Rise of a Killah gives an unfiltered look into Ghostface Killah’s life—his struggles, faith, and rise with Wu-Tang. Not always polished, but full of heart, grit, and iconic moments. 🔥🎤 #GhostfaceKillah #RiseOfAKillah #WuTangClan #HipHopMemoir #BookTok #NetGalley

This book was a pleasant surprise. Going into it, I didn’t know much about the Wu-Tang Clan, but I found myself completely drawn in. The storytelling was compelling and kept me coming back for more. As someone who enjoys a few Ghostface Killah songs, I was especially intrigued to learn more about his personal journey, and the book didn’t disappoint.

I loved the way the stories unfolded — each chapter felt like its own snapshot of a moment in time, yet together they painted a vivid picture of Ghostface’s life, the rise of the Wu-Tang Clan, and the cultural pulse of the 90s hip-hop scene. It wasn’t just about music; it was about life, struggle, growth, and evolution. I especially connected with some of the spiritual reflections he shared throughout — they added a thoughtful, introspective layer to his story that made it even more meaningful.

If I had one critique, it would be that at times the structure felt a bit scatterbrained. The book reads more like a collection of loosely connected stories rather than a fully linear narrative. That said, it still manages to come together in a cohesive and powerful way.

I would absolutely recommend this book — not just to hip-hop fans or those familiar with Wu-Tang Clan, but to anyone who appreciates a raw, honest, and well-written life story. It’s insightful, entertaining, and full of depth.

Rise of a Killah is the interesting autobiography of Ghostface Killah, a former member of the Wu-Tang Clan. From his humble beginnings to his rise to fame, Ghostface details his life story and what led him to make many choices. It's a very interesting read with a lot of cultural significance.

Through a combination of personal anecdotes, career milestones, and insights into his distinct lyrical style, the story sheds light on his journey from the streets of Staten Island to becoming a pivotal figure in rap history, influencing generations of artists and fans alike.

Rambling, incoherent, basically a vocal transcript spoken into an iPhone in random moments of "oh ish, lemme tell a story about":

1. Growing up (did dumb stuff w/ his friends)
2. Family (did dumb stuff but not their fault)
3. Solo albums (did dumb stuff and tossed off most of the work, proud of a couple of them, but doing dumb with friends often led to rushed or less than perfect work)
4. His fellow Clan members recounted like a Yearbook entry. "Dirt? Dirt is Dirt, man." Often with a story about some crime or another he committed with the person.
5. God. (Unremarkable, but i'm not gonna criticize someone's belief system vs their acts.)
6. Finishes with "Oh yeah, I did a couple movies and tv shows, too, let me mention them in brief, undetailed sentences."

Terrible to read. Not entertaining. Felt disrespected as a reader as to what a mess it was.

(gratis copy from NetGalley)

As a big fan of Wu Tang and Ghostface Killah, I was very excited to receive a copy of Rise of a Killah for review. However, I found this read difficult to follow. It could be the writing style, which is very much stream-of-consciousness. It could also be that this just wasn't the book for me at the time of reading it. Perhaps I will try again in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Rise of a Killah by Ghostface Killah in exchange for an honest review.

Ghostface's narrative is truly compelling and insightful, striking a deep chord with his fans. The vivid portrayal of his mannerisms and speech allows readers to fully immerse themselves in the book's scenarios and hear his voice. I found it to be a valuable read and am grateful for Ghostface's willingness to share his story.

This was absolutely terrible. I don't know who let this be published but it felt like a teenager wrote this. Don't read this.

Rise of a Killah is the memoir of Ghostface Killah, one of the founding members of Wu-Tang Clan. This memoir would definitely be an interesting read for fans of Wu-Tang! Outside of that, it seemed a bit unstructured and difficult to follow as it is not a traditional autobiography. I would suggest picking it up if you're looking for an unfiltered storytelling of Ghostface's story and success!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Let me preface this review with this: I am old and I don’t really listen to music. I do, however, really enjoy reading about other people, how they started, what they did, and how they got to where they are today. I found this fascinating when I could figure out what was going on. There was absolutely no structure to this, just streams of consciousness that were difficult to follow. I needed more of a traditional biography to get to know him better but felt like I was just getting bits and pieces and I wasn’t sure how and where they all fit. This might be a good read if you already have the basics. I may revisit this again once I get a good feel for who and what Dennis Coles/Ghostface Killah is.

