{"id":31713,"date":"2026-06-02T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/?p=31713"},"modified":"2026-06-02T22:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:44:51","slug":"uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus-2026\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\/","title":{"rendered":"UWM Professor co-authors book with rapper 2 Chainz, hits NYT bestsellers list"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grammy-award winning artist 2 Chainz is a rapper and songwriter from College Park, Georgia. Best known for his hit singles \u201cI\u2019m Different\u201d and \u201cThe Birthday Song,\u201d as well as other chart-topping collaborations, he\u2019s produced seven studio albums and worked with artists like Lil Wayne, Chance the Rapper, Ye, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March, he became a <em>New York Times <\/em>bestselling author with the release of his autobiography, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com\/books\/THE-VOICE-IN-MY-HEAD-IS-GOD\/2-Chainz\/9781668031155\"><em>The Voice in My Head is God<\/em><\/a>. The book reflects on defining moments in 2 Chainz\u2019s life when he learned to listen to his intuition and lean on his faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His co-author was none other than UWM English Professor Derrick Harriell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For two years, Harriell, himself an award-winning writer and musician with a background in hip-hop, flew to 2 Chainz\u2019s Atlanta studio twice a month to assist with the book. Harriell sat down with the UWM College of Letters &amp; Science to reflect on his experience working with the famous rapper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-congratulations-on-becoming-a-new-york-times-bestselling-co-author-can-you-give-us-an-overview-of-the-book\"><strong>Congratulations on becoming a <em>New York Times <\/em>bestselling co-author! Can you give us an overview of the book?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first chapter is called \u201cShoot Them in the Stomach and Let God Decide.\u201d I like (media) that jumps it off, and I like the fact that we did it like that. \u2026 That\u2019s one of the things that we talked about and one of things that was important to him. \u201cOkay, we\u2019re going to start (where) I\u2019m in college, I\u2019m in a bad situation, and this is how I\u2019m going to relate to the reader. This is one of the first times my intuition really was kicking in, trying to tell me how to navigate this bad situation.\u201d Then every chapter from there is \u2026 more of an emotional experience. The stories are connected, but the chapters are very, very distinct stories. Each chapter can almost be like a mini memoir in themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-how-did-you-come-to-work-with-2-chainz-to-write-this-book\"><strong>How did you come to work with 2 Chainz to write this book?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was summer 2023, and I received an email from Dupree Miller &amp; Associates (literary agency), saying, \u201cHey, we\u2019re working with a pretty famous southern rapper. You came highly recommended and we\u2019re wondering if you\u2019d like to help him with this book.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I thought it was spam! I\u2019m thinking this has to be a joke. Then I thought at some point \u2013 what if it isn\u2019t spam? They left a number to call back. They said, \u201cWe are working with a rapper. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard of him. His name is 2 Chainz. Would you be interested?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ironically, I had just been listening to his new album that week. I said, \u201cAre you kidding me? 2 Chainz?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-what-made-you-decide-you-were-a-good-fit-to-work-with-each-other\"><strong>What made you decide you were a good fit to work with each other?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For me, it was the vision of the project \u2026 that this was not going to be your stereotypical rags-to-riches story. One of the things Chainz always says is, \u201cI\u2019m not trying to out-trauma anyone. We all have our traumas and our struggles.\u201d He was like, \u201cI don\u2019t want a chronology that talks about a linear narrative. I want to jump around a little bit, and I want to talk about the ways in which my spirituality and my faith and my intuition have been the underpinnings of what\u2019s guided me to live the life that I want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The way I read it through Chainz\u2019s lens, that I could be a good fit for him, I think was my engagement in our conversation. Also, I think (it was) us coming from comparable environments, right? I was born on the northside of Milwaukee, between 45th and 46th on Center. I experienced a lot of the metropolitan, inner-city, marginalized, traumatic experiences growing up. I think him and I could relate on many levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-be-honest-were-you-a-little-starstruck-when-you-met-him\"><strong>Be honest &#8211; were you a little starstruck when you met him?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was, absolutely. \u2026 The first time I flew out, it was super late. I\u2019m in the studio in College Park, and it\u2019s like neon lights and the vibes are high, and he\u2019s sitting there, and yeah, I was a little struck. But it took about all of an hour to understand that we got work to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-what-does-it-take-to-be-a-successful-co-author\"><strong>What does it take to be a successful co-author?