A young rapper is going to get his own studio, and the way to get there goes through Larvik's underground environment.

Weeds and Asphalt is the sequel to the critically acclaimed and award-nominated novel Angry Youth.

Noh has found his crew: David on the DJ desk, Adam on vocals, Jonas as manager. Together they will conquer hip-hop Norway from Kongegata 1, Larvik's newly opened cultural center with a free studio. But when marijuana is discovered, the access to the studio is restricted and Noh's dream is in danger.

The solution? Noh needs to raise 10,000 kroner – quickly. The plan is simple: sell marijuana, earn money, buy equipment, build a studio. But nothing in Larvik is easy when you're fifteen years old, live at home, have strict parents and a secret life that grows bigger every day. From the attic of Børre, the city's safe haven for beanies, to meetings with dealers, from desperate customers to dangerous credit purchases, Noh navigates life between school, sales and musician ambitions.

While the rappers who inspire him live thug lives in American ghettos, Noh must find his own language in a Norwegian reality. What do you rap about when you grow up in the small city of Larvik? How do you stay true to art when your family argues about money, your father has three jobs, and morality becomes increasingly unclear?

Weeds and Asphalt is a raw, warm and hilarious coming-of-age story about artist dreams and everyday crime.

Blooming Weeds: "With Noh, Naqvi has created a youthful voice that both entertains and hits hard. Ugress og asfalt (Weeds and Asphalt) is funny, painful, and accomplished (...) a young adult novel that succeeds on multiple levels at once. Naqvi writes humorously and accessibly about substance abuse, racism, and alienation (...) What is most compelling, however, is the trust Naqvi places in both the character and the reader. (...) Weeds and Asphalt shows rather than tells, and that is precisely why it lingers long after the final page."
BOK365, 6/6 stars