Erica Kennedy: Bling

Reviewed by MICHAEL LARSEN

Bling for those unfamiliar with the hip-hop oeuvre, is accoutrement, popularised by hip-hop stars noun-wise, while adjective-wise it means to be showy, ostentatious in a hip-hop kinda way. John Banks, for example, is not bling, nor does he have any bling. Lamont Jackson is.

He is the head of Triple Large Music, and the very large centre of attention of this, Kennedy's first novel. He has lots of ice too, which is like bling only it applies to jewellery only. Big diamond-y type jewellery. "I have arrived, brother" kind of jewellery.

Lamont wants to be head of Augusta Records and needs to prove to HMG, the German owners, that he is more than just a harnesser of hip-hop talent. When Mimi, the innocent young wannabe R & B singer from Toledo, falls into his lap, so to speak, Lamont can see his plan for world domination coming together nicely.

Bling charts Mimi's rise from ingenue to hardened pop star, and Lamont's rollercoaster ride from the top to, well, the top via a few stops along the way.

Problem is, it's not terribly interesting. It should be: Kennedy knows her stuff and there are some enlightening insights into the world that surrounds this massive musical force. But she doesn't write very well, I'm afraid, and after the sixty-millionth "nigga" and "mofo" it all gets tedious.

The story gets more than a tad predictable, too, and the characters, some of whom start promisingly, descend rapidly into two-dimensional cliche. That they are so obviously based on real-life figures makes them more wooden, rather than less so.

Shame, because the premise is good and there are moments of genuine humour which hold it all together. So, if you're a hip-hop fan, you'll still probably enjoy it. If not, well, it's not terribly bling, really.

William Heinemann $34.95

* Michael Larsen is an Auckland freelance writer