Platinum: A Novel [Hardcover]

Aliya S King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2010

You only think you want this life . . .

Alex Maxwell is planning her wedding to up-and coming music artist Birdie, ghostwriting video vixen Cleopatra Wright’s memoir, and she’s just been assigned the story of the year by her editor in chief at a major music industry magazine—an article about the glamorous lives of women married to platinum-selling hip-hop artists. Alex has been interviewing celebrities and hangers-on long enough to know all that glitters isn’t gold, so she’s determined to get the real scoop. Still, it’s not going to be easy to get past the wives’ gilded cages. . .

Beth Saddlebrook, wife of aging rapper Z. They have three beautiful boys and a seemingly endless supply of cash. But Beth spends her days trying to keep Z off drugs and fielding calls from women hollering she’s just a “small-town white bitch” and claiming to be carrying Z’s baby. Only one person understands what she’s going through. . .

Kipenzi Hill, multiplatinum-selling R&B artist and Beth’s best friend. Her relationship with rap star and record label president Jake is an open secret in the industry. She knows Jake loves her, but he’d rather break up than publicly acknowledge it. Now she has learned that the newest (and much younger) R&B sensation Bunny has been signed to Jake’s label.

Josephine Bennett, wife to Jamaican singer and Überproducer Ras Bennett. Josephine doesn’t just want to spend her husband’s money, she wants to contribute. Her fashion company is finally starting to get media attention when her husband admits to something she’s suspected all along—he’s fallen in love with another woman.

Cleopatra Wright, every man’s dream girl, a video vixen with a story to tell and scores to settle. Cleo’s got that thing no one can put a finger on and no man (or woman) can resist. Some would call her evil or misguided or both, but Cleo always moves with a purpose and she’ll stop at nothing to get what she wants. . . 

Alex realizes she may have more in common with these women than she’d like. What if this is a glimpse of how her life will be if Birdie finally gets signed to a major label? Stuck between her loyalty to this newfound sisterhood and her obligation to write the truth, Alex is forced to rethink everything she knows about work, friendship, and love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An entertainment journalist and coauthor of memoirs by Frank Lucas and Faith Hill, King presents a satirical fiction debut thick with multiple plots and lightly fictionalized celebrities. King's heroine is Alex Sampson Maxwell, a freelance entertainment journalist who's covered some of the era's biggest names, currently booked solid preparing to marry a well-known rapper named Birdie--divorced, with a young daughter--while ghostwriting the memoirs of infamous home-wrecking groupie Cleo. When she's assigned an additional story on rappers and their relationships, things get really precarious--as difficult as her relationship is already (especially in dealing with her stepdaughterto-be) Alex's new story teaches her the multiple ways that fame can cripple a relationship, if not kill it outright. This fast-paced melodrama occasionally overreaches and leaves a number of plot lines dangling, while the thinly veiled versions of actual celebrities (Jay Z and BeyonceÌü Knowles, Chris Brown and Rhianna, etc.) can be distracting, as readers will have no choice but to line up real and fictional events in their heads. Still, an entertaining mix of sex, betrayals, high drama, and tragedy will keep the pages turning.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A juicy ride through love in the hip-hop fast lane. The plot twists will make you wince and squirm, especially when you try to imagine the real-life characters who may have suffered such indignities!”

—Erica Kennedy, New York Times bestselling author, Bling

“A perfectly delicious, devilish brew of a tale that is absolutely addictive—I triple-dog dare you to try to put it down before you finish drinking in all that gossipy, backstabbing, juicy music industry goodness.”

—Denene Millner, New York Times bestselling co-author, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man and The Vow

“I know the life Aliya writes about. An incredibly captivating read, Platinum is a dead-on depiction of how love and hip-hop aren’t always able to co-exist peacefully, if at all.”

—Faith Evans, New York Times bestselling author, Keep the Faith

“Platinum is on the money—and behind the music—and rich with the heartbreaking politics of sex and love...an exciting and authentic new voice in fiction."

—Danyel Smith, author, Bliss and More Like Wrestling

“Platinum tears the roof off of what goes on behind the closed doors of hip-hop celebrity relationships, from the jaded wives, cynical journalists, and bitter jump-offs, and how they all interlink. It's a hard, harsh look at our industry—one that's impossible to put down."

—Cheo Hodari Coker, author, Unbelievable: The Life, Death and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.

“With her award-winning reporting skills and superior writing, Aliya S. King's Platinum proves why she's one of the best storytellers of our generation."

—Mimi Valdes, Editor-in-Chief, Latina Magazine

“Platinum makes it clear that true loves goes beyond platinum albums and McMansions in the suburbs. True love can be tested by the industry. But not destroyed: It's forever; firm, indestructible and solid-just like platinum. You don't want to miss this book. And you won't want to put it down.”

—LaLa Vazquez, co-owner, Crossover Entertainment

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439160252
• ISBN-13: 978-1439160251
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #702,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Distinguished writer Aliya S. King has co-author New York Times bestseller Keep the Faith with platinum-recording artist and widow of Biggie Smalls, Faith Evans, as well as the anticipated memoir of Frank Lucas, entitled American Gangster.

