After much anticipation, Julia Fox’s memoir, Down The Drain, has finally arrived. Longtime fans of the Uncut Gems starlet have been eager to read all about the tumultuous ups and downs of her life before fame. As for hip-hop heads, they’re mostly curious about the few months that Fox was in Kanye West’s orbit. The unconventional pair attended Fashion Week (and various other events) together in early 2022, though it wasn’t long before their differences, and the intensity surrounding Ye’s divorce from Kim Kardashian, drove them apart.
Prior to her book’s release, Fox shared with the press that the nature of her and the rapper’s relationship wasn’t sexual. However, as Page Six notes, she did reveal that West offered to pay for her plastic surgery while they spent the day playing card and word games. “We spen[t] the day playing Uno and a game that involves highlighting positive words in the dictionary,” an excerpt published by The Guardian this past weekend says. During that link-up, the “Through the Wire” hitmaker reportedly told Julia, “I’ll get you a boob job if you want.”
The Italian-born entertainer denied West’s offer and made it clear that she only had “good intentions” when entering into a whirlwind romance with him. “I went into it… feeling all this could be real, and it could be amazing, and he could open so many doors,” Fox told readers. “I learned very quickly that I was being weaponized, I just felt like his little puppet,” she previously shared.
While Julia Fox continues to replay her short-lived fling with Kanye West for the media, the father of four has obviously moved on with Bianca Censori. Just last week, confirmation of the pair’s marital status came out, though Ye has reportedly told his bride “never to speak again.” Read more about those rumours at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.
Julia Fox has been marching to the beat of her own drum long before she found herself in the spotlight. She’s taken full advantage of setting herself apart from the competition since making her debut alongside Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems. There’s no one doing it quite like the Italian-born starlet is. This is precisely why both fans and critics are eager to read her Down the Drain memoir when it finally arrives at bookstores next month. Fox has been on a bit of a press tour in recent weeks promoting the project. She’s notably for editorials in Cybr Magazine and on the cover of King Kong‘s Americana issue.
Those photoshoots saw the 33-year-old dramatically switching up her look and flaunting her slim thick body. However, what’s really caught our attention is the latest post on her Instagram feed. On Friday (September 29) afternoon, Fox posted a promotional video for her soon-to-be-released book. It consists of behind-the-scenes clips captured during modelling gigs. She’s admitted to having work done on her body in the past. Still, it’s obvious that the entertainer has been spending time in the gym lately too. She clearly looks more shredded than ever before.
As noted in her caption, Fox will be hosting a box release event at Palladium Times Square on October 10th. The event begins at 6 PM and will wrap by 7:30, with tickets starting at $86. Besides listening to her talk, patrons will also have the chance to ask questions during a moderated session between the fashionista and her audience.
Julia Fox has made it known that she goes into uncomfortable depth about her life at many points throughout Down the Drain. One thing she won’t touch on, however, is her sexual relationship with Kanye West, which fans of both the rapper and actress have been undeniably curious about. Read what Fox had to say about the NSFW matter at the link below. Make sure to check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.
Following his messy divorce from Kim Kardashian, Kanye West found himself spending time with plenty of interesting women. Julia Fox was among the first of the starlets who the father of four began dating when his single status was reinstated. Since then, we’ve also seen him with Chaney Jones, Candice Swanepoel, and now, Bianca Censori. He and the Uncut Gems actress only spent about two months together. In that time, they managed to push plenty of boundaries. The couple’s shared love for creating seems to be what brought them together, and according to Fox, there surprisingly wasn’t much of a sexual connection between them at all.
She’s currently preparing to release her Down the Drain memoir, which will notably include some confessions about her time with Ye. Fox spoke with the New York Times about what readers can expect when it drops next month, at which time she explained her decision to be so candid about some of her most intimate moments. “I felt like it was the truth. Why not write it?” the Italian-born entertainer reflected.
Julia Fox Recalls Her Whirlwind Romance with Ye In Upcoming Memoir
Kanye West and Julia Fox are seen on January 23, 2022, in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
“I have this thing where, in my personal writing, I don’t go into as much detail as I could. I’m like: ‘This [wild] thing happened. OK, moving on…’ So I made it a point to put the reader in the room. I didn’t want to skip over things. So maybe some things are too detailed,” Fox continued. However, when asked about sleeping with Ye, she said we won’t be reading about what because it’s not how the pair spent their time together. “There, like, wasn’t any. It wasn’t really about that,” she told the outlet.
Kanye West and Julia Fox enjoyed their moment in the spotlight together, travelling from designer show to shopping centre to expand their luxurious wardrobes. Since they split, he’s been seen attending Fashion Week events with his new wife, Bianca Censori. The couple’s outfits have been deemed incredibly controversial in countries like Italy, where the 46-year-old is being accused of breaking “anti-terror laws” with some of his latest looks. Read more about that at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.
