The Egyptian meaning of Heru is "Sun God" and Ptah was one of Egypt's earliest Gods associated with creation and the arts. So it is perfect that a man named Heru Ptah has chosen to enlighten the world and the hip-hop world in particular with the release of his book A Hip-Hop Story from MTV Books.
Its the story of two young MCs named Flawless and Hannibal who battle both with words and weapons to become number one in the world of rap music. But even though music is their first passion they battle most vehemently over Erika, Flawless's sister, and Micah, Hannibal's protg, who have become lovers.
Many people say that the war between the two fictional rappers is modeled after the war between Jay-Z and Nas. But Ptah denies this. Ptahs story is nearly as interesting as his fictional one he created. He originally self-published A Hip-Hop Story and is said to have sold thousands of copies at poetry slams and on the subway. One day he sold a copy to Jacob Hoye, publishing director of MTV Books, who after staying up all night reading found Ptah and signed him within a week.
Check out the website for A Hip-Hop Story
Daniel Robert Epstein: How autobiographical is A Hip-Hop Story? Like the main character I know you come from Jamaica.
Heru Ptah: Yeah, yeah. No, no. Thats not autobiographical. Thats just Jamaica? If I can squeeze in a Jamaican character then I will.
DRE: Was there one thing which inspired the novel?
HP: A couple things under the circumstances. You can see its a real post 9-11 book. I started writing it in November of 2001 so it's around that period of time when those things were going on and the drama in the world was going on so its inspired a lot by that. Also the whole original concept of putting "West Side Story" and "Romeo and Juliet" into the hip-hop world.
DRE: Did you ever think to yourself that maybe you shouldnt put violence in the book just because thats one thing people seem to associate with the hip-hop world?
HP: No, because it wouldnt be being real to the world and even to the people in hip-hop. Just because you want to show a different side of it doesnt mean that youre going to neglect like that other side. You have to show the progression of the characters. You show the development of the where they come from and how they get from one level to another. The violence is there but its not there for nothing. It serves its purpose. Its not gratuitous or just violence to be boasting about violence and it really doesnt even come until the later section of the book. But its really just to reflect all of the culture, not just one side. To try to show as many different sides of it as we can. Unfortunately sometimes part of it is violence but thats with a lot of reflection in a lot of things.
DRE: Sure. And I know that you spoke to M-ONE [of the Dead Prez] for some insight in the rap world. How much other research did you do?
HP: At the time I was an intern into Vibe magazine. So I was able to go into the offices and get to see how stuff works. Sometimes as an intern you get party passes and stuff like that so I went to a lot of parties and I just watched the industry to see how it moved. As for details about contracts and stuff like that I learned from M-ONE and he really schooled me on the inner workings of the business side of it. To learn about certain things like how a studio might work he invited me down to Electric Lady. So wed go down there and theyd let us watch. So you pick up a lot.
DRE: Did you hear anything from Jay-Z or Nas about the book?
HP: Not yet. I wonder if theyve heard of it.
DRE: I know you meet a lot of MCs, what do they think of the book?
HP: I have not met any of the real mainstream artists. I've met a lot of underground rappers who've read it and just thought its true-to-real life.
DRE: When you were doing your research did anyone really tell you "You cant really mention my name," or anything like that?
HP: Not really, because the book is fiction and its set in a parallel hip-hop world. So in my world, Jay-Zee and Nas dont exist and like Tupac and Biggie never existed. So even if somebody would deny anything from the book, they cant really because its a parallel hip-hop world.
DRE: A lot of people seem to focus on your personal story rather than the book.
HP: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes its tough getting the focus off of me and putting it on the book. I couldnt have gotten to where I am without the product being good. So, thats that.
DRE: Ok, but I did kind of find a couple things fascinating. Like that you lost your sight for a little while and thats when you started writing?
HP: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I dont want to go into that too much.
DRE: What you were writing while that was happening?
HP: I was writing poetry at that time. I was putting work together in my mind and then I was putting it on paper and a couple years later hip-hop started.
DRE: What made you start writing to Mumia Abu-Jamal?
HP: Id found out about him and his situation through poetry. Then I read a couple poems about him and I went to different rallies and performed. People loved it so I wrote him a letter for asking if I could visit. Then he wrote me back and I was very honored that he did that and he said that I could visit him. I was blessed to meet him and I was able to perform pieces in front of him. It was very honorable and spiritual experience.
