a New York of another era. We get everything from street stories to the annals of fame, friendship, family, and brotherhood. It's no wonder he was "the ambassador"—this book can reach so many people, from Wu-Tang diehards to anyone who wants to read about the tough ascension of dreams becoming reality with all the countless twist sand turns along the way." – Porochista Khakpour, author of the memoir Sick and the novels The Last Illusion and Sons & Other Flammable Objects
"Hawkins is a wonderful storyteller who spares no detail...and his willingness to share his wisdom in nonsaccharine terms yields an inspirational coming-of-age story." – Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)
"Gritty...will entertain fans of the group and its era." – Kirkus
Kirkus Reviews
2018-01-22
Gritty memoir from a meditative drug dealer-turned-rapper, a key member of ferocious Staten Island hip-hop group the Wu-Tang Clan.The Wu-Tang Clan made their mark through being unusual in their myth-inflected back story, a posse of distinct street-focused perspectives. Before that, "U-God" Hawkins absorbed the realities of urban poverty firsthand in a Park Hill housing project. "Only the pure of heart make it out of the ghetto," writes the author. As a teenager, he ran a lucrative crack enterprise, learning about violence and survival and eventually serving prison time. "I was content with my small operation," he writes, "making enough to get by and taking care of my peoples." At the same time, he was developing rhymes with what evolved into the Wu-Tang core. Their genesis isn't discussed until halfway through the book, and other members are sketched broadly beyond amusing anecdotes of hardscrabble early years. Hawkins suggests their success was marred by infighting and unequal emphasis on contributions by prominent members RZA, Method Man, and Ol' Dirty Bastard, about whom the author notes, "If Dirty hadn't died, I think the Wu would be in better standing." Regarding his own solo project, he claims, "we couldn't get the same support from the entire Clan the way [other members'] records had been supported." By the end, Hawkins' narrative becomes rancorous; regarding his lawsuit against RZA, he writes, "he got rich, but I still don't know what I'm due." By 2010, "the supergroup was splintering apart." Hawkins notes even the notorious Wu-Tang "one copy" LP purchased by Martin Shkreli wasn't really a legitimate project. The author writes in a casual style that will entertain fans of the group and its era, but the narrative becomes muddled and disingenuous. Hawkins brags about his own redemption and embrace of an underground values system termed "Supreme Mathematics," yet he writes dismissively of barely provoked violent acts by Wu-Tang associates and himself.A rambling and heartfelt account, vivid in its recollections of 1990s East Coast hip-hop.
