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Book Review: Malice’s Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind, & Naked

Malice did not exaggerate in our interview when he said that Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked was a wild ride, and a wild ride that is readable in one sitting (I read it in about 2 hours). The prose style was very informal, but at the same time, I found that to be refreshing (the voice of the author sounded exactly like him, and I can confidently say that after talking to him over the phone). As you can guess, I highly recommend this, and not only because I love the Clipse. It’s not every day that one of my favorite artists chooses to tell a story so personal and so intimate, and so inspirational, but even then, I still recommend this. Frankly, I thought it was brave of him to share his story, in addition to his upbringing and personal life, when he was literally “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked was not what I expected, but in a good way. I have to confess (pun intended? naw, I’m not that corny) that I flipped to the pictures before I started reading, and fortunately my assumption about what I saw proved to be incorrect. I really enjoy books that make me think, that make me lay in bed and reflect on what I read, and this is one of them. Malice’s story is about the role of faith, but like he said, he’s not interested in converting us all to Christians. He just shares his story, and how faith saved him. To me, I feel that stories like this, expressly about religion and God, are kind of a taboo subject these days (I say that as someone who believes in God, but who does not go to church). While there are a lot of books out there, I think that this one has the ability to resonate with people more of my age, simply given the demographic of those who typically listens to Clipse music. Admittedly, I probably wouldn’t have read this if I didn’t know who the author was, but then again, that’s exactly why I believe that this book will touch other people like myself.

Malice basically wrote about his ups and downs in the recording industry, and it was evident that besides his family, his faith was the other constant in his life. Overall, it was an enlightening portrait of an artist who I truly respect, and who was not afraid to say that the glitz of the music industry wasn’t important to him, that spending time in the booth wasn’t his favorite thing. Even when he had all the material possessions, he wasn’t satisfied. In my young life, I have seen that money won’t make me happy (I’m happy now and I don’t have a lot of money, but I have two cats who love me most of the time), and more importantly, it won’t bring my friend back. As someone who isn’t particularly religious, I think that this book will cause people such as myself to question, or reaffirm it for others, what the role of faith in their life, especially in this day and age when it’s rough out there, and people are out of work and hurting.

In between Malice’s story of personal struggles, I really enjoyed how he casually weaved in some stories about other musicians. Near the beginning, perhaps symbolic of his role in the Clipse’s early career, Pharrell made a cameo when he spoke with Malice on the phone and basically told him to not be a hypochondriac. Later on, Malice explained that he didn’t listen to other rappers, and had no idea who was popular, so he said he didn’t know the kid was who rolled up to him on a Razor scooter wearing a Def Jam chain and told him how much he loved his music. Well, it turns out that that was a young Kanye West, on a Razor scooter no less.

Overall, just read Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked. It’s a great story that will make you question yourself and everything you hold important in life. Plus, it will only take you a couple hours to read!

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