Research
Shetani’s Sister
In the canon of African American crime literature, there is not a more important writer than Robert Beck, better known as Iceberg Slim. The author of an autobiography, five novels, a short-story anthology, an essay collection, and a spoken-word album, Beck was the dominant black popular writer of the post-civil rights era. His final novel, Shetani’s Sister, was not published in his lifetime, but in 2015, working with Beck’s estate, Justin Gifford helped secure the novel’s release.
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Night Train to Sugar Hill
In 1990, an aging pimp-turned-novelist named Robert “Iceberg Slim” Beck steadily worked away at one of his last two unpublished novels, Night Train to Sugar Hill. His eyesight was poor from the effects of diabetes, but he was still able to write in longhand. Even with his failing health, he worked diligently on the book, hoping to get it published. He died before he could see it in print. Thirty years later, Justin Gifford worked with the Robert Beck estate to publish his forgotten novel.
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Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp
Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp examines the tumultuous life of legendary Chicago pimp Iceberg Slim (1918-1992) and how he transformed himself from pimp to author of 7 groundbreaking books. These books explored the world of the ghetto in gritty and poetic detail and made him the godfather of street literature and a cultural icon. Interviews with Iceberg Slim, Chris Rock, Henry Rollins, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, Quincy Jones, and Justin Gifford.
Reflections
In 1976, Beck recorded Reflections with the Red Holloway Quartet. In it, Beck recites four street poems accompanied by Holloway’s jazz quartet. Beck’s deep voice is full of velvety menace, and combined with Holloway’s mellow riffs, the album has all the ambiance of a haze filled lounge. In his polished and riveting monologues, Beck spins spellbinding tales of the dark side of ghetto glamour—drug addiction, violence against women, and street rivalries. The album would inspire Ice-T and become one of the musical cornerstones of gangsta rap.