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first thing that I wanted to make sure that I understood is that it\u2019s 2 Chainz\u2019s book. These are his words; these are his stories. I\u2019m just bringing my creative talents to the situation. What makes a good co-author is when you\u2019re really invested in the person, when you\u2019re not seeing it as a job but a collaborative artistic endeavor. I\u2019m super proud of having played that (co-author) role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes I would have visits, and we wouldn\u2019t talk a lot about the project. We would just talk as men, about families or about sports. By the time we were really into the guts of the project, I felt like I had a firm understanding of who 2 Chainz is as a man and what\u2019s important to him, and that made the writing process much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-what-was-your-reaction-to-finding-out-the-book-was-on-the-nyt-bestseller-list\"><strong>What was your reaction to finding out the book was on the NYT bestseller list?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it hit the <em>New York Times <\/em>bestsellers website, my kid was at tutoring and I was having a glass of wine at a little restaurant right down the street from where he goes to tutor. Once it became official, my wine tasted much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think the thing that I\u2019ve been relaying when I talk about my participation in the book is that it wasn\u2019t an easy journey. \u2026 I was reminding (people) that this was a labor of love. This was a lot of plane rides. I almost missed my flight too many times to name. There were hard writing moments where we\u2019re trying to figure out how to do this chapter, how to connect this, how to make sure this is a uniquely 2 Chainz project. When it hit the <em>New York Times<\/em> bestseller list, it\u2019s like, man, everything came together and it paid off, and it\u2019s a beautiful project, and it\u2019s being celebrated as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-is-there-a-part-of-the-book-really-stands-out-to-you\"><strong>Is there a part of the book really stands out to you?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chapter is called \u201cGod is Love,\u201d and it\u2019s the chapter about his father and his father\u2019s passing. That was a very emotional chapter to work on, to experience. Something that emotionally heavy and weighty moves beyond mere storytelling. I don\u2019t want to give too much away \u2026 but if you read it closely, there\u2019s a lot of beauty in the way that story unfolded and the way that it\u2019s rendered in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading size-h4\" id=\"h-now-that-you-have-one-collaboration-with-a-famous-rapper-to-your-name-who-would-you-want-to-work-with-in-the-future\"><strong>Now that you have one collaboration with a famous rapper to your name, who would you want to work with in the future?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It seems easy to go rapper again, but I\u2019m going to go rapper again. I would love to work with the rapper T.I. I think he has an interesting narrative that I just hear through his interviews. I think he\u2019s an incredible actor, and if you really listen to his music, he has a lot of stories to tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters &amp; Science<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grammy-award winning artist 2 Chainz is a rapper and songwriter from College Park, Georgia. Best known for his hit singles \u201cI\u2019m Different\u201d and \u201cThe Birthday Song,\u201d as well as other chart-topping collaborations, he\u2019s produced seven studio albums and worked with &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":785,"featured_media":31714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[1648,1961],"tags":[1856],"class_list":["post-31713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","category-in-focus-2026","tag-june"],"uwm_unpublish_requested":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Letters &amp; Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus-2026\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UWM Professor co-authors book with rapper 2 Chainz, hits NYT bestsellers list\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Grammy-award winning artist 2 Chainz is a rapper and songwriter from College Park, Georgia. Best known for his hit singles \u201cI\u2019m Different\u201d and \u201cThe Birthday Song,\u201d as well as other chart-topping collaborations, he\u2019s produced seven studio albums and worked with &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus-2026\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Letters &amp; Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T17:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T03:44:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/06\/Derrick-Harriell-book-banner.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah E Vickery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah E Vickery\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus-2026\\\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus-2026\\\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah E Vickery\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453\"},\"headline\":\"UWM Professor co-authors book with rapper 2 Chainz, hits NYT bestsellers list\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-02T17:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-03T03:44:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus-2026\\\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1234,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus-2026\\\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/255\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Derrick-Harriell-book-banner.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"June\"],\"articleSection\":[\"In Focus\",\"In Focus 2026\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus-2026\\\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus-2026\\\/uwm-professor-co-authors-book-with-rapper-2-chainz-hits-nyt-bestsellers-list\\\/\",\"name\":\"UWM Professor co-authors book with rapper 2 Chainz, hits NYT bestsellers list - Letters &amp; 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