Quan Mello by Jay Light

     I remember when I didn't read urban fiction, due to the graphic violence, drugs and other negatives that kept folks down.  Thankfully, Quan Mello, by Jay Light wasn't like that.  Yes, there was a bit of violence, but it didn't dominate the story, neither did the other dislikes.  The story held a truth to the music industry that I recognized and lived through, like the trials of Biggie Smalls and Tupac.  Those issues weren't lost on me, and Quan Mello endured a bit of it as well - no shocker there.  

Here's the blurb:
My name is Quan-Mello Brooks and I'm from Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, My father I never knew him my Brother's got caught up in the streets, Both doin bids in the system. All I had was a nagging mother and my own dreams and Ambitions to succeed at something because punching a time clock wasn't meant for me. I didn't sling Crack rock and I didn't have a wicked jump shot. But I had the dope lyrics to make a hot track. I made the raps and sold millions of records world wide; Rapper, M.C, Entrapanuer, C.E.O. Its not what I did or even how I did it, it's what happened after I did it all. Gaining new friends losing old friends, raps beefs, Label beefs, deaths and success! So you tell me, in the end was it all worth it?      The story carried the desires of a young man, looking to have a better life, but doing it in all the wrong ways.  He couldn't keep a job, due to a negative mind set, yet he managed to know enough friends with the same aspirations as himself to make things happen.  They helped each other and created a label, a rap mogul and various artists under their wings.  It was everything he'd dreamed, but as the phrase goes, "More money, more problems."

     Quan Mello was different for me.  I felt the attemps to attach but the characters weren't that relatable for me.  I understood what they were doing, but sometimes I had no clue what they were saying!  I laugh about it, thinking I'm not black enough, but I caught on for the most part.  Though a bit vague, some characters were given enough meat for me to see them, but not all- even with the author giving height, weight and a feature here and there.

     What I had a tough time with was the book itself.  There were many errors and that's tough for readers, in order to keep them engaged.  If they stumple over wording, such as using "ah" instead of "a", they could easily lose interest as well.  The story's message was loud and clear though and I liked that.

Check out Quan Mello, by Jay Light, while I move on to the next read.

Quan Mello
Jay Light
Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
July 16, 2015