Watch CBS News

Detroit Journalist, Author To Pen Book On 'Run DMC' Member

DETROIT (WWJ) - A well-known Detroit journalist has been tapped to write about the life of one of the three members of the legendary rap group, Run DMC.

Darrell Dawsey, who also wrote the Bernie Mac autobiography, will pen the memoir for Darryl McDaniels better known as "DMC."

"This has been a couple of years in the making, so 'D' and I have chatted long before this deal was actually done," said Dawsey. "As a part of putting this together, I've been kinda hanging out with him a little bit. We were down in Mexico City, we've been in Las Vegas, we've been in Atlanta.

Dawsey, who was the first hip-hop music columnist to work at a major newspaper calls the assignment a labor of love.

Dawsey tells WWJ Newsradio 950's Stephanie Davis that McDaniels was very candid about his life and struggles.

"This is just his story. He's had an obviously, a very charmed life in a lot of regards. He's considered one of the greatest rap icons of all time, a guy who's helped transform not just hip hop but the face of music in America and has been a hip hop ambassador globally," he said.

"The working title is '10 Reasons Not To Commit Suicide', not to kill yourself, because he did go through such a depressed period in his life, and it's just about how this legendary musician has rallied back," notes Dawsey. "He struggled with alcoholism ... he learned in his adulthood that he was adopted - a foster child," said Dawsey.

"He's a man that's going through a lot. He's got a very, very interesting story. Ultimately it's a story of triumphant, he's still here, still doing great, making great music.

"He suffers from a congenital voice problem that has pretty much cost him a lot of the power in his voice," Dawsey notes. "He had a very powerful voice early on. He's still a heck of an artist and great at performing. But you can see how the condition has taken its toll on his voice."

The Harper Collins publication should be out in Spring of 2015.

Dawsey has written two books, "Living To Tell About It: Young Black Men In America Speak Their Piece," and the best-selling, "I Ain't Scared of You: Bernie Mac On How Life Is," co-written with comic Bernie Mac.

After the DMC memoir, Dawsey says he will continue work on his next book about the life story of Ed Martin, the key figure at the center of the University of Michigan basketball scandal in the 1990's.

Dawsey who is now the spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan worked at several major newspapers including the Detroit News, the LA Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.