Juicy J says that Mac Miller once brought a “party pack” of tons of different drugs to the studio prior to his death. He reflected on the moment during a recent interview with Allison Kugel. Juicy says he regrets not taking the drugs away from him and being a better influence.
“We was in the recording studio and he had a party pack … it’s like every kind of drug you can take and it’s in a pack or a box or whatever,” Juicy J said. “He pulls out this box and pops a couple of things and he offers me some coke. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would have snatched that box. And I know he probably would have tried to fight me, but I would have snatched that box and I would’ve dumped it in the toilet and flushed it.”
Juicy J Performs At The Mac Miller: A Celebration Of Life Benefit Concert
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 31: Juicy J performs onstage during “Mac Miller: A Celebration Of Life” Concert Benefiting The Launch Of The Mac Miller Circles Fund at The Greek Theatre on October 31, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for LiveNation)
From there, Juicy discussed his broader relationship with the late rapper. “I knew Mac Miller when he was like 17,” he told Kugel. “I threw his 18th birthday party at my studio … He was like a little brother to me. I hated to see him do that. He was around 25 or 26 before he passed, so he a grown-ass man. I seen what he was doing, I didn’t say anything. I just told him, ‘I’m cool, I’m straight. Let’s just finish the music.’ I swear, if I could turn back the hands of time, I would have snatched that box and thrown that box across the street.”
Juicy J Reflects On Mac Miller
Juicy J continued: “And [I should’ve] said, ‘Look, get mad if you want, but I love you, bro. I want to see you alive. Let’s talk. Let me tell you some stories about my drug use. Let me tell you some stories about growing up and Three 6 Mafia and the whole Memphis scene and what I went through and how things can turn up if you do the wrong drug or you overdose or whatever.’ I wish I could, man.” Juicy further reflects on their last moments together in his new memoir, Chronicles of the Juice Man.
More details continue to emerge about the horrifying situation surrounding Michael Oher. Oher, who played in the NFL was 2009 to 2016, was made famous by his life story. His inspiring story served as the basis for the Oscar-winning film, The Blind Side. Oher, who is Black, was adopted by the white Tuohy family after they met him at an elite Memphis private school attended by their biological children.
However, Oher has claimed this week that he was never legally adopted by the Tuohy family. Instead, he claims he was tricked into entering into a conservatorship. That arrangement gave the Tuohys full financial control over his life and life story. Oher, 37, is seeking an end to the conservatorship as well as financial restitution. The Tuohy family has not denied the arrangement, but calls Oher’s lawsuit “insulting”. Furthermore, the family has alleged that Oher demanded $15 million from them before filing the lawsuit.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 09: Michael Oher visits SiriusXM at SiriusXM Studios on August 09, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
However, a major point of contention about Oher’s claims that he only discovered the truth in February of 2023 is a passage from his 2011 memoir. In I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond, Oher directly referenced the conservatorship. “Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my ‘legal conservators. They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as ‘adoptive parents,’ but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren’t legally what we already knew was real: We were a family.”
This is being used as some sort of gotcha that Oher was fully aware of the situation he was in. However, let’s break this text down. “Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my ‘legal conservators. They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as ‘adoptive parents,’ but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account.” Oher’s claim is that he was tricked into signing a conservatorship. This is 13-year-old proof of that. There are huge legal differences between adoption and legal conservatorship. Telling an 18-year-old with little legal knowledge that they are “pretty much the exact same thing” is indeed tricking them into signing a document that benefits you and not them. This is a developing story.
Jeezy says that he went through a “brief moment” he considered suicide while attending a Youth Challenge program in Fort Stewart, Georgia. He discussed the period from his life while speaking with PEOPLE. The interview comes amid of the release of his new memoir, Adversity For Sale.
“You’re basically in the Marines or the Army and people are telling you what to do. You gotta shine your boots,” the Atlanta rapper recalled. “I don’t know about anybody else [but] I’m just not good at being told what to do. And I’m coming from a place where I’m basically a boss. But maybe a few weeks in I’m like, ‘Hold up, I’m working out.’ It taught me structure. And it took me out of the environment that I was in for me to become even more focused than I was because I thought I was focused, but I really wasn’t. I didn’t have a plan. I just was going through the motions.”
ATLANTA, GA – JULY 25: Young Jeezy performs at Jeezy Presents. TM101: 10 year anniversay concert at The Fox Theatre on July 25, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage)
From there, Jeezy continued: I remember standing there and saying to myself: ‘Man, if you go back home and you don’t figure this out. Because I don’t want to end up like my friends.’ My friends became junkies and they were getting killed and all these things. So it was all this stuff in my head. I just remember standing there and it was for a brief moment, I would say at least about 10 minutes, I actually contemplated jumping in the water. I had never had suicidal thoughts, but I [thought], ‘Well, shit, if I just jump in the water, I ain’t gotta deal with this, I ain’t gotta go back home, I gotta do none of these things.’”
