Author Aliya S. King held the New York launch for her recently released book “Platinum” last week at Bo Concepts on Madison Avenue.Touchstone Books and Hennessy Black Presented The Official Book Release Party for the book.
Platinum is based on the Vibe article “Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Lives Of Rapper’s Wives”, written by Aliya in 2006. This article and it’s response from readers were so great and abundant that it prompted Aliya to write a book after a year of chasing down Tashera Simmons (wife of DMX) and Mashonda (Ex-Wife of Swizz Beats) and other’s to seek further inspiration from. Both women were on hand last night, and introduced Aliya and spoke shortly about their involvement in the completion of this book.
About Platinum: 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.
Platinum reviews:
“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
