What do you think?
Rate this book
Kanye West Owes Me $300: & Other True Stories from a White Rapper Who Almost Made It Big
“Kanye West Owes Me $300 might be the funniest rap memoir ever.” –LA Weekly
After Vanilla Ice, but before Eminem, there was "Hot Karl," the Jewish kid from the L.A. suburbs who became a rap battling legend—and then almost became a star.
When 12-year old Jensen Karp got his first taste of rapping for crowds at his friend's bar mitzvah in 1991, little did he know that he was taking his first step on a crazy journey—one that would end with a failed million-dollar recording and publishing deal with Interscope Records when he was only 19. Now, in Kanye West Owes Me $300 , Karp finally tells the true story of his wild ride as "Hot Karl," the most famous white rapper you've never heard of.
On his way to (almost) celebrity, Jensen shares his childhood run-ins with rock-listening, southern California classmates, who tell him that "rap is for black people," and then recounts his record-breaking rap battling streak on popular radio contest “The Roll Call”—a run that caught the eye of a music industry hungry for new rap voices in the early ‘00s. He also introduces his rap partner, Rickye, who constitutes the second half of their group XTra Large; his supportive mom, who performs with him onstage; and the soon-to-be-household-name artists he records with, including Kanye West, Redman, Fabolous, Mya, and will.i.am. Finally, he reveals why his album never saw the light of day (two Slim Shady), the downward spiral he suffered after, and what he found instead of rap glory.
Full of rollicking stories from his close brush with fame, Karp’s hilarious memoir is the ultimate fish-out-of-water story about a guy who follows an unlikely passion—trying to crack the rap game—despite what everyone else says. It’s 30 Rock for the rap set; 8 Mile for the suburbs; and quite the journey for a white kid from the valley.
After Vanilla Ice, but before Eminem, there was "Hot Karl," the Jewish kid from the L.A. suburbs who became a rap battling legend—and then almost became a star.
When 12-year old Jensen Karp got his first taste of rapping for crowds at his friend's bar mitzvah in 1991, little did he know that he was taking his first step on a crazy journey—one that would end with a failed million-dollar recording and publishing deal with Interscope Records when he was only 19. Now, in Kanye West Owes Me $300 , Karp finally tells the true story of his wild ride as "Hot Karl," the most famous white rapper you've never heard of.
On his way to (almost) celebrity, Jensen shares his childhood run-ins with rock-listening, southern California classmates, who tell him that "rap is for black people," and then recounts his record-breaking rap battling streak on popular radio contest “The Roll Call”—a run that caught the eye of a music industry hungry for new rap voices in the early ‘00s. He also introduces his rap partner, Rickye, who constitutes the second half of their group XTra Large; his supportive mom, who performs with him onstage; and the soon-to-be-household-name artists he records with, including Kanye West, Redman, Fabolous, Mya, and will.i.am. Finally, he reveals why his album never saw the light of day (two Slim Shady), the downward spiral he suffered after, and what he found instead of rap glory.
Full of rollicking stories from his close brush with fame, Karp’s hilarious memoir is the ultimate fish-out-of-water story about a guy who follows an unlikely passion—trying to crack the rap game—despite what everyone else says. It’s 30 Rock for the rap set; 8 Mile for the suburbs; and quite the journey for a white kid from the valley.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2016
58 people are currently reading
1600 people want to read
About the author
Jensen Karp
2 books23 followersJensen Karp, formerly known as Hot Karl, is a writer, comedian, and co-owner of Gallery 1988, the nation’s leading destination for pop culture–themed artwork. He hosts the Get Up On This podcast on the Earwolf Network, co-owns Patti Lapel pins, and has written and produced for The Late Late Show with James Corden, the MTV VMAs & Movie Awards, Rolling Stone, WWE Raw, The Hundreds, and the ESPYs. As an actor, he’s appeared on VH1’s Barely Famous, NFL on FOX, Comedy Central’s @Midnight, and Candidly Nicole. He is currently an Executive Producer, writer, and coach on Drop the Mic on TBS. He was influenced by early Tom Hanks comedies, Chino XL, and Dennis Miller (before Dennis became a real piece of shit).
Photo © Melissa Stetten
Photo © Melissa Stetten
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
January 6, 2022
I don’t owe this man nothin, fake news.
