traditional or angel investors. They also generally live in run down areas, with poor schooling and less access to successful people. One entrepreneur who has hurdled over all the barriers and became extremely successful is Russell Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records. Biography of Russell Simmons Russell Simmons was born in Queens, New York, on October 4, 1957. Growing up in Queens, he spent part of his adolescent years as a street hustler. During his middle school years, he sold marijuana and was even
purist in hip hop stands out for me as someone who can embody the tenants asserted in Anthony Thomas’ essay, “The Spirit and Philosophy of Hip Hop.” My purist of choice is Yassin Bey (born Dante Smith), more commonly known as “Mos Def”, his former stage name. Mos Def was born on December 11, 1973 in Brooklyn where he would gain his whole educational experience. Growing up in Brooklyn, Mos Def’s parents, Adbul Rahman and Sheron Smith, were not together. He lived with his mother with two of his sisters
Savage, Def Leppard became one of the most successful bands of its time. They fitted in with more established heavy metal bands and really stood out. As Def Leppard‘s popularity grew, their success also grew and they became the leaders of the 80s British heavy metal renaissance. The members age did not stop them from becoming a huge part of 80s music history. Along with the many problems in the band and tragedies they went through, it was not enough to bring down the famous sound and spirit of Def Leppard
When thinking of legends in the Hip-Hop industry, one of the first names that come to mind is Tupac Shakur. Tupac Shakur was born in June 16, 1971, and was shot in September 13, 1996. He grew up in the ghettos of New York and slowly worked his way up to fame and success. Tupac’s music and life has a huge impact on today’s society even after 17 years. Throughout Michael Eric Dyson’s, Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, the biography on Tupac Shakur shows how Tupac was a rapper that
It is my honor to present the winner of this year’s award for Highest Self-Esteem. I BELIEVE, that this years winner is someone with undeniable and unwavering self esteem. Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to award Mr. Kanye West, a self proclaimed God and genius, with the 2014 award for Highest Self-Esteem. Born in Atlanta, Georgia on June 8th of 1977 to successful parents, his mother was an english professor and his father an award winning photographer and church counselor. They divorced a mere
Kanye West is known to many as simply a narcissistic rapper. Many others find him as a gifted lyricist, fashion designer, producer, and much more. Kanye Omari “Yeezy” West was born on June 8, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. His mom , Dr. Donda West was a college professor of English at Clark Atlanta University. His dad, Ray West, was a black panther. His parents divorced when we was three years old. Ever since his youth , Yeezy has enjoyed rock music very much. To this day , he often uses string progression
2014 Forest Hills Drive is a hip-hop album by artist J. Cole. The album itself is not just an album that talks about whatever, this is an album that discusses an almost life story of coming together as a man and his dealings with fame and fortune. The album discusses many other things as well as social issues in our everyday life, and him losing his virginity as well. 2014 Forest Hills Drive flow of this album is at an all-time high the way it starts from the first song “January 28th”, which is J
Rev. Leaders First Draft April 7th,2014 “I’m living in that 21st Century, doin’ something mean to it/Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it/Screams from the haters, got a nice ring to it/I guess every superhero need his theme music.” A revolutionary leader is someone who goes against the status quo, someone who goes out the way and changes the norm of society, and someone who leaves an imprint on the world. Kanye West
In an ever growing industry where masses of bland mc’s come out of the woodwork to drop hooks it’s becoming more difficult to distinguish yourself in the hip hop community. Hip hop is a numbers game and we’re not talking record sales. Each rapper has a distinctive “flow”. Flow in this case refers to the rhythmic structure that is derived from the interaction between the rapper’s words and the musical rhythms of those words. On the other spectrum of hip hop are bars, a bar is simply a musical duration
Singer/Songwriter for this Era 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
