Pimpology
"There are only two categories of people: pimps and hoes."
With those words begins a shockingly interesting book called
Pimpology, written by Pimpin' Ken (yup, that's his name). What's stunning about the book, and what made me pick it up, is that it was in the self
improvement aisle, and, though some of the specific content might be troubling for a lot of people, in its own way the book makes a lot of sense.
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Let's talk about Pimpin' Ken first. He's a real life pimp, big time if you've never known pimps could be big time (y'all have heard of Ice-T, right?). He's
been named Mack of the Year several times (these are national awards for pimps, where they vote on their own and have a yearly ball celebrating
different categories of pimps), has been in music videos, hung with some of the top rap and R&B musicians in America, and was even on stage at the
BET Awards along with one rapper, helping him accept an award. He's been in Milwaukee, New York City, and Atlanta, among other places. His father,
known as Johnny Slick, was also a pimp, and many of his friends come from a line of pimps also. So, this is not a ruse by any means.
What was shocking at first was seeing this book in the self improvement area. Then you pick it up and you see some of the titles of what he calls his
"48 Laws of the Game", things like: Prey on the Weak; Pimp the Game; Avoid Gorillas and Godzillas; Pimp Like You're Ho-Less; and my favorite
title, Trust Nothing Like the Game. Then you see other titles that you'd see in any other book on management or self improvement, such as:
Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan; Give Motivation and Inspiration; Be A Leader; Show Respect To Get Respect; and my favorite here, If
You Can See It, You Can Be It. Of course, there are some titles that I can't reprint here because, well, it just wouldn't be the right thing to do.
It's always been accepted that street knowledge translate well into a business model, and this book does just that. Though he says some graphic things
in the book, every "law" basically starts out with a story of some kind, then gets to the point, and when he gets to the eventual point, it's almost exactly
like what you'd see in any other book. For instance, his take on pimps and hoes actually makes sense when he extrapolates it. If you're a pimp, all
the money and accolades are coming your way. If you're a ho, you're doing all this work for someone else's benefit, and they throw you a bone, so to
speak, to keep you coming back for more, but in the long run you're lining someone else's pockets more than your own.
But he also, logically enough, says that the rules change depending on the position of the person at the time. For instance, he says that hoes become
pimps when they meet up with a "trick" (the person who pays for a prostitute) because they have to give up the money before a transaction takes place,
and at that moment a possible pimp has become the ho because he's giving up the money for something he decides he really needs. I have to admit that
I've never thought about it in these terms, but I've seen other terms used that describe the same exact thing.
All in all, Pimpology is a book that has to be recommended, though barely, for at least one reading. It's not fit for children, though it's too bad because
the lessons learned would help immensely. One can't condone the pimp way of living, using women as objects like that, and the language in the book is
pretty raw much of the time. If you have an open mind and can get to the root of the points of each law, you'll gain some kind of appreciation for the guy
and his wisdom, while still viewing him as some kind of criminal who should be put out of business. But, as it's popular to say in today's world, we've got
to hate the playa, but not the game as it pertains to this book.