DRE: Since youve done all this research and written about the music industry, if someone offered you a record deal, would you go for it?
HP: Um, if its a good deal [laughs]. A friend of mine once said as long as theres poverty therell be bad record deals. There are different stages where you are in your life and when youre very hungry youre more likely to just take anything. Im still very hungry but Im not hungry enough to sell myself. But who knows? Shoot, if Im damn near homeless and somebody offered me a record deal. It might be shit, but I aint getting shit right now so I might as well. But right now Im more so focusing on just books.
DRE: So you did the MTV Tour. How was going on things like Direct Effect and Carson Daly?
HP: That was interesting. I mean I wasnt really on there to pitch the book. That was very, very, very, very cool. , I was very happy they had me and neither one really has many authors on. I cant remember the last time Ive seen an author on something like that. So, it was hot.
DRE: You write quite a bit how hip-hop is misunderstood. What do you think the best way that people like you and even people in the industry can try to make a little change?
HP: With "A Hip-Hop Story" I try to teach but not preach. I think whats happened a lot is that words like "positive" have a negative connotation to them.
Theyre really preachy, heavy-handed type of shit. Nobody wants to be preached to and think the best way to do it is to think about it subliminally. There are a lot of those difficult little things in hip-hop where you might call a character Little Hitler or Stalin, or you might name the DJs after Egyptian gods or just subliminal little things that you might drop into the story that make people go Hmm, I wonder what that means. Then they want to reach out and find out about these things. So if you do it like that then everybody will follow that. Start by making more conscious, more socially aware stuff a little bit cool then people will get into it.
DRE: Ok, and what was it like getting that quote from Ben Vereen on the book?
HP: Well, what happened was that with Ben Vereen, I was put in touch with by my friend and they got the book to him. That was kind of crazy. Like this was Ben Vereen here and he's like reading the book and he's like Yo, Im really digging this. That was hot. I got that when I was publishing the book myself when I was doing the book myself so I could use anything I could get. I was reaching out to everybody and he blessed me. I was very thankful.
DRE: So is the next book still going to involve Michael Jackson?
HP: Yeah. Im deep in it. I'm about halfway through that right. Its a novel thats themed around him. But thats all I can say.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Its the story of two young MCs named Flawless and Hannibal who battle both with words and weapons to become number one in the world of rap music. But even though music is their first passion they battle most vehemently over Erika, Flawless's sister, and Micah, Hannibal's protg, who have become lovers.
Many people say that the war between the two fictional rappers is modeled after the war between Jay-Z and Nas. But Ptah denies this. Ptahs story is nearly as interesting as his fictional one he created. He originally self-published A Hip-Hop Story and is said to have sold thousands of copies at poetry slams and on the subway. One day he sold a copy to Jacob Hoye, publishing director of MTV Books, who after staying up all night reading found Ptah and signed him within a week.
Check out the website for A Hip-Hop Story
Daniel Robert Epstein: How autobiographical is A Hip-Hop Story? Like the main character I know you come from Jamaica.
Heru Ptah: Yeah, yeah. No, no. Thats not autobiographical. Thats just Jamaica? If I can squeeze in a Jamaican character then I will.
DRE: Was there one thing which inspired the novel?
HP: A couple things under the circumstances. You can see its a real post 9-11 book. I started writing it in November of 2001 so it's around that period of time when those things were going on and the drama in the world was going on so its inspired a lot by that. Also the whole original concept of putting "West Side Story" and "Romeo and Juliet" into the hip-hop world.
DRE: Did you ever think to yourself that maybe you shouldnt put violence in the book just because thats one thing people seem to associate with the hip-hop world?
HP: No, because it wouldnt be being real to the world and even to the people in hip-hop. Just because you want to show a different side of it doesnt mean that youre going to neglect like that other side. You have to show the progression of the characters. You show the development of the where they come from and how they get from one level to another. The violence is there but its not there for nothing. It serves its purpose. Its not gratuitous or just violence to be boasting about violence and it really doesnt even come until the later section of the book. But its really just to reflect all of the culture, not just one side. To try to show as many different sides of it as we can. Unfortunately sometimes part of it is violence but thats with a lot of reflection in a lot of things.
DRE: Sure. And I know that you spoke to M-ONE [of the Dead Prez] for some insight in the rap world. How much other research did you do?
