Becoming one of the wealthiest rappers and entrepreneur is something that Shawn Carter envisioned growing up. Although he grew up in a poor neighborhood and household, his surroundings didn’t deter him from reaching success. He lived the street life, but the street life did not consume him. Shawn is now one of the most successful people in the 21st century. Shawn grew up in the projects of Brooklyn and was raised by as single mother. Shawn is someone who took his early childhood struggles and turned them into motivation. Shawn didn’t allow his surroundings to become an excuse for him to do nothing. He wasn’t afraid to dream big. Shawn went from living in the infamous Marcy Projects to living in penthouses and mansions. He was a rare bright …show more content…
spot in a dark place. Shawn started from the bottom and now resides at the top. Brooklyn produced a hip-hop legend named Shawn Carter, or as we all call him, Jay-Z. As a result of his numerous milestones and accomplishments he should be recognized by the city of New York. He is arguably one of the faces of New York. He represents his city like no other. The same way Chicago honors Michael Jordan is the same way Jay-Z should be honored. Jay-Z deserves to be recognized with a statue because of his musical success, entrepreneurial success, and he hasn’t forgotten where he came from. From an early age Jay-Z knew he had a love for music.
He received a boom box for his birthday one year and from there, the rest is history. Jay-Z is one of the most talented rapper alive. Many rappers including J. Cole and Kanye West idolize him. His songs paint pictures and tell stories. He uses his past experiences as the base of many of his rhymes. Every line of every verse has a detailed meaning. Jay-Z used his musical gift to create initial success and wealth for himself. However the one part that is often overlooked is the countless hours he spends working and perfecting his craft. Jay-Z’s process for recording is unlike most. Ever since then Jay-Z decided not to write down any of his lyrics; he has memorized every line of every song he has recorded, making his style even more unique. He has released 12 studio albums and every single one has sold over a million copies, making them certified platinum albums. As a result, Jay-Z has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, while winning 21 of them. Jay-Z has performed at many major events including President Obama’s rally in 2012, as well as his popular music festival entitled “Made in America” just this year. Jay-Z has sold out shows all over the world, including New Yorks very own Madison Square Garden and Barclays Arena. There have been many great musical talents to emerge from Brooklyn, however none of them have been as skilled and crafty as Jay-Z. Jay-Z’s music success as a rapper alone arguably deems him the King of New
York. Growing up in the Marcy Projects of Brooklyn, Jay-Z was instilled with a hustler mentality. He was always looking for ways to do things different from others. Before he had a record deal, Jay-Z was selling his music out of the trunk of his car. He eventually signed a deal with PayDay Records, however Jay-Z soon realized that everything the company was doing for him, he could have been doing himself all along. Jay-Z decided to create his own label, “Roc-A-Fella Records”. Roc-A-Fella Records was a success initially however, Jay-Z decided to expanded the label by signing several talented rappers. Music was not his only business endeavor; Jay-Z started his own fashion line as well as a film company. Since then Jay-Z has become part owner of the Brooklyn Nets, formerly known as the New Jersey Nets, started Roc Nation Sports Agency, and has created his own music service, Tidal. As of today, Jay-Z’s net worth is Jay-Z is always looking for more ways to create more businesses and increase his worth. Jay-Z has always stayed true to his hometown and that is evident by his music and entrepreneurships. Jay-Z has a song, “Empire State of Mind”, featuring fellow New York born artist Alicia Keys. The song is about loving New York and all the city has to offer, and the artist not forgetting where they came from. When Jay-Z became co-owner of the Nets, he decided to make changes. He relocated the team to Brooklyn, where the team resides this day. He also built a $1 Billion arena, the Barclays Center. Jay-Z’s part ownership of the team rejuvenated Brooklyn and brought in major revenue. Eventually Jay-Z sold his share of the team to start his sports agency RocNation Sports. Many famous people attain wealth and forget where they came from never going back to their hometown, Jay-Z is not one of those people, and the Brooklyn Nets are evidence of that.
