The Dead Emcee Scrolls

I read The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop by Saul Williams because in the story I'm writing, a character loves the author's work and I was trying to understand the character better. My brother is a big fan of Saul Williams as well and lent me his two books of poetry years ago. This book is different, with poetry as well as prose, all revolving around hip-hop. Williams confesses to having found this old scroll hidden in the New York City subway system in a graffiti-like writing he was unable to read. After meditating, he took a pen and wrote in his notebook while studying the letters. Words flowed out, ones he was sure were on this scroll and those words made up the poems that sprung his career and acclaim as a poet. This book is his attempt to make sense of it all, to rhapsodize about the power (and problems) of hip-hop, and to share his journal writings from after finding the scroll that changed his life. It's interesting, though I wasn't crazy about the book's organization and some of the language. (I cringe reading what I still call “the 'n' word.”) I recommend this book to fans of hip-hop and Saul Williams, but not sure it's the best intro to his work for those unfamiliar with him.