Catapult The Baddest Bitch in the Room: A Memoir

Despite her insight and privileged position being close to the group, the book doesn't provide much new information about Wu-Tang Clan that hasn't been already covered in other books, articles and/or documentaries. Then she brags about deciding to keep her relationship with hot guys like Method Man and D'Angelo as only friends, as if she actually had a chance of dating them for real, and that's just plain sad and delusional (she really seems to believe that she's that hot, lol).

When I first saw the title of this memoir, I thought it was one of those self-help books geared towards making women feel more confident and enabling their inner #girlboss. THE BADDEST is not that book-- although honestly, reading this book was about a thousand times more valuable and inspiring than the few self-help books that I've tried to read.The woman striking the power pose on the cover who looks like she could be a model for Fashion Nova is Sophia Chang, considered to be the first Asian woman in hip-hop. She managed a lot of very famous and influential artists who were keystones of the 80s and 90s hip-hop scene, including the Wu-Tang clan guys. On one level, this is a career retrospective, but it's also a fascinating memoir of motherhood, family, friendship, overcoming adversity, and embracing the things that you love.I feel like some people are going to be put off by this memoir because Sophia Chang doesn't fit into the box that is labeled (in feminine script, of course *eye roll*) "acceptable woman behavior." She is crass at times, outspoken at others; she is confident and completely unapologetic, and embraces her sexuality in a way that I couldn't help but admire. Honestly, though, I feel like the people who are put off by those things should probably read this anyway, because an important tenet of feminism-- and basic human respect, actually-- is respecting others for the choices they make, even if they aren't necessarily the ones you would make-- as long as they don't cause any harm. Women need to be allowed to take risks and make the mistakes that men do in their pursuit of happiness. As long as we condemn one group and not the other for making those same decisions, our society will never be equal. She has a great chapter in here about how so many people are quick to judge a woman for having too many partners, and yet nobody thinks badly of a man for doing so. I loved that, and it's just one example of how Chang doesn't allow herself to be bound to what's expected.My favorite chapter in the beginning had to be about her family's escape from North Korea. It was so harrowing and intense, and provided a wonderful showcase for the quality of the writing in this book. Chang is an excellent story-teller, and the passages of her growing up with her family within that cultural context shaped in the beginning and throughout the book were so fascinating and pleasurable to read. She writes about how her heritage shaped her upbringing but didn't let it determine the choices she wanted for herself, and how her parents tried to be supportive to the best of their ability.I also really enjoyed the portions about music. Even though hip-hop isn't a genre of music I listen to, the way she describes how a powerful love for a song or genre can just take over you is relatable to any music lover. She also isn't afraid to throw shade. I've complained that too many celebrity memoirs are afraid to be mean, and end up sounding like acceptance speeches. Chang has ringing accolades for the people who stand in her corner, but she also isn't afraid to name drop the people who did her dirty, and I admired that, because it made the memoir feel more authentic, more real.There's so much more that happens in this book-- the struggles of balancing motherhood with a career, the Shaolin monk who fathered her children, the way she hung out with the members of Wu-Tang like they were a squad of superheroes chilling at HQ, being a part of such a game-changing music scene right when it happened, and palling around with one of the Ramones... there was a lot. She says at the end that she wasn't sure if she wanted to write a book and was basically forced into it by people demanding her story, and I can see why. She doesn't have to try very hard to sound interesting because she is interesting, and she's a great writer, too.Even if you don't like hip-hop music, you should read THE BADDEST. It's really, really good.Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!4 out of 5 stars

I have never heard of Sophia Chang before in my life and I thought, when picking this book to review, it would be an interesting read. Well, it was interesting, alright but it really did need to be better edited. There was a lot of repetitiveness throughout this book, that it rendered the impact of what the author is trying to say of her life story.For example, she keeps going on and on about her friendships with some of the men in her life, that she had managed at one time -- after the first two times of her gushing over her love for them, I didn't needed to be reminded again several times. It has gotten to the point where I would fight to finish the book as I really wanted to see if she had anything important to say.She does. She tells women that they need to stand up for themselves, and to make their voices heard. She also mentioned several times, that it's just as important to be the quiet one in the room but to be ready with bold ideas to share when the floor opens up. It is ok to be the baddest bitch in the room -- but it is not ok to destroy other people in the process, which she tried not to do. She was an honest writer and hard on herself -- more so than she was on others, especially the men in her life.If you can ignore the glaring mistakes in the book, you might find it an interesting read. I did ... but it took awhile. The fact that I am still thinking about it several days after I have finished reading it says something about the author and the book.

I finished this book speechless and incredibly empowered. I don't think I have read any memoir that was more inspiring or jaw-dropping. Sophia Chang has had such an incredible life that she articulates with humility and honesty. She does not shy away from discussing what in her life she did poorly as readily as she talks about her accomplishments. I finished the book in a couple of hours and could not put it down until I finished. I cannot get enough of Sophia Chang's life and story. She embraces her sexuality and her confidence in a way I rarely see women of color do so boldly. She makes me want to take more risks in my own life. Everyone needs to read this book and experience life through the author's eyes. I cried when she described the points in her life that kept her at her lowest, I smiled when she took on challenge after challenge in male-dominated fields, and I laughed out loud at the way she poked fun at her sexual experiences and the euphemisms she used to describe them. It was just so well-written. 100% would recommend

Sophia Chang’s new biography, “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”.Chang is a good storyteller and her story is interesting. The memoir is complete. From a brief history of her parents and grandparents thru all the events of her life, no stones are left unturned; to the point of TMI, at times. Chang’s writing is matter of fact and altho’ the words themselves speak of emotions sometimes, I didn’t feel them in her writing.I’m not a hip hop fan but I am a professional musician of 40+ years. It takes the ability to communicate emotions to be a successful musician, hopefully her music has more than her prose. From the text, it does seem like Sophia was a good business woman. She certainly had great opportunities with giants like Paul Simon, Mo Ostin and his son Mike along with other record company heavy hitters. These are the people she learned from and who helped make her a successful manager in hip hop.There’s a lot of life adjacent to the music world in this book; relationships and trying to figure them out. Chang appears to have weird co-dependence rather than strong feminism; not really what I was expecting other than the language; it was genre, (music), typically foul.All things considered, not a bad book at all, just not what’s expected from the publisher marketing📚