Kanye Omari West, rapper, producer, professional celebrity, and with an ego to match, has forced himself into the limelight of the music industry. Kanye West has made a lasting impression on all of those around him, whether it be a good one or bad. With seven full length albums, a multimillion record label company, and a successful fashion business all under his belt, it’s fair to say that Kanye has done his fair share of creating. Over the last twelve years Kanye went from a young Chicago kid just trying to get his flows off, to one of the most decorated musicians of all time. With over 20 Grammy’s and 3 of his albums ending up on the Rolling stones “500 greatest albums of all time”. He has continuously created, entertained, and spoken his mind for years. Whether it be “George Bush does not care about black people” or “Taylor imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had
Raised as an only child, Dwayne Micheal Carter Jr or more commonly referred to as Lil Wayne, was born September 27th, 1982, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Carter’s mother was only 19 years old when he was first born. He was being raised by both his mother and father until his father abandoned them while Dwayne Jr. was only two years old. After being abandoned by his biological father, his mother was forced to take care of him on her own and survive in the crime infested community of Holly grove, New Orleans. Even though he divorced his mother and remarried, his father forced the two live with his own mother and came by to abuse Lil Wayne’s mother on a consistent basis.This situation went on for three years until Lil Wayne’s mother eventually remarried and relocated to a different part of town. Growing up he did very well in school. He was actually enrolled in his school’s gifted program at a point and received top grades. He got into music at a very young age and wrote his first rap song at the age of eight. Lil Wayne had the drive to be the best and successful at his craft since he first began. At the age of nine he was challenging others twice his age and older at rapping. He would consistently go to neighborhood parties or events to rap and most of the time he was better then whatever adult he was going against. As a testament to this, at the age of nine he start receiving attention from one of the two co-founders of his future label, Slim Williams. From Slim, he then received other co-founder, Bryan Williams, phone number and what he did with it after that was truly caught the Bryan’s attention. He continuously called the number over and over leaving rap songs on the voicemail of Williams until he agreed to meet him in person...
“Kanye Ran onto the stage saying, ‘I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!’” (Top 10 Outrageous Kanye West Moments), says Kanye West at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards after Taylor Swift had just won “Best Female Video.” People that are like this have typically not always been this way. They were probably raised as a polite and respectful person before they were exposed to fame and fortune, and other “celebrities,” making them feel like they are the only people on the planet. Causing them to do things like that. Although, Kanye West is an amazing musician based on his 14 Grammy Awards and multiple albums going “Double-Platinum” (Manheim, James M., and Carol Brennan). He fell victim to fame and fortune, and turned into an arrogant and overconfident person making him more popular and praised among media. But looked down upon by everyday people. Kanye Omari West, born on June 8th, 1977, is a world famous rapper who, like all other celebrities, started out like a nice person who made nice music for nice families to listen to. West was a confident and competitive person even as a child, “He was determined even then to get out of his crib and be free, even if he split his head in the process—and he did. He has fought ever since to do exactly what he wanted to do—no matter what,” says Donda West, his mother in her book, Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar. By the time West was ten, he was already creating his own raps, and according to the people around him, he was pretty good at it even at that young of an age. (Manheim, James M., and Carol Brennan) West was not too interested in school as he grew up, but he was able to get by because of his talent. If he dropped out of one ...
John Jay was born in New York City on December 12, 1745 and was a self devoted leader that help the United States get to where it is today. He served a very important role in the Founding Fathers establishment as well as bringing overall greatness to the country. He devoted himself to the American Revolution as well as becoming the first Chief Justice of the United States. Serving in the Continental Congress, and becoming president of the congress gave him great power and confidence within himself.
Now a day, society says that the only way to be successful and make a lot of money is by graduating from the best college possible and having tremendous luck accompanied by the right connections. Kanye West has joined an elite group of people who have been able to make tons of money and be extremely successful in a very unconventional way that society tends to frown upon. While attending Chicago State University chasing down a master of the arts, West decided to no longer continue studying in 1998 and follow his true passion of creating music and singing (Carpenter). Through his music Kanye West is almost like a symbolic ray of hope to many listeners. He proves that it is very possible to overcome problems and end up being very successful in whatever they chose to do.
People express their feelings in many different ways. Singer and rappers express their feeling through song, poets express their feelings through there poetry, and artist express their feelings through their art. Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is a 33 year old American hip hop recording artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Lil Wayne produce a political controversial rap song entitled “Georgia Bush” to criticize the way president George bush handled hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, and the way he was governing the country. The setting of this song is in New Orleans, right after hurricane Katrina destroyed most of the city. The music video featured a large pool of water, destroyed communities, as
He may just seem like another rapper to you but if you actually listen to his lyrics you can see he’s not like any rapper out there. His name is Kanye West and he was born in Chicago Illinois. He grew up in the “ghetto” and learned to appreciate life. He didn’t learn to really, truly appreciate life until October of 2002. Driving back to his hotel late one night after a recording session, the new-coming rap/hip-hop artist was involved in a devastating, near fatal car accident. The crash left him with a broken jaw in three places and an appreciation for life. Just weeks after being released from the hospital he recorded his first major hit, “Through the Wire,” with his mouth still wired shut. He records every song like its going to be his last song and that makes every song better than the last. He’s not only a rap artist but also a producer. He has been responsible for being behind songs like Jay-Z’s Izzo, Girls, Girls, Girls, The Takeover, and 03 Bonnie and Clyde.
Most people have heard of Michael Jackson in their lifetime, his songs have been played in countless of movies, “Thriller” is played every October, but people might not know how he reached his fame. They might also not know what started his downfall. It all started out great, but a few rumors can ruin anyone’s reputation; Michael Jackson was a great example of this. Michael Jackson was known as The King of Pop, and one of the greatest singers and performers of all time, but a few mistakes made him go down as one of the most controversial modern tragic heroes.
