Gangsta Rap

Bloomsbury presents Gangsta Rap by Benjamin Zephaniah, read by Ben Bailey Smith.
A fairytale of hip-hop success ... teens will enjoy the thrilling music fantasy, while many will identify with the smart, talented boys who grow up quickly and rescue themselves' Booklist
An electrifying novel from hugely popular performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah, exploring the rap music scene, inequality and three boys caught up in it
Just what do you do with talent from the wrong side of town? Benjamin Zephaniah draws on his own experiences with school and the music business to create a novel that speaks with passion and immediacy about the rap scene.
Ray has trouble at home, and he has trouble at school - until he's permanently excluded and ends up sleeping on the floor of a record shop. What happens to a boy like Ray? If he's lucky, maybe he gets a chance to shine.
The story of three boys who aren't easy. They don't fit in. They seem to attract trouble. But they know what they want, and they've got the talent to back it up ...
Brilliantly written and with a real ear for dialogue, fans of Angie Thomas and Malorie Blackman will love Benjamin Zephaniah's novels for young adult readers:
Refugee Boy
Face
Gangsta Rap
Teacher's Dead

A high-profile international author with an enormous breadth of appeal, Benjamin Zephaniah was perhaps best known for his performance poetry with a political edge for adults and ground-breaking performance poetry for children. Alongside his poetry he created novels and plays, wrote and performed music and had a recurring role as preacher Jeremiah Jesus in the BBC series Peaky Blinders. In his novels for young people, which include Face, Refugee Boy, Gangsta Rap and Teacher-s Dead, Zephaniah tackled vital themes that resonate as much today as they did upon their first publication.