the hip-hop world as Mos Def. He is known for being a superb lyricist, poet, and actor. We are doing two of his works named “Hip-Hop” from off his album Black on Both Sides and a poem he wrote regards to the Barclays Center named “On center.stadium.status”. Before I talk about these two works of art, let me give a brief background on Mos Def. Mos Def parents named him Dante Terrell Smith on the 11th of December in 1973. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Mos def is one of 12 siblings which
of his time, which dawned in the late '90s when he rapped alongside Mos Def and DJ Hi-Tek as part of the group Black Star. This trio of up-and-comers and their widely acclaimed self-titled 1998 album debut, Black Star, helped make Rawkus Records one of the premier underground rap outposts of the late '90s. Kweli and Hi-Tek then collaborated as a duo on Reflection Eternal (2000), which firmly established them apart from Mos Def, who had gone solo. For a moment there, Kweli and his Rawkus associates
What is hip hop? What are some of the common stereotypes and generalizations by which hip hop is conceived? Is it a music that is for only one group of people? Does hip hop promote violence and negativity? Many people claim that it is a disgraceful, mea ngless din. Antagonists often claim that hip hop is offensive to many groups of people. I will agree that unfortunately these are sometimes true with certain varieties of hip hop. The fact is that so many artists out there are in the industry simply
“‘Everything i’m not made me everything I am’. In my humble opinion, that’s a prophetic statement. Gandhi would have said something like that.”Now take a few seconds let that sink in… what kind of bold man not only quotes his own rap lyrics in a Rolling Stone interview, but is daring enough to compare himself to Gandhi? Yes, it is Kanye West, but you do have to admit that those lyrics “‘everything i’m not made me everything I am’” sound like wisdom Gandhi May have said once. So, before you skip straight
Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 Fashion show is a unique form of creative communication. The fashion show was performed, and it truly was a performance, in the Madison square garden, New York City, February 2016. It was not your normal catwalk, with most picturing slender models gracefully cascading down the runway. Kanye West did something a little more reflective. His show was a challenging and trivial experimentation of political boundaries in high fashion. West uses creative elements of ambiguity
Kanye’s public persona has been well-documented by various music and gossip sites. He’s never been a quiet one, often inciting controversy with his remarks (see when he said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on national television). However, he, like most public figures, was not born in the public sphere. His first ventures in the music industry were low-key, acting as a producer, and only through persistence and passion did he move to rapping. He’s progressed through the industry and
issues such as a breakup The show’s rawness and raucousness echoed racist caricatures of the past and resurrected regressive depictions of African-Americans on television. Because African American’s have been at the forefront of hip-hop (rap) music. Def Comedy Jam was just another outlet for rap artist freedom of expression. Hip-hop was aggressive and oppositional, a break from the traditional music from the past. All music has had its struggle to gain access to the public. Jazz, rock and roll, and
The Undeniable Influence of Kanye West Kanye Omari West, an icon of hip-hop, pop culture, fashion and music in general. Kanye Omari West, a person belittled against and a person subjected to a life of racism and hate. Born on June 8th, 1977, Donda West, West’s mother, always knew he was destined for greatness, but did she know her son would turn out to be the Kanye West, a man lacking the respect he deserves for transforming a big part of the music we listen to on this very day? West came onto the
Art is the product of human creativity, and it takes place in various forms such as paintings, literature, music and dance. Art serves many roles as it can be interpreted in various ways depending on the individual. Art must be understood within in the context which is was created. Both culture and politics are factors that determines the way art is interpreted. Since art is visual or auditory rather than physical oppressed groups are able to expressed themselves and protest without getting into
Def Leppard is a rock band that originally formed in Sheffield, England in 1977. The band still plays to this day but their most successful time as a band was during the hair metal time (early eighties to early nineties). Even though the band has had deaths, accidents, and numerous member changes Def Leppard is still one of the best known bands of all time will the 12 platinum records to prove it. The band was started by Tony Kennings on drums, Rick Savage playing bass, and Pete Willis on guitar