Anyone who celebrated the 50th and is a hip hop/rap fan will appreciate the memoir, but the stream of consciousness was very hard to follow and quite repetitive.

Unfortunately, I could not get through this one. The writing was poor for me. It just didn't work. Disappointed because I am a big Wu Tang Clan fan!

Must read for fans of WuTang. Gave insight into the rapper’s life, his struggles and how he overcame everything. Highly recommend this book to fans and non-fans.

I enjoyed the book. It's not really in chronological order like most memoirs however. His story is very interesting, and seems very honest.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC of the book.

I remember the first time I really paid attention to Ghostface Killah. It was Beyoncé's performance of "Summertime" on Jay-Z's film, Fade to Black. He was backstage getting draped in jewels and chains before sharing the stage with Queen Bey. The poetry wizard wearing diamond-studded bathrobes. A founding member and soon to become one of my favorites in the iconic Wu-Tang Clan.

In this new autobiography, Dennis Coles—aka Ghostface Killah—shares his early successes in modern hip-hop, his career touring as a solo artist and trendsetter, his childhood, commitment to family and spiritual journey. It includes pictures documenting his life in the Wu-Tang. Quite the narrative.

The writing style of Rise of a Killah is not that of a traditional autobiography. It is a series of sporadic stories not told in chronological or any kind of order actually. It is more like Ghostface recorded random thoughts and gave to someone to type rather than hire an experienced (ghost)writer to structure, format and polish the content.

It was very difficult for me to catch the rhythm. The lack of structure seriously interfered with the retelling of his life making it difficult to follow. Especially when Ghostface would go on a tangent about an unrelated topic then repeat himself.

I would not recommend Rise of a Killah if you are looking for a well-written autobiography. The pictures were a nice addition along with his transparency on health issues and spirituality. But readers will get more out of his genius lyrics than in this book.

Happy Pub Day, Ghostface Killah! Rise of a Killah: My Life in the Wu-Tang is now available.

Disclaimer: An advance copy was received directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins. ~LiteraryMarie

Rise of a Killah was a super interesting read. I loved reading Ghostface's reflections on his time in Wu-tang especially.

It’s more a mediation reflecting on life than it is a straightforward memoir. It’s meandering, but punctuated with the profound.

It’s a highly verbal writing style. It definitely feels transcribed.

I wish it were more refined and linear in its storytelling. It was difficult to know what was happening when because the timeline jumped around so much—even though I already knew a lot about the subject.

Ultimately, I wish the storytelling was as good as the story.

A+ for Ghostface as a person, C- for the book.

I’ve read both of RZA’s books as well as Raekwon and U-God’s. I’d recommend those over this one.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

I sort of knew some of Ghost Face Killah from The Wu-Tang Clan TV series on Star. Reading his story was interesting and a lesson in not forgetting your roots. I always thought of 90s hip-hop as a form of storytelling. It was raw and gave a glimpse into their lives. RISE OF A KILLAH is the extended version.

I love memoirs and was excited to see this one pop up on NetGalley - i didn’t know GK was writing a book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s sad that childhood poverty appears to be a central theme in success stories but I’m glad he made it out. I liked the writing style.

I’m a big urban fiction/urban romance fan but this year I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and get into some non-fiction reads. I was never big on memoirs unless I’m interested in the person. I love Wu-Tang Clan so I was super excited to read about the infamous Ghostface Killah.

He speaks on his childhood, his health and bad habits. He also speaks on how the famous group Wu-Tang clan came about. He really spoke about a lot and gave a glimpse on a lot in his life. I don’t want to spoil it but if you are a Wu-Tang fan you would definitely love this.

Chapter 13 had to be my favorite chapter of this memoir. You got to see the real Dennis Coles and not Ghostface Killah or Tony Starks. I also loved hearing him speak about his clan members and it also showed how they all was in their own way.

Overall I give this 4 stars because I did enjoy getting to see the real him. Seeing the photos from back in the day was cool too but I also had a hard time understanding and there was a lot of repetition. I really hope there is a audiobook version in his voice because it would definitely give a better insight and more enjoyable for readers and fans.

This book is set to release on May 14, 2024.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an digital advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.