The Baddest Bitch in the Room: A Memoir

by Sophia Chang

Overview

The first Asian woman in hip-hop, Sophia Chang shares the inspiring story of her career in the music business, working with such acts as The Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, her path to becoming an entrepreneur, and her candid accounts of marriage, motherhood, aging, desire, marginalization, and martial arts.

Fearless and unpredictable, Sophia Chang prevailed in a male-dominated music industry to manage the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B. The daughter of Korean immigrants in predominantly white suburban Vancouver, Chang left for New York City, and soon became a powerful voice in music boardrooms at such record companies as Atlantic, Jive, and Universal Music Group.

As an A&R rep, Chang met a Staten Island rapper named Prince Rakeem, now known as the RZA, founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, the most revered and influential rap group in hip-hop history. That union would send her on a transformational odyssey, leading her to a Shaolin monk who would become her partner, an enduring kung fu practice, two children, and a reckoning with what type woman she ultimately wanted to be.

For decades, Chang helped remarkably talented men tell their stories. Now, with The Baddest Bitch In The Room, she is ready to tell her own story of marriage, motherhood, aging, desire, marginalization, and martial arts. This is an inspirational debut memoir by a woman of color who has had the audacity to be bold in the pursuit of her passions, despite what anyone—family, society, the dominant culture—have prescribed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646220090
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,094,139
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Sophia Chang is a Korean-Canadian music business matriarchitect who was the first Asian woman in hip-hop. She worked with Paul Simon and managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, Q-Tip, A Tribe Called Quest, Raphael Saadiq, and D'Angelo. In 1995, Chang left music to train kung fu and manage a Shaolin Monk who became her partner and father of two children. She also produced runway shows, worked at a digital agency, and is developing TV and film properties.

Editorial Reviews

04/27/2020

Music manager Chang, who’s worked with the Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, shares life stories in a candid memoir about hip-hop, kung fu, and being a “hustler.” Chang moved from Vancouver to New York in the 1980s after college and became immersed in the music scene. A charmer with “titanium confidence,” she got a job as an assistant to Paul Simon and parlayed that into several positions in the music business over the course of an eclectic career, including head of marketing in the alternative department at Atlantic Records and an A&R job at Jive Records. The book’s most engaging sections concern her friendships with musicians, like GZA and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan, who treated her like family and employed her as a manager (RZA is also godfather to her two kids). A long time practitioner of kung-fu, Chang writes with humor of first having sex with monk and Shaolin kung-fu teacher, Yan Ming, with whom she became involved and had her two kids; of leaving him after he cheated on her; and of struggling as a single mother. There’s a self-empowerment vibe throughout: “I am defining myself and telling the world who I am.” This impassioned memoir is filled with energy and will appeal to fans of early rap and the Wu-Tang Clan. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"From marginalization to motherhood to martial arts and more, Chang really is a bad bitch." —Karla Strand, Ms. Magazine

"One of the most anticipated debuts of 2020." —Bleu Magazine

"The book will appeal to a variety of audiences—early hip-hop aficionados, young women (especially women of colour seeking to find their voice) and Asian North Americans looking for unique narratives of finding your culture and claiming your home. Impressively, it holds insight for all of these disparate groups. In The Baddest Bitch in the Room, Sophia Chang doesn’t just resist the model minority stereotype (of the dutiful Asian daughter)—she obliterates it to tell us her own story. It’s her turn." —Hee-Jung S. Joo, Winnipeg Free Press

"A compelling and moving account of the (North) American dream." ––Susan Blumberg-Kason, Asian Review of Books

"A candid memoir . . . This impassioned memoir is filled with energy and will appeal to fans of early rap and the Wu-Tang Clan." —Publishers Weekly

"Chang has a storied history in the industry. Her love for hip-hop—the music and the artists—comes through loud and clear in this deeply personal memoir . . . The author writes wisely about erasure and fighting to be seen professionally as a woman of color . . . [A] thoughtful and revealing story. An intimate, entertaining, and engrossing read for hip-hop fans." —Kirkus Reviews

"An enlightening memoir about self-discovery, embracing one’s heritage, and finding success." —Library Journal

