image006.jpgThe sensational new book on the life of dancehall king Beenie Man has finally been scheduled for worldwide release this summer. The forthcoming biography, Who Am I? The Untold Story of Beenie Man, will treat fans of dancehall music to more than four hundred pages of intrigue, eye-opening revelations and never-before-seen colour photographs depicting the young superstars life.

Who Am I? The Untold Story of Beenie Man is the worlds first-ever dancehall biography, and is being published by Jamaican publishers Great House OmniMedia in time for Reggae Sumfest. Written by noted Jamaican journalist Milton Wray (pictured left above), the story tracks the twists and turns of Beenie Mans dramatic life, following in great detail the reggae superstars rise from childhood to the Grammy Award, numerous other honours and musical firsts, including an unequalled string of chart-topping hits.

The author worked on the project for more than eleven years, documenting Beenie Mans tabloid-rich life and career as they unfolded. After first contacting the artiste in 1994, Wray eventually took a sabbatical from Jamaican journalism to live and do research in New York City for more than a year. While in the United States, he conducted interviews and collected vast amounts of information on Beenie Man and his international impact on the music business. While writing the book in Jamaica, Wray did in-depth research by interviewing a host of persons including relatives, friends, associates, music business personnel, rivals and, of course, the girlfriends of the reggae/dancehall icon.

Readers who might be concerned about not getting the full story of Beenie Man have no reason to worry, says the author, who promises an unvarnished view of The Doctor. Who Am I? is a journalistic work, Wray insists, and the primary objective is to be accurate. While Beenie Man did cooperate by supplying information and photographs for the publication of the book, he did not have approval of the manuscript, and never saw a page of it before it was completed.

The intention was not to put out a public relations piece for the artiste. The facts are presented as they occurred, whether or not Beenie Man likes those facts. He has led a very controversial life, and he acknowledges that; he recently told me as much. I believe he is prepared for whatever revelations may come from this book.

Its going to be very exciting once it hits the streets, Wray continued, commenting on the completion of the work. Who Am I? is something that readers will not be able to put down, because Beenie Man has had such an amazing life from his childhood in Waterhouse to the present day that its going to be mind-blowing. The book is as engrossing as any novelonly everything in it is factual.

Set to be launched in Kingston in early July, the book will be distributed in North America, the European Union, the CARICOM region and Japan before the end of the year. For its Asian release, Who Am I? will be translated into Japanese.

According to Great Houses Michael Grant, who began conducting preliminary promotions and answering readers queries at the recent Calabash Literary Festival, Interest in the Beenie Man Biography is already high for something that has not yet been advertised or offered for sale. Readers are going to be surprised by the touching humanity and detail of this true story about Beenie Man, both as a person and as an international phenomenon. In many ways, its also a mini-history of dancehall, giving insight into the inner workings of the local music industry in much the same way the Jamaican hit movie, The Harder They Come, did in the 1970s.

Commenting on the secrecy behind the production of the highly anticipated work, Grant said Because some of the details in the book have never been publicly revealed previously, it was important for the author to be able to work without giving advance interviews. After all, some of the events in the story were unfolding as he worked, and he managed to get the story behind many of the stories we often read in the press, especially about his private life. As one can imagine, the controversies surrounding Beenie Man have made almost every page of Who Am I? top-secret. His fans cant wait to get their hands on this very well-researched and well-written accountthe first of several volumes, probablyof a spectacular life and career still in progress.

Reviewers copies of the book have been sent to a select number of entertainment press in markets where the book will be available. Local distribution will be handled mainly by Novelty Trading Company, while the bulk of North American and European markets will be serviced by A&B Books in New York City. A distributor in Barbados will oversee the availability of the book in the CARICOM region, while a reggae promotions company will manage the production and sales of Who Am I? in Japan.