Author Alfred Obiesie, who penned the the funny and insightful book, You Made It A Hot Line, is better known to everyone as the Crazed Afrykan, is a hip hop aficionado, whose wit and penchant for biting social commentary is legendary. He was a producer for Nas, Damien Marley, DV Alias Khryst and more.
You Made It A Hot Line took him almost 6 years to create, starting in 2010. Earlier last year, Alfred has suffered a sudden cardiac death that has left him in a medically induced coma for two weeks. Not only he lived to tell the tale but he got to finish a project he wanted to see go into fruition.
Being a superfan for over 30 years, he’s intimate with the motivations, rhymes and reasons for one of the most revered and prolific genres in music. Therefore, wondering why hip hop lines wasn’t transcending as they should. The book is an ode to some of hip hop’s greatest quotes from such powerful tracks as Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y”, the unashamed sexuality behind Lil Kim’s “Big Momma” and street stories such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message”. Alfred’s best line of all time is from “Today Was A Good Day”.
“I wrote the book from a fan to fan perspective,” Alfred says. “A lot of folks know about hip hop culture but don’t know the in-depth detail behind it. This book will bridge the gap on it.”
The cover for the book is pure brilliance, using the nostalgic style of a composition book, for that’s what lyrical geniuses used to write their next hit and harness their craft. The artwork, illustrated by multi Grammy and MTV Award Winning artist Shah Wonders, captures the significance of the quote as it is being written about.
The book even has a WTF section, which are quotes that made absolutely no sense, but we loved it anyways. ODB’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and LL Cool J’s “Pink Cookies” made the cut.
“I had some folks come up to me and asked why Nas wasn’t in the book. I had to tell them it’s not a book of the greatest MCs of all time.” Which Alfred hints about the Queens MC having his just due on Volume 2 with KRS-One and Rakim.
“If you love hip hop, then you will fall madly in love with it,” Alfred says. “If you don’t love hip hop, you’ll love it for a coffee table read.”
You Made It A Hot Line is available now on the One Track Mine website
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