Jeezy has been speaking with numerous outlets about the book in recent weeks, including Good Morning America as well as Rap Radar, among others. He says that his goal is to inspire his fans to fight through adversity and achieve their dreams. Adversity For Sale is available now.
Bobby Shmurda‘s life story will soon come to you in both hard copy and paperback. Hitting Instagram, Shmurda revealed that he has a memoir on the way and when penning his story he began to cry.
“I was writing a chapter in my book yesterday and I found myself crying,” Shmurda said. “Like I dropped a tear. And I don’t even cry. I found myself dropping a tear and I said, ‘Damn, I ain’t write in so long.’”
Bobby Shmurda says he started crying after writing a chapter in his new book he’s working on pic.twitter.com/vmNd1WORfh
Britney Spears will be releasing a memoir titled The Woman in Me on Tuesday, October 24th, 2023. Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, will be publishing the work. Spears shared an announcement video for the book on Instagram, Tuesday.
“Britney’s compelling testimony in open court shook the world, changed laws, and showed her inspiring strength and bravery,” Jennifer Bergstrom, Gallery Books Senior Vice President and Publisher, told PEOPLE. “I have no doubt her memoir will have a similar impact — and will be the publishing event of the year. We couldn’t be more proud to help her share her story at last.”
Britney Spears in David Dalrymple performing onstage at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards held at Radio City Music Hall on September 7, 2000 Photographer: Scott Gries/Getty Images
The book promises to reveal “for the first time her incredible journey (and) strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history,” while also showing “the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms.” The press release also described The Woman in Me as “a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.”
Spears first teased the idea of writing a memoir in 2022, after the infamous legal battle she endured to end her conservatorship. Simon & Schuster later won a bidding war for the rights by offering Spears $15 million. It is available for pre-order now. Check out Spears’ official announcement below.
The announcement of Spears’ memoir arrives just days after she made headlines for an altercation with the security team for San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama. She claimed to have been “back-handed” in the face by a security guard in Las Vegas. Las Vegas police later determined that the singer inadvertently “hit herself in the face” while reaching for the 19-year-old.
The ability to write a quality rap song is quite remarkable and requires its very own set of skills. Since hip hop’s inception, rappers have been able to tell their life stories through rap songs. Rap music is often very autobiographical, but many notable rappers have penned memoirs to tell their stories in a way that is completely separate from music.
Rapper memoirs are becoming increasingly popular, with Black Thought recently announcing his book for a November release date. JAY-Z, Raekwon, Common, U-God, 50 Cent, and Fat Joe have all told their stories from childhood to success as adults in their books. Some rappers have also taken unique approaches to write non-autobiographical books, such as Russ’s It’s All In Your Head, which inspires readers to follow one’s passions through reflective chapters of motivational material. Wretch 32’s Rapthology: Lessons in Life and Lyrics book takes a unique approach as well, as he takes a look back at his career through particular songs and lyrics. Hip hop musicians like DJ Khaled, Timbaland, and Questlove have also written books, especially the latter, who has also published other non-music related books.
LL Cool J – I Make My Own Rules (1997)
As one of hip hop’s first superstars, it was only right for LL Cool J to be one of the first rappers to write a memoir. I Make My Own Rules was published in 1997 and was written alongside Karen Hunter. The book takes the reader through his life, from struggles during childhood to success as a hip hop star. He details his journey from the creation of his name to his successful albums.
It does not get more autobiographical than E.A.R.L. as DMX vividly paints a picture of some of the darkest times in his life growing up. With the help of Smokey D Fontaine, DMX wrote a captivating memoir that depicts his rough upbringing, how he fell in love with rhyme, and what made him want to pursue music.
RZA – The Tao of Wu (2009)
The Tao of Wu was not RZA’s first book. 2004’s The Wu-Tang Manual provided the ultimate guide for all things Wu-Tang Clan. The Tao of Wu, on the other hand, is RZA’s own personal story. The book starts with a depiction of his childhood and how his method of thinking eventually evolved into the wisdom he has as the leader of hip hop’s most iconic group. The book includes stories of the Wu-Tang Clan’s inception and the personal hardships he endured along the way.
Prodigy – My Infamous Life (2011)
Prodigy had so many stories to tell, which is what makes My Infamous Life an essential read for any hip hop fan. The book consists of Prodigy’s time in the streets as a kid, how he developed his relationship with Havoc to create Mobb Deep, as well as his battle with sickle-cell anemia. The book was released following Prodigy’s time in prison and tells first-hand accounts of the rap legend’s ups and downs, including hit songs and rap beefs.
