Gucci Mane is beyond blessed, and he’s not afraid to shout it from the mountain tops. He’s happily married to the love of his life, Keyshia Ka’oir, with whom he just welcomed a precious baby boy named Ice. His record label is thriving with a slate of talented artists on its roster. He’s also a star in Beyoncé’s latest Ivy Park campaign. The Atlanta rap legend has a lot to be thankful for, but chief among them is his family.
In an Instagram post celebrating his 41st birthday, Gucci held his precious newborn son Ice. In his caption, the rapper expressed gratitude for how far he’s come in his life and how his family is his biggest blessing.
“This is one of my best birthdays,” wrote Gucci Mane. “I have a beautiful healthy baby boy! An amazing wife! My label doing great! Man, I couldn’t ask for nothing else!”
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In true Gucci Mane fashion, this momentous occasion called for another icy piece of jewelry to add to the collection. His wife Keyshia picked out a dazzling diamond-encrusted BVLGARI diamond watch – a gift from herself and baby Ice!
Gucci and Ka’oir, who first met in 2010, welcomed their son Ice on December 23, 2020. The announcement was made on Instagram with a photo of proud papa Gucci holding his precious new bundle of joy in front of their Christmas tree. “My wife just gave me a 7 lb. 1 oz. baby boy,” he shared. “His name [is] ICE DAVIS 12/23/20 thank you Mrs. Davis ❤️🏹🥶 He’s here!!!!!!!”
In addition to baby Ice, Gucci Mane has a son named Keitheon with his ex Sheena Evans. Ka’oir has two daughters and a son from a previous relationship.
More than 80% of Americans say they want to write a book, but just 5 to 7% of published authors are Black, and the industry has historically favored white voices. With that, the Black authors that do make it to the publishing finish line rarely receive the marketing support they need, which affects how many people can actually read the work.
Unfortunately, Black women are the most at risk of not being seen in the wide pool of authors releasing titles every day. Luckily there are change agents out there that recognize the disparity and are working to amplify these talented scribes. For instance, Storehouse Voices, an imprint of Penguin Random House, recently launched in January 2025 and is aiming to open the floodgates for Black women writers.
Led by attorney and entrepreneur Tamira Chapman, who has been ranked 8th fastest woman-owned business for running her global merchandising company Storehouse ($200M + enterprise), was heralded by Michelle Obama after helping Black women lean into their love of the former FLOTUS’s memoir Becoming.
As a result, Chapman is being given a multi-million-dollar budget with no preset limit to help take black authors to the next level and provide them with the tools and resources to succeed in publishing. So, why is a successful tech startup founder taking something like this on?
“A few different reasons, but chief among them, one, {Black women} are generating more content as a culture than any other group, but not particularly being recognized or paid for that content,” Chapman explains to ESSENCE. “The way I think about book publishing is that it’s a generational asset. If we have ideas, and these ideas are worthy of a book life treatment, it’s worth the investment.”
She gives the example of Reesa Teesa, a social media influencer who became immensely popular after sharing a 25-part story on TikTok about her failed marriage.
“To think, this incredible sage took her story to social media—and all these people online took the time to invest in her narrative,” Chapman says. “When I saw her, I thought, ‘my God, if we turn these 25 chapters into a book, this will become a tangible item for her to leverage for the rest of her life.’ ”
Michelle Obama’s Support
Chapman says her relationship with Penguin Random House (PRH) started in 2018 when Michelle Obama was gearing up to release Becoming.
“She wanted to make sure the roll out centered Black women,” Chapman explains. “We reached out to PRH because we have a large audience of Black women that we already serve through my company, and I thought we would be the perfect home for ‘Becoming.’”
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From there, they decided to partner on the book tour, with Chapman hosting a large-scale virtual event for Michelle Obama’s second book, The Light We Carry, where 10,000+ Black women, all with the book in their hand, amplified the memoir’s core messages. Afterwards, Obama went back to PRH and shared that it was one of her favorite events from that tour. From there, a powerful publishing relationship was born.
The Program
“I told the team at Penguin Random House that ‘the same way that Ms. Obama has a very rich and powerful story to tell, it’s my guess that I have thousands of more Michelle Obamas in this audience that also have meaningful stories that could see the light of day. If you really want to be helpful to me, you’ll partner to develop a program allowing the women from my community to learn how to publish with the world’s number one publisher.’ “
What followed was the almost immediate development of the Women & Words program, a collaboration between the two entities that included a series of virtual workshops and networking sessions pairing literary agents with author hopefuls. Designed to amplify the stories of underrepresented women and demystify the publishing industry and its processes, Women & Words had more than 10,000 Black women register within 30 days, thousands attend each online session, and numerous authors finally succeed in securing agent representation.
The overwhelming success and the community’s demand for more inclusive publishing opportunities directly led to the establishment of Chapman’s imprint Storehouse Voices, a unique pipelined publishing outfit designed to help talented Black women from the ideation to execution phase.
The Imprint
Storehouse Voices will include an innovative community-based author incubator program in addition to acquiring books from literary agents. Five writers who participated in the Women & Words program have already been signed to book deals by Storehouse Voices, including Nia Gilliam (memoir), Cheryl Polote-Williamson (inspirational nonfiction), Temple Day Smith (historical fiction), Marie Sutton (biography/memoir), and Michael A. Tinsley (YA/fantasy). The Fearless Fund’s Arian Simone will also work with the imprint to produce a book.
“This is truly a dream realized and I want everyone to know we are open for business,” Chapman says, encouraging those at every level to reach out. “We are looking for the brightest and best, and it’s not just authors. We have an interest in writers. We have an interest in agents. We have an interest in editors-at-large. Whatever your talent is in the publishing industry, we want to know about it, and we want you to be on our list so we can continue to build out the community.”
She adds: “I, along with Porscha Burke, Associate Publisher, also want future authors to know that this can be viewed as a generational asset that can be taken seriously, and that there are publishers out there like us that believe in them and the audience in the segment that they serve. We are proud today to be in a position that Toni Morrison hoped for decades ago, sitting inside of a Penguin Random House, having this acquisition authority. We intend to publish them with excellence and show up for them in the same spirit that they showed up for us to make a meaningful difference in the publishing landscape.”