Shea Serrano

File:Shea-Serrano.jpeg

Shea Serrano, as photographed by his wife, Larami.

Shea Serrano is an American writer, illustrator, New York Times best-selling author, and former teacher, best known for his work with the now-defunct sports website Grantland and his rap-centered books. He has become well known for his interest in hip-hop, basketball, and humor. Writer Chris Gayomali described him in his interview with Serrano: “If you were to draw a triple Venn diagram of hoops, trunk bangers, and jokes made at the expense of J. Cole, Grantland writer Shea Serrano would be smack-dab in the center, probably wearing a Tim Duncan jersey.” Serrano’s activity and humor on Twitter have earned him referrals from GQ and other publications. He has also written for GQ, LA Weekly, XXL, MTV, The Source, and Vice, among others.

Life and career

Early life

Serrano was born in San Antonio, Texas. He was originally a middle-school science teacher and after-school coach for English as second language students. He began writing in 2008 as a way to supplement he and his then-pregnant wife’s income. After briefly writing for the Near Northwest Bannner, Serrano freelanced for the Houston Press. He predominately wrote about hip-hop after noticing that the majority of the writers only wrote about rock music, despite the fact Houston is a cornerstone of southern rap music.

Writing

Serrano’s first work that drew national attention was his the Houston Press piece on rapper Trae tha Truth's ban from a Houston radio station and the rapper’s subsequent lawsuit against the station. This piece allowed him to earn a place at the Houston Press’ sister publication, the LA Weekly. Serrano continued to earn national attention with his pieces about his children and stories about the songs played at his school dance and birthday party. While there, he wrote a piece describing having sex with his wife while listening to Drake. Grantland writer Molly Lambert saw the piece and passed it to her editors, who then invited Serrano to freelance for them. His first piece was about gift shopping with the rapper 2 Chainz. Serrano was hired full time in July 2015.

Serrano described his writing in a 2015 interview with StudyBreaks.com: “I think people vibe with my writing because I find joy in a lot of things, but I’m honest about what that looks like. It’s one thing to say you’re happy with something, but it’s more real if you say you’re happy with something, but that there are parts of it that you don’t like.”

Books

Serrano’s first book, Bun B's Rapper Coloring and Activity Book, was published September 17, 2013. The book consists of coloring and activity pages based on popular rappers. The work was a collaboration with Houston rapper Bun B, although Serrano wrote and illustrated the book himself.

Serrano’s second book, The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed, Debated, and Deconstructed, was published October 13, 2015. It soon appeared on New York Times Best Seller List, and reached the #1 Best Seller in Amazon’s Music History and Criticism department, as well as the Rap, Popular and Music sections. In March 2016, the book was optioned for a documentary series.

Serrano has plans to write and illustrate a basketball book with frequent collaborator Arturo Torres that will be published in 2017.

On March 20, 2016, Serrano announced a weekly newsletter, Basketball (And Other Things)0 that comes out every Tuesday focused on the National Basketball Association. The newsletter features musings from Serrano and illustrations from The Rap Year Book collaborator Arturo Torres. The inaugural issue featured NBA players in scenes from popular movies, starting with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green in a scene from the 1987 movie Over the Top. Within two weeks, the newsletter had reached over 14,000 subscribers. After receiving $4158.36 in donations, Serrano donated $2507.05, giving the rest to Torres, to Genesis Women’s Shelter in Dallas.

Personal life

As of April 2016, he lives in Houston, Texas with his wife, Larami Serrano, their three sons (Boy A, Boy B, and the Baby), and their French bulldog Younger Jeezy. Serrano and Larami have been partners for sixteen years and were married in a hospital after Larami was hospitalized the day before his wedding.