HP: At the time I was an intern into Vibe magazine. So I was able to go into the offices and get to see how stuff works. Sometimes as an intern you get party passes and stuff like that so I went to a lot of parties and I just watched the industry to see how it moved. As for details about contracts and stuff like that I learned from M-ONE and he really schooled me on the inner workings of the business side of it. To learn about certain things like how a studio might work he invited me down to Electric Lady. So wed go down there and theyd let us watch. So you pick up a lot.
DRE: Did you hear anything from Jay-Z or Nas about the book?
HP: Not yet. I wonder if theyve heard of it.
DRE: I know you meet a lot of MCs, what do they think of the book?
HP: I have not met any of the real mainstream artists. I've met a lot of underground rappers who've read it and just thought its true-to-real life.
DRE: When you were doing your research did anyone really tell you "You cant really mention my name," or anything like that?
HP: Not really, because the book is fiction and its set in a parallel hip-hop world. So in my world, Jay-Zee and Nas dont exist and like Tupac and Biggie never existed. So even if somebody would deny anything from the book, they cant really because its a parallel hip-hop world.
DRE: A lot of people seem to focus on your personal story rather than the book.
HP: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes its tough getting the focus off of me and putting it on the book. I couldnt have gotten to where I am without the product being good. So, thats that.
DRE: Ok, but I did kind of find a couple things fascinating. Like that you lost your sight for a little while and thats when you started writing?
HP: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I dont want to go into that too much.
DRE: What you were writing while that was happening?
HP: I was writing poetry at that time. I was putting work together in my mind and then I was putting it on paper and a couple years later hip-hop started.
DRE: What made you start writing to Mumia Abu-Jamal?
HP: Id found out about him and his situation through poetry. Then I read a couple poems about him and I went to different rallies and performed. People loved it so I wrote him a letter for asking if I could visit. Then he wrote me back and I was very honored that he did that and he said that I could visit him. I was blessed to meet him and I was able to perform pieces in front of him. It was very honorable and spiritual experience.
DRE: Since youve done all this research and written about the music industry, if someone offered you a record deal, would you go for it?
HP: Um, if its a good deal [laughs]. A friend of mine once said as long as theres poverty therell be bad record deals. There are different stages where you are in your life and when youre very hungry youre more likely to just take anything. Im still very hungry but Im not hungry enough to sell myself. But who knows? Shoot, if Im damn near homeless and somebody offered me a record deal. It might be shit, but I aint getting shit right now so I might as well. But right now Im more so focusing on just books.
DRE: So you did the MTV Tour. How was going on things like Direct Effect and Carson Daly?
HP: That was interesting. I mean I wasnt really on there to pitch the book. That was very, very, very, very cool. , I was very happy they had me and neither one really has many authors on. I cant remember the last time Ive seen an author on something like that. So, it was hot.
DRE: You write quite a bit how hip-hop is misunderstood. What do you think the best way that people like you and even people in the industry can try to make a little change?
HP: With "A Hip-Hop Story" I try to teach but not preach. I think whats happened a lot is that words like "positive" have a negative connotation to them.
Theyre really preachy, heavy-handed type of shit. Nobody wants to be preached to and think the best way to do it is to think about it subliminally. There are a lot of those difficult little things in hip-hop where you might call a character Little Hitler or Stalin, or you might name the DJs after Egyptian gods or just subliminal little things that you might drop into the story that make people go Hmm, I wonder what that means. Then they want to reach out and find out about these things. So if you do it like that then everybody will follow that. Start by making more conscious, more socially aware stuff a little bit cool then people will get into it.
DRE: Ok, and what was it like getting that quote from Ben Vereen on the book?
HP: Well, what happened was that with Ben Vereen, I was put in touch with by my friend and they got the book to him. That was kind of crazy. Like this was Ben Vereen here and he's like reading the book and he's like Yo, Im really digging this. That was hot. I got that when I was publishing the book myself when I was doing the book myself so I could use anything I could get. I was reaching out to everybody and he blessed me. I was very thankful.
DRE: So is the next book still going to involve Michael Jackson?
HP: Yeah. Im deep in it. I'm about halfway through that right. Its a novel thats themed around him. But thats all I can say.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
missy:
The Egyptian meaning of Heru is "Sun God" and Ptah was one of Egypt's earliest Gods associated with creation and the arts. So it is perfect that a man named Heru Ptah has chosen to enlighten the world and the hip-hop world in particular with the release of his book A Hip-Hop Story from MTV Books....
alisa:
this interview makes me want to go out and get this book. even though starting out i didn't think it would. thanks.