Pimp Author and Superfly Archetype Iceberg Slim Is Born -- August 4, 1918

Iceberg Slim is the nom-de-poon of Robert Beck, author of the classic underworld novel Pimp: The Story of My Life, and creator of the urban “mack daddy” aesthetic. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on this date, in 1918.

Beck dropped out of Tuskegee Institute in 1937, lured by a life of crime. Specifically, he took to managing prostitutes mainly in Chicago, but throughout a great deal of the entire Mid-West as well.

After a prison stint, Beck took a job selling insecticide door-to-door. One customer was a college professor who inspired Beck to chronicle his days as a street hustler.

The result was Pimp, which was followed by a series of books that have reportedly sold more than six million copies.

The effect of Pimp on worldwide culture has been profound, to say the least.

Blaxploitation, hip-hop and even the use of the word “pimp” in every day human discourse owe their origins to Iceberg Slim.

For Mr. Skin, this has meant numerous, awe-inspiring sexual superheroes in some of the most erotically provocative films ever made ass-whoopers on the order of The Mack, Vice Squad, Streetwalkin', and the Angel series.

To you, Iceberg Slim, Mr. Skin doffs her ostrich-feathered fedora.