July 21, 2016
Very funny and a little bittersweet. I think it's good that Karp waited awhile to write about this time of his life--you can tell he's still a little sad and angry about how things turned out for him, but ultimately has the perspective (and other career success) that he can enjoy reminiscing about this really wild story. I also appreciate his perspective on the homophobia in rap & hip-hop and how gross it sounds to him now--I will warn that this book includes some homophobic rap lyrics (with apologetic footnotes about how he hates those lyrics now but feels like he should own up to them by including them with the rest of the songs). For the audiobook he said he was too embarrassed to read his old raps himself so he hired a dignified Shakespearean actor to read them and it's a pretty good gimmick.
June 30, 2016
I didn't stop smiling/laughing while reading this fantastic memoir. Jensen is a genuine dude, who has a knack for comedy and true passion for Hip-hop.
July 6, 2019
The memoir of the white rapper, Hot Karl, who almost made it big, but then didn't. Karp outlines his star-crossed career, from his early days as a socially awkward Jewish kid who collected old-school hip-hop cassettes and magazines and played DJ at his friends' bar mitzvahs, to performing his sort of goofy raps at talent shows and then frat parties, to winning a radio show call-in rap battle the most times in a row ever, to getting a contract at Interscope worth nearly a million dollars, to the album... simply never happening. Along the way he throws in a lot of juicy anecdotes, such as the A-list sex goddess star he nearly slept with, except she had terrible hygiene; seeing Mac-10 meet him at his mom's house with a big suitcase full of cash very early in his career; making a fool of himself in front of Missy Elliott; and of course loaning car fare to the young, anxious, eager to please Kanye West before he was 'Ye.
Karp not only has a terrific story here, he's also a fantastic writer. His sense of comic timing is spot-on and I laughed out loud several times. But he can also wring emotion out of his tale, especially as the end dovetails with his supportive parents' divorce and his father's cancer diagnosis. Karp is still pretty rueful, even resentful, about how his incipient musical career imploded (he hints, without evidence, that the record company wanted to thin the field of other white rappers so Eminem could stand alone), even as he struggles to maintain perspective. But judging from the lyrics he includes and some of his videos online, I strongly doubt he would ever be the next Eminem, as he still believes he would have been. Rap, possibly more so than pop music in general, embraces either the simplistic and physical (Black Eyed Peas), or the cerebral but dark and intense. I just can't see a mainstream acceptance of a rapper equivalent to Weird Al or They Might Be Giants in terms of tongue-in-cheek lyrical silliness. I'm pretty sure if that album had dropped, Hot Karl would be as famous as MC Frontalot right about now. Still, it gave him this wonderfully bizarre, hilarious story to tell.
Karp not only has a terrific story here, he's also a fantastic writer. His sense of comic timing is spot-on and I laughed out loud several times. But he can also wring emotion out of his tale, especially as the end dovetails with his supportive parents' divorce and his father's cancer diagnosis. Karp is still pretty rueful, even resentful, about how his incipient musical career imploded (he hints, without evidence, that the record company wanted to thin the field of other white rappers so Eminem could stand alone), even as he struggles to maintain perspective. But judging from the lyrics he includes and some of his videos online, I strongly doubt he would ever be the next Eminem, as he still believes he would have been. Rap, possibly more so than pop music in general, embraces either the simplistic and physical (Black Eyed Peas), or the cerebral but dark and intense. I just can't see a mainstream acceptance of a rapper equivalent to Weird Al or They Might Be Giants in terms of tongue-in-cheek lyrical silliness. I'm pretty sure if that album had dropped, Hot Karl would be as famous as MC Frontalot right about now. Still, it gave him this wonderfully bizarre, hilarious story to tell.
November 15, 2021
Who can resist a title like that?
Jensen Karp almost had it all, and for a while, he did.
A dorky, middle-class Jewish kid growing up in the very-white suburbs of LA might not seem like the most likely candidate for hip-hop stardom, but that never stopped Karp. Obsessing over rap culture led to a pre-pubescent rap group that took shots at ABC, but fizzled out after the Rodney King riots.
Not letting his dreams die out, Karp eventually got on a hot streak on the Roll Call, a call-in rap battle show on major terrestrial radio, in a time when that sort of thing actually mattered. From there, everything snowballed until finally Karp, now known as "Hot Karl" signed with Interscope Records after a private dinner at Jimmy Iovine's mansion.
From the lens of 2016, it's fascinating to have a first-hand account of just how free-wheelin, jet-flyin, limousine-ridin' crazy the music industry was in the pre-Napster days. Hot Karl's year-long recording process featured a whos-who of early 2000s hip-hop, including cameos from Fabolous, Redman, Mya and more. Even real-life monster-human Suge Knight makes an appearance, albeit as a polite, genuine man, with a firm handshake.