Hip-hop began in the undergrounds in Bronx New York in the early 1970s and has gradually grown to become mainstream music. According to Lori Selke a professional writer for Global post, “hip-hop is the term that refers to more than just a musical genre; it includes culture, dance, art, and even fashion” (Selke). Since it originated in the 1970’s, hip-hop has had profound influence on society, and has grown into the lives of listeners worldwide; hip-hop’s influential power is astonishing. Within the last decade, hip-hop artist like Jay-Z, Nas, and Young Jeezy helped to increase voting in the 2008 presidential campaign by informing a hip hop audience consisting of a majority of African Americans on soon to be 44th President of the United States, by using their voice and lyrics as their tool to encouraging people to stand up for a change by voting. According to Emmett Price in his book Hip Hop Culture (2006), “in the early years prior to the rise of recorded rap music via Sugar Hill Gang’s controversial “Rapper’s Delight” (1979) hip-hop was a growing culture driven by self-determination, a love for life, and a desire to have fun [through entertaining fans and expressing themself].” (Price) Although artists today accomplish the same things, the focus of the lyrics has changed consisting of “extolling violence, drug and alcohol use, and detailing sexual exploits” (Selke). If one were to observe the most popular music from artist in the 80’s until now, they would notice a definitive change in its overall message. If hip-hop continues on its current route it will become a musical genre known solely for its references to sex, drugs, and violence.
Kanye West has been an icon in American hip-hop culture for over a decade. His music, fashion line, producing skills, and flamboyant personality has influenced many people for generations to come. Coming out of Chicago, many people in the music industry didn't even think Kanye had a chance to become a figure in hip-hop, but his hard work and persistence paid off. Kanye started off his music career as a producer. He produced music for the likes of major artists such as Common and Jay-Z. His first major breakthrough came from producing Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint”— which is certified 2x platinum. Kanye believed he could be a successful rapper as well, but music executives didn't believe he had it in him. That all changed when Roc-A-Fella records signed Kanye to their label, and gave him a chance to shine as a rapper. Kanye’s background, critical analysis, and importance all shows that he has become one of the most important characters in American hip-hop culture to this day.
The Voice, 'Ol' Blue Eyes', Swoonatra, La Voz, and Chairman of the Board. These were all sobriquets of the infamous Frank Sinatra. However, one of Sinatra's earliest and possibly most well-known nicknames was The Voice. A title such as The Voice is more than just a name that sounds cool and sensual. It promises something flawless about his singing style, signifying you could select one song, or perhaps even an album, as representative of Frank Sinatra. However, Sinatra had a multitude of styles over his five decade career, so to call him the voice could potentially be doing an injustice, perhaps a more accurate description would be The Voices.
... hip hop community elevated from being a riot provoking culture to a multi-million dollar community with entrepreneurs like Shawn " Jay-Z" Carter, Sean" P. Diddy" Combs, "Russell Simmons", Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and Marshall "Eminem" Mathers. The emergence of these entrepreneurs is serving as motivation for others admiring their work. The young people automatically think that if their favorite artists became rich through entrepreneurship then they can do it as well. Hip-Hop artists are now focusing on the youth and what they do with their lives.
It is so hard to become a rapper. But it is harder to become a Great Rapper. I believe Tupac is a great rapper. Not only a great rapper, but the greatest rapper. Like Snoop Dogg had said, “Tupac was many different things at once. Hardheaded and intellectual, courageous and afraid, revolutionary and….oh yeah, don’t get it f***ed up, gangsta.” To be a great rapper, you must have impact, commercial success, be good at song writing, a lot of performances and live shows and lastly, hella good rapping. The first song I heard from tupac was “ambitions az a ridah and all eyes on me” and it was real original so I went and listened to ‘Brenda got a baby’ which made me think “dammmmm he good, he good as hell”
Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her parents are Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey who were 18 and 20 at the time of Oprah’s birth. Her Grandmother who took care of her early in life was Hattie Mae Lee. Oprah's mother moved north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to find work. She planned to move Oprah there once she had secured a job. Oprah stayed with her grandmother on her farm in Mississippi. (www.about.com, 2000).
Tupac’s childhood and upbringing were heavily influenced by his parents and their ideals regarding the Black Panthers, and criminal activity. Many members of his immediate family were either convicted or charged with crimes and all spoke heavy Ebonic influence in their speech. Also growing up in the East Harlem his childhood was based on the street education. He was an avid reader however and enjoyed many styles of classical literature and this is what led him to join and perform in the 127th Street Repertory Ensemble where he learned how to act and also where he began his rap career. He not only succeeded at his new school but also was the starring role in plays like the Nutcracker and A Raisin in the Sun. These influences helped h...