THE boxer-turned rapper star of a BBC documentary has followed up his latest television appearance by putting the finishing touches to his autobiography.

Stevie Creed was dubbed The Brooklyn Scotsman by his friends in the black community in New York when, as a teenager, he went to live there on his own.

How the baby-faced wannabe boxer from Scotland survived living in some of the toughest neighbourhoods of New York is an amazing story.

And it’s thanks to the help and kindness he received from the black community – who befriended and adopted him as one of their own – that he managed to stay alive on the mean streets that were home to violent gangs of Crips and Bloods.

Stevie left home a talented young boxer and returned from America a rap artist having life-changing experiences that turned him into a man.

Stevie also took his story to the stage by performing The Brooklyn Scotsman show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018 and 2019.

Now Stevie is telling his compelling story in more detail than ever before in an autobiography that reveals –

* the motel he had booked into when he first arrived in Brooklyn turned out to be a whorehouse;

* he had an Uzi machine pistol held to his head by one of the Crips gangstas and he witnessed shoot-outs and murders on the streets;

* how he fought in unlicensed boxing matches before going on to write, record and release his hip-hop music that made the American charts, film videos and perform shows in New York;

* to beat the armed robbers that regularly confronted him, he would carry a wallet full of Monopoly money to hand over and he once pretended to be a drugs detective from the UK to get himself out of a sticky situation with a group of gang members;

* how he was so poverty-stricken after a radio promoter ran off with his money, an apartment he stayed in was a crack den and when he became homeless, he slept rough on a subway platform living on one cream bagel a day;

* his Scottish accent and bravado saved him on many occasions, opened doors and created opportunities for him;

* and amongst all the drama, he bluffed his way to being hired as a male model during New York Fashion Week.

Stevie’s co-writer, author and journalist, Norman Macdonald said: “I’ve been a writer for more years than I care to remember and Stevie Creed’s story is one of the best I’ve had the privilege to tell.

“His autobiography is an entertaining and must-read story of how Stevie survived his amazing adventure to become The Brooklyn Scotsman.

“His story of human endeavour in the face of adversity will appeal to a wide audience and not just people interested in hip-hop.

“The documentary has created quite a stir and the production company that made it for the BBC are now talking to TV companies in America about it being broadcast there.”