Fast Rapper Watsky Wrote A Book (And Lin-Manuel Miranda Loves It)

Whether you know George Watsky as one of the Internet’s fastest rappers or as William Shakespeare (or both), he wants to deepen your understanding of his life. Watsky, whose supersonic verbal delivery has made him into a popular act on YouTube and beyond, has written How To Ruin Everything, an essay collection that will hit shelves on June 14th.

In How To Ruin Everything, which is published by Penguin Random House imprint Plume, Watsky reflects on past events in his life as seen through his own eyes. In that sense, it sounds similar to other books authored by digital media stars, but Watsky is trying to avoid some of the same characterizations that apply to those works. “I was self-absorbed enough to write a book about myself,” he said in a video introducing his literary project, “but I wanted to avoid the douchiness of calling it a memoir, because no one in their 20s should write a f**king memoir.”

There is ample evidence that Watsky’s book is more than just a typical attempt to cash in on a fanbase hungry to connect with its favorite rapper. As anyone who has seen Watsky’s videos knows, he is adept at turning a phrase, which bodes well for his literary voice. If that’s not impressive enough, consider that How To Ruin Everything features a positive blurb from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the adored creator and star of Hamilton. (He and Watsky are buds.)

While How To Ruin Everything isn’t out yet, it can currently be pre-ordered from several outlets. On Amazon, where its current pre-order price is under $10, it has sold well, serving as one of the retailer’s hottest new releases.