Lecrae – Unashamed (2016)
The first of two books that Lecrae has written, Unashamed is his memoir that tells his story. In the book, Lecrae details his childhood and hardships as a young adult that led him to religion. The book is an in-depth look into Lecrae’s life and dedication to Christianity. He channeled his faith into music and became the biggest name in the Christian rap community.
Gucci Mane – The Autobiography of Gucci Mane (2018)
With the help of Neil Martinez-Belkin, Gucci Mane reveals a lot about himself in his autobiography, which is not what listeners normally get from his music. He details his life as a kid and how he was raised, his deep criminal history, and how music was an outlet to express himself. Gucci Mane’s autobiography is also a story of transformation from one of the South’s most notorious gangsta rappers to a reformed man fresh out of prison.
Rick Ross – Hurricanes: A Memoir (2019)
Much like Gucci Mane’s autobiography, Rick Ross’s memoir, Hurricanes also sees him more transparent than ever. Coincidentally, the book was also co-written by Neil Martinez-Belkin. Rick Ross touches upon growing up in Miami and wanting a more affluent lifestyle. He gets into his criminal past, addresses his past controversies, and tells the story behind every single album. Ross also gets into his most significant collaborations and famous success stories.
Rakim – Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius (2019)
With a long career and profound influence on hip hop, Rakim’s memoir was long overdue. His 2019 book sees the hip hop pioneer breaking down his writing process. He looks at music from a unique perspective while providing personal anecdotes. It is a first-hand account of Rakim’s influence that still permeates hip hop culture today.
Talib Kweli – Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story (2020)
Vibrate Higher is a story about Talib Kweli as a rapper and person. Throughout the book, he discusses his Brooklyn roots, how his parents raised him, and what got him into hip hop. The Brooklyn legend started his career at such a pivotal time in hip hop, witnessing history in real-time, which he talks about in his memoir. Kweli writes about his albums, collaborations, and relationships in the book and addresses his most controversial views.
Action Bronson – F*ck It, I’ll Start Tomorrow: A True Story (2021)
Action Bronson has written books about his love for food and weed, but F*ck It, I’ll Start Tomorrow is about him. Most rapper memoirs focus on the span of the artist’s entire life but Bronson’s book hones in on his recent weight loss journey. He provides stories about his upbringing and his deep connection to food. Bronson goes into what made him want to start living a healthier lifestyle and how he has accepted himself no matter his appearance.
Logic – This Bright Future: A Memoir (2021)
By the time he had published his memoir, Logic was already a New York Times best-selling author for his novel, Supermarket. Logic has chronicled his childhood trauma and turbulent relationship with his parents in music and interviews, but this book is Logic at his most revealing. Published under his government name, This Bright Future tells Logic’s success story, breaking the cycle of poverty and dealing with the struggles of fame.
Black Thought, the prolific emcee in The Roots, legal name Tariq Trotter has announced the release of a new memoir. The legendary wordsmith stated the memoir The Upcycled Self is years in the making. Not only that, the book is set to be released on November, 14th on One World. However, preorders are open right now. In a statement from the publisher, the memoir is described as “a beautifully bluesy story of a boy genius’s coming of age. “Trotter explores the vital questions we all have to confront about our formative years,” added the publisher.
Furthermore, the publisher mentions that Black Thought explores multiple questions like forgiving the people who love and hurt us. Not only that the book also dives into confronting the question of how to honor and rediscover our first dreams. “The Upcycled Self doesn’t just narrate a riveting and moving portrait of the artist as a young man, but gives readers a courageous model of what it means to live an examined life,” detailed the publisher. Black Thought has never cheated fans when it comes to putting out great work. Reportedly the memoir is filled with vivid vignettes. Thought pens the stories of the four powerful relationships that molded him.
In an Instagram post announcing the book, Black Thought wrote in his caption that “The storytelling continues. The medium is ever evolving.” The Streams of Thought emcee has always brought us works of immaculate raps through his work with The Roots and his solo projects. Additionally, the prolific rhymer also wrote in his caption that the book is “a focus on childhood forged from the fire.” If Black Thoughts memoir is anything like his music, it’s surely a must-read. Furthermore, the legendary rapper expresses how proud he is of this project and how he hopes this book opens up bigger conversations.
However, this isn’t the only project Black Thought has been working on as of late. Recently he revealed that he was in album mode detailing the release of his highly anticipated Streams of Thought Vol. 4. Moreover, The Roots co-founder also dropped a collaboration project with the soulful El Michel’s Affair. Are you grabbing a copy of Black Thought’s new memoir? Are you hyped for Streams of Thought Vol. 4? Let us know in the comments below.
