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Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
Brooklyn, 1998. Biggie Smalls was right: Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are cool letting their best friend Steph’s music lie forgotten under his bed after he’s murdered—not when his rhymes could turn any Bed Stuy corner into a party.
With the help of Steph’s younger sister Jasmine, they come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: the Architect. Soon, everyone wants a piece of him. When his demo catches the attention of a hotheaded music label rep, the trio must prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave.
As the pressure of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only, each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, they need to decide what they stand for or lose all that they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.
Review from School Library Journal:
After Steph is fatally shot, his sister, Jasmine, and friends Quadir and Jarrell refuse to let his dreams of becoming a rapper die with him. Posing as Steph's management, they sell his CDs on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant and try to score him a record deal—all without letting anyone know that their client is dead. Like fellow Brooklyn native Biggie Smalls, whose recent death has also cast a pall over the neighborhood, Steph hypnotizes listeners with his smooth flow and potent rhymes. But the truth threatens to catch up with the teens, especially as they get closer to discovering who killed their friend. Jackson vividly brings to life pre-gentrified 1990s Bed-Stuy. Grim realities such as the threat of violence and racial profiling by police pervade the novel, but so does Jackson's abiding love for Brooklyn (or, in Biggie's words, "Spread love, it's the Brooklyn way"). The book alternates among the first-person perspectives of the three protagonists and includes flashbacks to life before Steph's death—an ambitious move that at times slows the pace and keeps the characters slightly underdeveloped. Still, readers will be invested in seeing the trio succeed both in making Steph a star and in realizing their own goals.
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