Charlamagne Tha God (Lenard McKelvey) has been on a roll when it comes to maximizing his reach and stepping into his purpose/destiny. In 2017 he released his first book Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It and in 2018 he returned with this offering, Shook Ones: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me. Here we see Charlamagne take aim at anxiety – hoping to illuminate its presence in his life, as well as the lives of African Americans everywhere.
Choosing to stick with the same structural framework he used in his first book, Charlamagne weaves stories from his own life with sections that tell how he experienced anxiety + what he would suggest you do about it. What truly makes this book stand alone is the company he brings along for the ride.
Enter Dr. Ish Major, a board certified psychiatrist who offers a backdrop for Charlamagne’s musings. He chimes in on Charlamagne’s experiences with a medical expertise that really gives an air of credibility to the author’s claims. Aside from this amazing addition, Charlamagne digs deeper in his bag and gets personal – highlighting how anxiety affected him during his come up and how anxiety still affects him today in his prime. Offering snapshots of everything from the industry to the uncertain, unnerving reality of having made it, but still being a black man in America. This book was a much welcomed sequel and I’m looking forward to what he has to offer in the future.