"[Sophia]’s personally witnessed the ups and downs, the good and bad, the ins and outs, the accomplishments and failures, the growth and development. It’s important for Sophia to tell her story because her journey is a long and very interesting one, and it should be told. I am sure that the readers will be inspired, moved, and motivated by it, and I am proud and happy for her." —GZA

"Sophia Chang is a smart, kind, funny, badass trailblazer with a heart of fire. She's fully living her bold truth as a woman of color in today's world, and we all should be paying attention."—Ijeoma Oluo, author of the New York Times bestselling So You Want to Talk About Race

"Embodies all of the scrappy, unapologetic badassery one would expect from a pioneering female industry exec in a far-from-woman-friendly genre. Chang, however, pays her success forward with bold, honest, and prescriptive prose aimed squarely at the hearts of women determined to defy their invisibility and follow their own dreams. Get ready to put your middle fingers up and cast your pearls aside." —Dr. Joan Morgan, feminist scholar, cultural critic, and mother of hip-hop feminism

"Soph was an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop. I'm so happy she's telling her story because the world needs to know about her contributions to the culture." —Q-Tip

"Inspirational, aspirational, bold, and defiant: Sophia Chang is the definition of a powerhouse, and this book is both fierce and propulsive, impossible to put down—but for me the greatest joy of reading The Baddest Bitch in the Room was simply spending a little time with a woman so thoroughly herself, so completely and unapologetically her own." —Nicole Chung, author of All You Can Ever Know

“The diary of a superwoman. Sophia Chang is like a superhero who shows up to any adversity, whether hers or someone else’s, and gets through it tenaciously . . . I’ve actually witnessed this happen on several occasions but hearing her tell these stories in hindsight is incredibly motivating and uplifting.“ ––Joey Bada$$ The Artist. The multi-faceted.

From the Publisher

07/01/2020

A unique figure in the music business, particularly in the insular, male-dominated world of hip-hop, Chang chronicles her quest to become the woman she always knew she could be. The author grew up in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC, the daughter of Korean immigrants. Traveling to New York after college graduation, Chang became an assistant to singer-songwriter Paul Simon and worked her way up from personal assistant to A&R executive at various record companies. Through her ingenuity and hard drive, she discovered up-and-coming acts, such as the Wu-Tang Clan, which won her credibility and respect from the hip-hop community. Here, Chang has written a solid memoir, though there are times when readers may be overwhelmed by the abundant name-dropping. However, Chang's intimate details make these well-known figures feel more real (who knew of Paul Simon's Scrabble skills?). VERDICT An enlightening memoir about self-discovery, embracing one's heritage, and finding success.—Leah Huey, Dekalb P.L., IL

Library Journal

2020-05-18
A blend of music industry 101, hip-hop history, and memoir from the Wu-Tang Clan’s muse.

For decades as a manager, marketer, and A&R rep, Chang helped talented men tell their stories through hip-hop and R&B. Now it’s her turn to tell her story: How did a “Korean Canadian French lit major” end up working with a who’s who of heavy hitters in the music industry—and getting relationship advice from Method Man? From a chance meeting with Joey Ramone as a college student in the late 1980s to working with the Wu-Tang Clan, one of the greatest rap groups of all time, Chang has a storied history in the industry. Her love for hip-hop—the music and the artists—comes through loud and clear in this deeply personal memoir. Now in her 50s, she reflects on her experiences, including her stint as head of a marketing department at Atlantic Records just two years out of college and working with artists like A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Too Short, and Raphael Saadiq. It’s clear why Chang gained a reputation for being hard and no-nonsense, and that comes across in the narrative. But she also shows her more vulnerable side: enduring the highs and lows of love and loss, reclaiming her sexual confidence after the end of a 12-year relationship, and learning to embrace her Asian heritage. The author writes wisely about erasure and fighting to be seen professionally as a woman of color. Unfortunately, aside from a vague mention of a black woman friend calling her out on her privilege, she doesn’t address being embraced and respected as a nonblack woman within a music culture that often objectifies and denigrates black women. This is a disappointing omission in an otherwise thoughtful and revealing story.

An intimate, entertaining, and engrossing read for hip-hop fans.

Kirkus Reviews