Music Industry Powerhouse Kevin Liles' Book Make It Happen: The Hip Hop Generation Guide to Success Will be Released in Trade Paperback on September 26.

    NEW YORK, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- His groundbreaking book, based on 10
 Rules of Business, is the first and only one of its kind on the market to
 share the wisdom of success with America's urban youth. Since that time,
 this same demographic has faced the ongoing aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
 and, according to U.S. census data released last month, poverty levels are
 at a record high. Some 13 million children now live in extreme poverty, an
 increase of 22%. Never before has this country's young people been faced
 such economic hardship on such a massive scale.
     Kevin Liles is the face of the new generation of business leaders. At
 38 he is the youngest and highest ranking executive in the music industry
 today, offering a guiding voice on how make aspirations for a better life
 become reality, and he does it in a clear, concise way that resonates with
 young readers unlike any "how to" career guide on the market.
     The thousands of email messages he received from readers after the book
 first hit, thanking him for teaching and inspiring them to "break their
 chains," is testimony to that. One woman in New Orleans, who heard Liles'
 speaking on the radio, even vowed to learn to read so that she could access
 his book.
     The author, who is responsible for helping discover and direct the
 careers of Jay-Z, Ludacris, Ashanti, DMX, Ja Rule, Kanye West, LL Cool J,
 and many more stars, possesses all the necessary "street cred" to deliver
 this message. His phenomenal success is more than just a modern-day
 Cinderella story. It's a tribute to his incredible work ethic and
 unwavering belief that anyone, now matter how tough their circumstances,
 has a shot of making it in the business world if they do it right.
     In his book he tells how he rose from intern to president of Def Jam
 records in only nine years. He describes the experience of his meteoric
 climb from an urban street kid with dreams of making it in hip hop to a top
 executive at a multi-billion dollar music company and demonstrates to
 readers how they, too, can attain their goals by applying a set of
 principles based on what he calls, "the hip hop way."
     "Every real success story in hip hop comes down to the same thing:
 someone who finds the will, the focus and the drive to achieve," Liles
 writes. "It doesn't matter if you are male or female. It doesn't matter
 what race or religion you are. It doesn't even matter what hustle you
 choose." What does matter, he continues, is that you do not take "no" for
 an answer or abide the negativity of others. You empower yourself and make
 it happen.
     Infused with street smarts and the fresh pulse of hip hop itself, Make
 It Happen embodies Liles' manifesto, "The only ghetto that can hold you
 down is the ghetto of the mind."
     MAKE IT HAPPEN: THE HIP HOP GENERATION GUIDE TO SUCCESS by
     Kevin Liles with Samantha Marshall
     (Atria Books; October 2006; Trade Paperback; $13.00)
 
 

SOURCE Atria Books