Baby Girl McCoy was given her name when her mother couldn't even be bothered to give her another one in the hospital after she gave birth. Baby Girl was the product of rape, and she spends her life in a quest for a father figure. Never in a million years did she imagine that she'd find it in the man that she does. With a good head on her shoulders and a forgiving heart, Harlem Lee Jones discovers that some things in life must still be accounted for. She may have allowed her heart to find its way to God, but the devil is surely lurking close behind. Has she really left her mean street ways behind her? These two dramatic stories filled with pain, heartache, and ghetto love, remind readers that you can take the girl away from the ghetto, but she'll always manage to find her way back.

"Black autobiographical discourses, from the earliest slave narratives to the most contemporary urban raps, have each in their own way gauged and confronted the character of white society." Sartwell analyses these African American writings and gains a unique perspective on and picture of white identity.--Back cover.

Essence, the twenty-eight-year-old controlling, ghetto fabulous owner of the Queen Bee strip club, sets out to destroy two of her best dancers--Destiny and Brazil--when they threaten her power and status, and sleep with her man. Original.

When Brandon, her new boyfriend, tries to mold her into the exact image of his late fiancée, who was brutally murdered, Evelyn Thomas believes she is in over her head, while Brandon, still obsessed with finding Cassandra's killer, sets in motion a deadly chain of events. Original.

Tara was raised by the streets. With a professional booster for a mother and a pimp for a daddy, a life of crime is the family business, so Tara has no choice but to major in and graduate with a degree in “Hustling 101.” By the age of eighteen, Tara has found and honed in on her niche: boosting the best pieces of merchandise from the best boutiques and department stores in the city. She has become known as one of the baddest boosters on the East Coast, second only to her mother. With Tara next in line to the throne, she is the puppet master for all the people who want to get close to her family. She lives for control, until she meets a Dominican kingpin named Julio. The power shifts as Tara falls in love and out of control. The influences in Tara’s life lead her to make life-changing decisions. Will love find a way? Will Tara become next to reign over the family business, or is there someone with other plans for her?

Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists is more popular than racism! Hip hop is huge, and it's time someone wrote it all down. And got it all right. With over 25 aggregate years of interviews, and virtually every hip hop single, remix and album ever recorded at their disposal, the highly respected Ego Trip staff are the ones to do it. The Book of Rap Lists runs the gamut of hip hop information. This is an exhaustive, indispensable and completely irreverent bible of true hip hip knowledge.

Taz is the ruthless leader of an elite group of bandits who rule the streets of Oklahoma City. No one's met the mysterious boss who gives them their orders via laptop, but the arrangement works for everyone involved. Their criminal enterprise keeps them rolling in dough, allowing them to purchase property and businesses all over town. When Taz falls in love with Sacha, an ambitious young lawyer, he makes an unexpected enemy. Cliff, another lawyer at the firm, wants Sacha for himself, and he'll stop at nothing to win her back from the thug she's with. He sets his sights on one of Taz's family members, in order to get close to Taz's inner circle. Cliff and Taz become locked in a monstrous battle that can only end in tragedy. Taz's criminal enterprise begins to unravel quickly, as member loyalty is challenged and betrayal becomes the name of the game. He is dealing with almost more than he can handle. When a vital member of Taz's team ends up dead, it calls for a gruesome retaliation, but when Taz discovers the killer's identity, he'll have some serious choices to make. Does he have what it takes to stay on top, or is all this heat enough to make him want to leave the streets alone? Clifford "Spud" Johnson delivers an action-packed tale of betrayal, murder, and revenge that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.