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On August 4, my memoir, The Book of Luke: My Fight for Truth, Justice, and Liberty City, will go on sale. I hope many young African-Americans who think the odds are stacked against them will read it and be inspired. I wrote the book, which is previewed in this week’s cover story, with them in mind.
Closest to my heart are the stories of growing up proud and strong in black Miami. My family went through a lot to ensure that my brothers and I were successful. A couple of years ago, Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto made the ill-informed remark that Cubans built Miami. The truth is Bahamians built the city. My book discusses blacks who were among the first true pioneers. They paved the way for a guy like me to take on the entertainment industry, which has always viewed me as an outsider.
It reveals the behind-the-scenes, untold stories of 2 Live Crew, including the raunchy freak fests we hosted.
Because I am not from Los Angeles or New York City, you will never see BET or MTV honoring my contributions to the music business. This is true even though I fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for free speech.
I am not considered part of the in-crowd like Def Jam Records
But this book is really just a reflection of me. It reveals the behind-the-scenes, untold stories of 2 Live Crew, including the raunchy freak fests we hosted as we crisscrossed the globe being as nasty as we wanted to be. It recounts my rise and fall as one of hip-hop’s godfathers and how I turned unknown artists, from H-Town to Trick Daddy to Pitbull, into record-breaking entertainers. Readers will meet the people I trusted but who ended up stealing almost everything from me. I also put to rest the gossip about my paying off University of Miami football players. That lie made Dan Le Batard a star reporter for the Miami Herald and an ESPN radio host.
The Book of Luke is my gospel! You can get it at retail shops and online bookstores across America — but you can always help a brother out and preorder today!
Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.