King has held editorial positions with Billboard and The Source. Her journalism articles have appeared in Vibe, Vibe Vixen, America, Giant, Uptown, Essence, CMJ: New Music Monthly, Upscale, King, Ms, Us Weekly, Teen People, Black Enterprise, and several other magazines. King is currently a senior writer for Giant magazine and a contributing editor for Upscale magazine. An article she wrote for Vibe on Al Green won ASCAP's Deems Taylor Award for magazine writing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love is blinding....., July 6, 2010

By 

Readers Paradise "Book Club" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Platinum: A Novel (Hardcover)

What starts out as an assignment quickly becomes more as Alex Maxwell ghost writes a story for Cleopatra Wright, known as Cleo. Cleo claims to have slept with 90% of all rappers in the Tri State area and she's telling her story via a novel titled Platinum. Inside the book are the sexcapades of Cleo with several known husbands, fiancé's and boyfriends in the industry. As Alex writes Cleo's story she's also planning her wedding to music artist Birdie. When she learns what the novel is about her first question to Cleo is "if Birdie is in the book". Her answer sends her on a quest for self discovery and personal redemption.

Cleo is like the black widow spider she spins a web that has loosely woven threads. In the middle is a tunnel in which the spider sits waiting for its prey to become trapped. Cleo is doing the same with this book. Along with Alex's help she's spinning a tale that is sure to capture a few insects and cover others in her venom.

Along with writing Cleo' story Alex is asked by Vibe editor in chief to write from her perspective a story titled; The Secret Lives of Rappers Wives". The story covers three of the most prominent wives; Beth Saddlebrook wife of rapper Z, they have 3 male children and Beth is pregnant with a fourth. Z tells her that this one better be a girl. Beth spends her time trying to make sure this unborn child is a girl as well as keeping Z off drugs and minimizing his groupie damage. With only one person able to understand Beth's predicament, Kipenzi Hill a multiplatinum artist and Beth's best friend. Her relationship with record producer Jake is not in the open yet and Jake would rather walk away then for anyone to know about them. As she struggles with retiring a new star is on the rise; Bunny and Jake is about to sign her to his label. Lastly is Josephine Bennett; wife of singer and producer Ras Bennett. With life taking a turn for the worse Josephine reminisces on the time before the cars, homes and money.

As Alex spends more time with Cleo she realizes how toxic she is but also the more time she spends with the rapper wives she sees more and more of her life in theirs. She questions the trade off; money, power, fame and respect over love, time, and personal respect.

Platinum is a well written story about the behind the scenes look at the hip hop industry. If you are interested in reading the lifestyles of the rich and famous, keeping up with celebrity news and in this case trying to figure out who the characters are then this is the book for you.


Missy
Readers Paradise
Read and reviewed (review copy) May 7th, 2010

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Glamorous Life...Without Love It Ain't Much, February 5, 2011

By 

Ms Toni "Readinista Extraordinaire" (Midwest - USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Platinum: A Novel (Hardcover)

A freelance writer, Alex Maxwell's writing is enabling her to see two sides of the same coin. For one assignment, she's ghostwriting the memoirs of video vixen Cleo. It's a tell-all, a blow by blow (pun intended) account of who she's sexed in the music industry. It's bound to rock some images and marriages. For another assignment, she's writing an article for a magazine about the lives of women involved with hip-hop artists. As Alex researches and interviews for both projects she realizes how closely both stories are intertwined and may mirror her own life, as she is engaged to an up-and-coming rapper.

Unlike the majority I'm sure, I went into this book reading it for the content only. I wasn't looking to try and figure out who's who in real life, though it was very obvious who a certain character was. I just wanted a good story. And in PLATINUM I found that...almost. The lives of the characters were interesting. The build up was good. The ending was a let down. The majority of PLATINUM was very good but somewhere nearing the end just lost its momentum. A lot of things were left in the air, questions unanswered. But not in a there's a sequel coming kind of way as much as the author left it up to you and that's real life. And it is real life, but I wanted a complete story with the author providing answers and resolution to all questions and issues she raised.

Aliya King's story of fame and its highs and lows is easy to follow and hooks readers from the beginning; I just wished I had stayed on the hook. PLATINUM was good but could have been so much better. Still, I could easily see myself reading another book by King.

*Rant* And let this book be a lesson to all those authors writing books about lifestyles in which their characters are laced in designer labels from head to toe. While the characters in this book obviously had the money and circumstances to wear the best and most expensive, this author DID NOT drown readers with label dropping. Labels were not needlessly tossed on each page as many unfortunately are doing today. When you have it, you don't have to talk about it!

3.5 stars
2K11 Challenge Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Platinum, August 7, 2010

By 

PrinceLuva79 "Loves a good book!!" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Platinum: A Novel (Hardcover)

"Platinum" by Aliya S King was one of the 3 best books I've read so far this year! Outstanding! The characters were so real and you can clearly see they are loosly based on well known A and D list industry people and their various controversies. I found myself thinking of Beyone, Jay Z, Karrine Stephans, DMX, Aaliyah, Rihanna, Chris Brown and many more as I read this book.

In this book we meet an assorted cast of individuals with one common bond: Cleo Wright. Cleo is an infamous former video vixen who is writing a book on all the men she' slept with, with the help of ghostwriter Alex. The list includes rappers Z and Jake, Ras Bennett super producer, up and coming rapper Birdie (Alex's fiancee) and many other married and "taken" athletes and celebs. Alex is simutaneously penning an article for "Vibe" about the wives/girlfriends of rappers. Beth (Z's long suffering White wife), Kipenzi Hill (superstar diva and secret girlfriend of Jake), Josephine Bennett (fashion designer & wife of Ras Bennett) are all being interviewed for the article.

We also meet Zander ( Z and Beth' s son) who is an up and coming rapper who is in a shaky somewhat violent and obssessive relationship with Bunny a young singer from the islands. Bunny's temper is fierce and young Zander is the recipient of her rage.

Questions are asked and drama heats up as word spreads that Cleo is penning a book on her adventures with some of the top men in the industry.

This book was a pageturner and I look forward to reading more from this author!!