Karp never lets himself get rolled up into the lifestyle too much though, as his rise to stardom happens to coincide with his parents divorce, and father's eventual battle with cancer. This is a ramen-to-caviar-to-ramen story, told by someone with enough insight and distance to actually perceive just how crazy this whole thing was.
As for Hot Karl's million-dollar record? You never heard it. Why? Ask Marshall Mathers
Jensen Karp almost had it all, and for a while, he did.
A dorky, middle-class Jewish kid growing up in the very-white suburbs of LA might not seem like the most likely candidate for hip-hop stardom, but that never stopped Karp. Obsessing over rap culture led to a pre-pubescent rap group that took shots at ABC, but fizzled out after the Rodney King riots.
Not letting his dreams die out, Karp eventually got on a hot streak on the Roll Call, a call-in rap battle show on major terrestrial radio, in a time when that sort of thing actually mattered. From there, everything snowballed until finally Karp, now known as "Hot Karl" signed with Interscope Records after a private dinner at Jimmy Iovine's mansion.
From the lens of 2016, it's fascinating to have a first-hand account of just how free-wheelin, jet-flyin, limousine-ridin' crazy the music industry was in the pre-Napster days. Hot Karl's year-long recording process featured a whos-who of early 2000s hip-hop, including cameos from Fabolous, Redman, Mya and more. Even real-life monster-human Suge Knight makes an appearance, albeit as a polite, genuine man, with a firm handshake.
Karp never lets himself get rolled up into the lifestyle too much though, as his rise to stardom happens to coincide with his parents divorce, and father's eventual battle with cancer. This is a ramen-to-caviar-to-ramen story, told by someone with enough insight and distance to actually perceive just how crazy this whole thing was.
As for Hot Karl's million-dollar record? You never heard it. Why? Ask Marshall Mathers
December 11, 2018
This is pretty well put together for what it is. The worst part about it is that the author doesn't have much of a story. He almost dropped an album on Interscope in the early '00s, but he didn't. He went into the studio with a few big name rappers and producers, but he didn't witness any weird crimes or anything. Er, not anything that he was willing to dish about. He seems kinda coy about his interactions with various celebrities and industry figures, for someone who's trying to sell a book, and then he has the nerve to try to pat himself on the back for not revealing which actress gave him VD. (Sounds like it may have been Jennifer Love Hewitt.) Otherwise though, it's a fascinating inside look at how the sausage is made, so to speak.
October 18, 2016
Yup, you need to read it.
May 1, 2024
I found the book to be engaging and addicting but behind the well told stories is not a lot of substance. Three stars for the content and five stars for how well it was told - split the difference.
February 7, 2020
I laughed out loud and related very much to this book as a hip-hop fan.
August 16, 2016
How can you pass up a title like that?! An autobiography by Jensen Karp - or Hot Karl, as he was known as in the late 90's/00's. A story of a white suburban rapper who lucked out and signed to interscope records with a million dollar record deal, and his eventual downfall (no thanks to Eminem). Hilarious and full of Jensen's personal celeb encounters, this clearly won't be for everyone, but if you loved 90's hip hop or are simply looking for some entertaining celeb gossip.. Pick it up!
February 8, 2019
This whole book could be just one entertaining blogpost. Some nice stories. Nothing special. But after the author rambles on and on, sometimes rapping unfunny, unoriginal verses to show how good he was/is it becomes clear why The Flintstones project was such a good fit.
The book is based on one thing. The juxtaposition of small/white/weak/poor and big/black/tough/rich.
Funny once, maybe a small 'haha' the second time, but after that it becomes annoying.
The book is based on one thing. The juxtaposition of small/white/weak/poor and big/black/tough/rich.
Funny once, maybe a small 'haha' the second time, but after that it becomes annoying.
October 14, 2017
The heart of this book is the most fun reading I've had in awhile. Great storyteller. I found myself laughing quite a bit and wanting to constantly tell the things I was learning about pop culture to the nearest person. Fascinating look into the music industry.
And Bubba Sparxxx's Deliverance was an underrated album.
And Bubba Sparxxx's Deliverance was an underrated album.
July 12, 2016
Absolutely hilarious.
November 16, 2017
Sad and depressing and funny and enlightening and empowering and cringe-inducing and and and
Too many ands.
