Iceberg Slim
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Iceberg Slim (August 4, 1918 – April 28,1992), also known as Robert Beck, was born as Robert Lee Maupin. He was an African American writer who started out as a pimp and whose writings were successful; his descriptions of the pimp lifestyle had considerable influence on African-American culture.
Life
Born into abject poverty, his intelligence was evident early on, and he briefly studied at the Tuskegee Institute before dropping out and drifting into criminality. He started to pimp at age 18 in the brutal Chicago underworld, soon becoming rich and successful in the trade. It was in 1960, during his third prison stay, a 10 month prison sentence in solitary confinement at the Cook County House of Corrections, that he finally decided to "square up", and turn to writing. He went on to marry and had four children.Works
Beck's first work, a fictionalized autobiography called Pimp, was published in 1969 and was quickly categorised as being typical of the black 'revolutionary' literature then being created; however, Beck's vision was considerably bleaker than most other black writers of the time. His work tended to be based on his personal experiences in the criminal underworld, and revealed a world of seemingly bottomless brutality and viciousness. His was the first insider look into the world of Black pimps, to be followed by a half-dozen pimp memoirs by other writers. The book sold very well, mainly among Black audiences; it was eventually translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and Greek.His other novels include Trick Baby (turned into a movie by the same name in 1973), Mama Black Widow, Long White Con, The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim, Death Wish , Airtight Willie and Me, and Doom Fox. As a Guardian obituary put it, 'each one of his novels seemed bleaker and more violent than the last'.
According to his publisher Holloway House, Beck had sold over six million books as of 1998, making him one of the best-selling African American writers. All his books were published exclusively as paperbacks.
Iceberg Slim also released a powerful album of poetry called Reflections in the early 70s.
A movie adaptation of Pimp has been planned for a long time. There were announcements of a movie directed by Bill Duke and staring Ice Cube; that project was put on hold and in 2004 rapper Pras acquired the rights to produce a movie based on the book.
Books
- Pimp: The Story of My Life (1969)
- Mama Black Widow: A Story of the South's Black Underworld (1969)
- Trick Baby: The Story of a White Negro (1967)
- Airtight Willie and Me: The Story of Six Incredible Players (1979)
- Long White Con: The Biggest Score in His Life! (1977)
- Death Wish: A Story of The Mafia (1977)
- The Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim: Robert Beck's Real Story (1971)
- Doom Fox (written in 1978, but not published until October of 1998, might be a version of the unpublished The Game for Squares)
Recordings
- Reflections (1994, Infinite Zero Archive)
Influence
Iceberg Slim was an important influence on hip-hop artists and rappers such as Ice-T and Ice Cube (among many ) who adopted their names in part from reading the author. Rapper Jay-Z even references himself by the nickname Iceberg Slim on some of his songs. Iceberg Slim's last book, Doom Fox, which was written in 1978 but not published until 1998, contains an introduction written by Ice-T. Most of the currently popular references to pimp culture, for example in the work of Snoop Dogg, ultimately can be traced back to Iceberg Slim. Comedian Dave Chappelle often talks about Iceberg and "The Game" during his stand-up routines.Reference
- Iceberg Slim: The Life as Art (2003) by Peter A. Muckley (ISBN 0-8059-5423-6)
See also
- African American literature
- Donald Goines, a writer who was heavily influenced by Iceberg Slim and wrote in a similar style
External links
- [Iceberg Slim biography and bibliography], from popsubculture.com
- ["The Transcendence of Hate Over Repression"], by John Swan
- ["I Like Ice"], a tribute by Josh Alan Friedman
- [Holloway House Publishing]
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