Born in Chicago in 1964, Ken Ivy was 16 years old when he had the life: money, women, cars, clothes, and notoriety in the streets of Milwaukee and Chicago. He was awarded the coveted "Mack of the Year" title at the annual Player's Ball. Before long, Ivy was approached by HBO to be a consultant on an upcoming project, the now infamous Pimps Up, Ho's Down. Since then, Ken has become a celebrity in his own right—you can hear him on Jermaine Dupri's "Instructions," 2Short's "Chase the Cat," Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz's "Kings of Crunk," Lil Flip's "Still Ballin," Mack 10's "Da Hood," and he stars in the video for 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P." He has been written about in The Source, Vibe, F.E.D.S., and on Salon.com.

Karen Hunter is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, a celebrated radio talk-show host, and coauthor of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Confessions of a Video Vixen, On the Down Low, and Wendy’s Got the Heat. She is also an assistant professor in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College. Less