Cash Money’s New Leader, Icon and Trendsetter

 Cash Money’s New Leader, Icon and Trendsetter

K'wan Foye

The world of urban fiction which seemed to be stagnant after Donald Goines and Iceburg Slim gave it a genre has made a comeback in the last ten years. With the self-publishing craze in full effect and Amazon and Barnes & Noble allowing anyone to upload and sell a story, there are thousands of books now available. Amongst the now thousands of urban authors, there is one name whom every single one of them will recognize. K’wan. He is the definition of a mononymous person in the urban industry and has been since his debut over ten years ago.

A lot of urban authors have found their niche for writing while incarcerated for lengthy periods of time. This may be the reason a lot of urban stories are so true to life. They are quite often, experiences the author has lived. Although K’wan’s story of tough times and strife as a youth growing up in Harlem is similar to other authors who write urban fiction, incarceration or reform is not what drove him to pen novels.  

K’wan’s mother was an aspiring writer. She unfortunately passed away before her ultimate dream came to fruition. Because of that, K’wan was inspired to begin writing as a way to honor his mother and fulfill her dream. Entering the literary industry with only his mother’s dream and a pen and paper was not easy. He had no ideal of the industry politics he would incur or how to handle them. In his words, “You are only as good as your last favor.” This revelation came to him through many trials and tribulations during the onset of his career. People he trusted had totally taken advantage of his eagerness to write and entertain readers just so they could make a dollar. He still to this day, has work out there that he has not been compensated for. Instead of allowing the frustration of deceit to get the best of him, he took all of the bad situations and turned them in to learning experiences that would make him the successful, savvy author he is today.

K’wan did have a few blessings as well. One of those blessings was L.A. Banks (RIP). She directed /encouraged him to submit to St. Martins Press. Banks told her editor, “This kid is gonna be huge one day and you need to check him out.” She helped him in a big way but most have never heard this story because she wasn’t the type of person to do something to say she did it. When Leslie helped him, it was from the heart. Although Leslie is no longer here, she is thought of often by K’wan who still appreciates her recognizing his raw talent. K’wan humbly contributes her encouragement and belief in him as a big part of the reason his success came so quickly.

Anyone dabbling in the industry knows, being a genius writer is just not enough for long term success. K’wan had to learn industry standards, the ins and outs of publishing a book, and monitoring who his social interactions where with in order to remain one step ahead of the game. He also learned that always staying true to his self would be in his best interest. He is not one to jump on bandwagons or follow fads which have been the unfortunate demise of a lot of authors before their career has even taken off and he now has a wonderful agent that he works very closely with when making business decisions.

After recently becoming a free agent for the first time in eight years, K’wan has signed with a new publisher. Cash Money Content recruited K’wan and the announcement for his decision to accept their contract was made in December, 2011 at a private celebration. He is very excited to be working with Ashley and Jaquavis Coleman, two authors whom he respects very much. Being able to confide and consult with them encouraged his decision to sign with CMC. Congratulations to Cash Money Content. Cash Money Content is an extension of Cash Money Records whom we all know for bringing us some of the greatest talent in the hip hop industry such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Juvenile and the Hot Boys, and will now without a doubt, be the new powerhouse in urban fiction.

Hopefully K’wan’s next goal of writing and directing films will be as successful. The determination and drive he possesses is like no other. He is definitely a leader, icon and trendsetter in the literary community. If you’d like to follow K’wan, you can click here to join his fan page K'wan's FB Fan Page directly on Facebook at  or if you’re on Twitter, you’ll love the tweets. Click here to  be directed to K'wan's Twitter page .