Too many ands.
April 4, 2018
I love a good story about failure. From the title to the positive reviews, I was sold on this book's premise from the moment I heard about it. Not even the fact that I have only a moderate interest in hip-hop from the era he seems influenced really stood in the way, especially since Karp is generally gracious enough to explain the background for artists and why he cared about them without getting overly pedantic.
A lot of non-fiction with interesting stories suffer from either the writer's limited skill or the sort of tired, workmanlike prose of a ghost writer, and often good writers, especially comedy writers, have issues with making their pedestrian life story fill a book. Jensen Karp has the advantage of being both an engaging writer and having a story worth telling.
Oddly, this is a book where I actually regret reading the audiobook. There are times where Karp is clearly excited by what he's discussing, and those parts shine, but at times the fact that he's not a professional voice over artist is evident, where lines drop off so awkwardly I wondered if my iPhone was receiving a call. And the British narrator who read his old lyrics was more amusing in theory than practice. If I'd been reading the book as prose, I could have just skimmed through those parts. But these are superficial issues that I was able to ignore most of the time.
If nothing else, this reminded me of how baffling the music industry was before the collapse brought about by high-speed Internet. It seemed like companies were willing to make insane gambles with huge amounts of money, and thought that the money would never slow down or stop, so why hold anything back?
This book is well worth a read, and makes me wish there were more books available by Jensen Karp.
A lot of non-fiction with interesting stories suffer from either the writer's limited skill or the sort of tired, workmanlike prose of a ghost writer, and often good writers, especially comedy writers, have issues with making their pedestrian life story fill a book. Jensen Karp has the advantage of being both an engaging writer and having a story worth telling.
Oddly, this is a book where I actually regret reading the audiobook. There are times where Karp is clearly excited by what he's discussing, and those parts shine, but at times the fact that he's not a professional voice over artist is evident, where lines drop off so awkwardly I wondered if my iPhone was receiving a call. And the British narrator who read his old lyrics was more amusing in theory than practice. If I'd been reading the book as prose, I could have just skimmed through those parts. But these are superficial issues that I was able to ignore most of the time.
If nothing else, this reminded me of how baffling the music industry was before the collapse brought about by high-speed Internet. It seemed like companies were willing to make insane gambles with huge amounts of money, and thought that the money would never slow down or stop, so why hold anything back?
This book is well worth a read, and makes me wish there were more books available by Jensen Karp.
May 9, 2023
what a sweet & genuine guy who actually brought his authentic self to the chaotic & screwed up industry. from just a chuckle to truly laugh out loud funny, and exactly as crazy & ridiculous as you’d expect, what a disastrous delight to read. he was also very open abt mental health throughout which made it more real and captured some true highs & lows of his experience
March 30, 2017
Super interesting and entertaining story unlike any other. Multiple times I laughed out loud, trying hard to explain to my wife what was so funny. Great insight into a time period that I grew up in, and the artists/celebrities that formed that time.
May 18, 2024
It was cool hearing stories about my favorite artists and producers growing up.
July 15, 2025
I love this kind of behind the scenes, story behind the story stuff =)
Read
January 16, 2020It was a funny book with a great story
January 19, 2020
A very funny and true story. Hot Karl’s take on the music industry. Recommended if you like hip hop, or want to hear more about the music industry in general.
October 21, 2019
Very entertaining listen on a long car trip/run.
June 2, 2016
Kanye West Owes Me $300 is a compelling autobiography that offers readers a firsthand account of the cutthroat music industry through the eyes of a white rapper on the brink of stardom. Thankfully, the story of Hot Karl, Jensen’s rap name, isn’t limited to a cautionary industry tale or just another celebrity tell-all. It digs much deeper, exposing personal truths and the important lesson underscoring the rebirth of this admirable man.
I was introduced to Jensen sitting amongst an audience that listened to him read an excerpt from his book. Immediately entertained, he recounted the time he discovered a small mountain of consistently themed porn videos while writing songs for the musician Sisqo at his mansion. Kanye West Owes Me $300 is filled with similarly engaging recounts of Hot Karl street-performing for Missy Elliot, experiencing the unexpected kindness of Suge Knight, witnessing 50 Cent’s charisma, contracting an eye infection from a sexy A-list actress, getting to know Justin Timberlake, and, of course, why $300 of Kanye West’s personal debt is assigned to Jensen.
