Raekwon book
image via Rizzoli

Raekwon publishing a memoir, getting into the legal weed business

Raekwon will release a memoir, The Story of Raekwon, in 2021 via Gallery Books, Rolling Stone reports. The book was co-written with Anthony Bozza, whose written books on Eminem and AC/DC and co-authored books with Mick Fleetwood, Slash, Wyclef Jean, INXS, Tommy Lee, Tracey Morgan, and others.

The book traces Raekwon’s path from “drug dealer to hip-hop godfather” and also discusses Wu-Tang Clan‘s “early growing pains in an industry that wasn’t ready for their success.”

“This is my story, from being a wide-eyed kid full of hopes and dreams, through hard times and sadness and so many situations I’m amazed I survived,” Raekwon said. “This is all of it, the good, the bad, the ugly, the whole truth and nothing but.”

In other news, Raekwon has also invested in CitizenGrown, a company that provides people (in US states where weed is legal) growing boxes to grow their own weed at home. Forbes reports:

When Raekwon came across CitizenGrown, he instantly fell in love with its noble mission to redistribute the profits from legal cannabis among the communities harmed the most by the War on Drugs. He calls these communities “the farmers of this movement”—both literally and metaphorically.

“CitizenGrown, they are pretty much the superheroes of cannabis, if you ask me,” the rapper said. “Everything starts from the ground up.”

[…] While other companies in the cannabis industry are “once again capitalizing on certain things that come from where we come from,” he voiced, in reference to Black culture, “CitizenGrown recognizes that cannabis comes from our culture, and wants to do more for the community side, and give opportunities to people”.

[…] “You can’t take something that wasn’t rightfully yours, offering nothing in return,” he added, noting how black communities have been suffering in America for centuries, seeing their culture looted by the historically privileged sectors of society.

Read more at Forbes.

Earlier this year, Raekwon released The Appetition EP. Stream that below:

25 Early 2000s Rap Albums That Hold Up Today