The soul of this memoir is the honesty by which Jenson recounts his childhood, relationship with his parents and industry downfall. Jensen harnesses the exact same authenticity as a writer that earned him his astonishing successes as a rapper. The reader benefits from this triumph and is left with important life lessons on self-acceptance and living without regret. Jensen, through the recount of his extraordinary story, reveals how unfulfilled dreams propelled his growth and inspirational rebirth.
This cinematic autobiography is for musicians, hip-hop heads, fans of celebrity anecdotes, Tyrese haters, and anyone frustrated in their own creative pursuit. You will be entertained as you take the vicarious ride of a star in the making, and finish the last page in thought.
I was introduced to Jensen sitting amongst an audience that listened to him read an excerpt from his book. Immediately entertained, he recounted the time he discovered a small mountain of consistently themed porn videos while writing songs for the musician Sisqo at his mansion. Kanye West Owes Me $300 is filled with similarly engaging recounts of Hot Karl street-performing for Missy Elliot, experiencing the unexpected kindness of Suge Knight, witnessing 50 Cent’s charisma, contracting an eye infection from a sexy A-list actress, getting to know Justin Timberlake, and, of course, why $300 of Kanye West’s personal debt is assigned to Jensen.
The soul of this memoir is the honesty by which Jenson recounts his childhood, relationship with his parents and industry downfall. Jensen harnesses the exact same authenticity as a writer that earned him his astonishing successes as a rapper. The reader benefits from this triumph and is left with important life lessons on self-acceptance and living without regret. Jensen, through the recount of his extraordinary story, reveals how unfulfilled dreams propelled his growth and inspirational rebirth.
This cinematic autobiography is for musicians, hip-hop heads, fans of celebrity anecdotes, Tyrese haters, and anyone frustrated in their own creative pursuit. You will be entertained as you take the vicarious ride of a star in the making, and finish the last page in thought.
July 5, 2016
KANYE WEST OWES ME $300 by Jensen Karp was doomed from the very start. To begin with, I do not like Rap music. Of any kind or by any performer, it doesn’t matter to me, I am just totally biased from the start. On top of that, this “memoir” starts with the first line, “You have three brain tumors…” so I knew it was going to be loaded with self pity of the “Poor, poor me” type where the author recounts all the terrible things that have happened to him and points the finger at everyone else.
I was wrong.
This is a fascinating and fun look into a world as alien to me as if it were something out of a science fiction tale. Mr. Karp, aka “Hot Karl”, weaves a story with a wild cast of characters, what might seem as extremely unlikely events, and manages to do it all with a smile on his lips and an engaging manner in his style.
This is a collection of events that happened to young Mr. Karp starting with his 12 year old self debuting his rap talents at a friend’s bar mitzvah. From there his rise to eventual near stardom is both joyous and tragic while along the way we meet with many of the stars of the genre and discover both their good and bad sides.
But this isn’t a slam against anyone and you can feel Mr. Karp’s honest ring through every chapter. I am so happy I won this book through Goodreads (I never would have thought about buying it myself), I admit I was wrong in my bias, and I hope to read more from this writer.
I was wrong.
This is a fascinating and fun look into a world as alien to me as if it were something out of a science fiction tale. Mr. Karp, aka “Hot Karl”, weaves a story with a wild cast of characters, what might seem as extremely unlikely events, and manages to do it all with a smile on his lips and an engaging manner in his style.
This is a collection of events that happened to young Mr. Karp starting with his 12 year old self debuting his rap talents at a friend’s bar mitzvah. From there his rise to eventual near stardom is both joyous and tragic while along the way we meet with many of the stars of the genre and discover both their good and bad sides.
But this isn’t a slam against anyone and you can feel Mr. Karp’s honest ring through every chapter. I am so happy I won this book through Goodreads (I never would have thought about buying it myself), I admit I was wrong in my bias, and I hope to read more from this writer.
July 20, 2016
Jensen Karp was a battle rapper since middle school and die hard hip hop head. He's a white Jewish boy which could be a bit of an issue but he stole my heart when he rapped about having a big dick at such a young age - what a guy. He rose to fame through the Roll Call on the West Coast station that is comparable to NY's Hot 97 and that's when he chose the name Hot Karl. He really did have his moment in the sun, he was signed to Interscope, spent tons of money, dated Playboy bunnies and got to live that rap lifestyle. Most importantly for this book he met a lot of people who were either already famous or, like Kanye, were just beginning. Even if your not a hip-hop fan you will enjoy these stories. He's a good writer and funny and you probably remember Sisqo right?
If you choose to listen to the book you get the added bonus of a British Shakespearean actor reading Hot Karl's lyrics. He was a really clever rapper with lots of pop culture references and punch line after punch line. He's probably not someone I would have listened to, but then again, I'm a huge Lil Dicky fan so who knows.
If you choose to listen to the book you get the added bonus of a British Shakespearean actor reading Hot Karl's lyrics. He was a really clever rapper with lots of pop culture references and punch line after punch line. He's probably not someone I would have listened to, but then again, I'm a huge Lil Dicky fan so who knows.
February 27, 2017
I've listened to Jensen Karp on various podcasts including his own (Get Up On This and Motherly Love) and one thing I knew about him is he really knows how to tell a good story. I wasn't let down. It was fascinating to hear about the industry and it was also humorous, entertaining and heartfelt at times. My favorite parts were when his mom Haroldine made an appearance. I've been listening to her on the Motherly Love podcast and she is just the greatest. And the Kanye parts were really good too! Really interesting to hear about him before he was cool (?) or what he is today. Haroldine and Kanye Forever!
August 18, 2017
this is a really fun and low stakes memoir from Jensen Karp, who isn't terribly famous as the owner of Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles but almost became VERY famous as the rapper Hot Karl. Though it presents as a comedic story, it isn't really. Karp is funny, but he's funny in a very presentable "hey we're just having a conversation here" kind of way; there's no forced humor and it's not like every line has a punchline. It's more a story about passion and what it's like to think you're going to become famous and then not become famous. There's a lot of namedropping, but the namedropping provides atmosphere to the text: it's all "here is who I could have been." What's obvious here is Karp's legitimate love of hip hop. he has an awareness of his whiteness and his place in the culture and presents a mature look back on what those things mean, and is rightfully critical of his own homophobia in his battle rap days. this was a really fun book.
June 14, 2016
Jensen Karp tells his story of being a white rapper from the 'burbs (who almost made it big) in this hilarious, and humble, memoir. From writing verses in his room as a young kid, to recording with artists like Redman, Fabolous, and Mya, he takes you along on his journey to almost-superstardom with clever pop culture references, self-effacing honesty, and stories such as the time Mack 10 showed up at his parents house with a briefcase full of cash. His book reads half like a personal journal, and half as stories he'd tell at a barbecue with his closest friends, but is put together in a seamless, thoroughly enjoyable read.
I have to say, although the title grabbed me, I was not expecting to enjoy this book nearly as much as I did. Which was: immensely! I was lucky enough to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway as an ARC.
I have to say, although the title grabbed me, I was not expecting to enjoy this book nearly as much as I did. Which was: immensely! I was lucky enough to win this book in a Goodreads giveaway as an ARC.
July 18, 2016
I didn't know Hot Karl as a musician, and I'm pretty sure I've heard Jensen Karp on some podcasts over the years, but this memoir of Karp's life as an up-and-coming white rapper in the age of Eminem and record label excess is a pretty fun, light read. A lot of great short tales about people he's met over the years, about the rap battle contests he got into on the radio, and the sort of label mistreatment we hear so much about.
The story is very centered on his rap career, so if you're looking for a lot more beyond that (such as what he's up to today), you won't find much of it here, so that might be a drawback if you're looking for a straightforward traditional biography, but I can't complain with what I got from this read. Pretty solid.
The story is very centered on his rap career, so if you're looking for a lot more beyond that (such as what he's up to today), you won't find much of it here, so that might be a drawback if you're looking for a straightforward traditional biography, but I can't complain with what I got from this read. Pretty solid.
January 3, 2017
I had a little bit of a slow start at appreciating this book because I honestly didn't like author Jensen Karp aka Hot Karl at first. He was a rapper from an affluent background whose six figure deal was the stuff of industry legend. I just couldn't identify with his struggles at first.
But as the story went on and Karp won me over with candid and humorous stories of his rise to near fame, I began rooting for the doomed rap career wise MC. The last few chapters are more serious than the comedic indictment of the record industry that dominates most of the memoir, but they should move anyone who ever has had a dream only to have it shattered.
But as the story went on and Karp won me over with candid and humorous stories of his rise to near fame, I began rooting for the doomed rap career wise MC. The last few chapters are more serious than the comedic indictment of the record industry that dominates most of the memoir, but they should move anyone who ever has had a dream only to have it shattered.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews