Despite what it alludes to, Zone 4/Interscope Records rap signee Rich Boy insists his moniker is just a neighborhood nickname ("It doesn't stand for being rich or anything like that.") not a glimpse into his finances. Maybe so, but with the multifaceted talents that 21 year old Marece Richards possesses, his nom de plume will be even more fitting shortly with the release of his debut album, TBD?
Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Rich Boy grew up in a typical hood upbringing with both positive and negative influences. "My dad all he did was work all day." His father owns a liquor store in the middle of the hood and it's where Rich Boy witnessed dope fiends, drive bys and all types of mischief first hand. "Instead of having role models, I
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Within in a year Roy Jones Jr. had come upon one of his beat CDs and ended up purchasing tracks. "That was my first real step in the door as far as professional music is concerned," says Rich Boy. The first check was small but enough to make him start thinking he had a future in the rap business. After his freshman year he decided to step out on faith and leave school to pursue his dreams of becoming a full time producer. "I took the money I was supposed to use to pay for school and brought equipment with it," he reveals. "I took a big gamble".
Maybe a name like Rich Boy helped his odds? As a youngster he was influenced by Southern rap legends like UGK, 8-Ball & MJG, Crime Boss, ESG & Too Short. The rap scene in Mobile always thrived but he admits that getting on the radio is no easy task, keeping local artists just that, local. Undaunted, he would finagle his way into the local radio station (93 WBLX) by claiming to have an appointment with a station DJ in order to get by reception. "I decided to rap over one of my own beats and [try] to put in on the radio" explains Rich Boy. He eventually got his music into the hands of evening personality Nick at Nite, The Krunkmonster, who started playing Rich Boy's "Cold as Ice".
"After really listening to the song, he went crazy and started playing it every night," remembers Rich Boy.
Soon after, Atlanta based rap outfit Jim Crow
In the movie “Boyz in the Hood” director John Singleton, paints a clear image of the problems that happen very often in the African American communities. The movie deals with issues such as: the importance of a father in a young man’s life, the ongoing violence of black on black crime, and how black people are put in situations where they are put to fail and not succeed in life.
The connection that is drawn between the formerly economically challenged rapper and the child whose parent works two jobs, and can’t pay his child’s college tuition is paramount in making this point. The illusion of the American dream is set through many hip-hop songs. The picture of the evolution of the rags to riches story is set by many rappers in current hip-hop culture, this picture is the basic premise
That's when Tupac began to hang out with the wrong crowd. When he turned 15, he fell into rap, and started writing lyrics, forming his New York background for all it was worth. He called himself Mc New York and made people believe he was a tough guy. By the time Tupac was 20 he had been arrested eight times, and served eight months in prison, after being convicted of sexual abuse.
In the 1991 drama “Boyz in the Hood”, Written and Directed by John Singleton. He successfully attempts to portray what life was like and in some areas in America still is for African Americans living in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood. It displays a portrait of the harsh realities that plagues the black community and by displaying uninviting living conditions that is South Central L.A, Singleton aims to share to the world the self-destructive deviant behavior that is to this day, destroying the African American community. Some of the self-destructive deviant behaviors include gang life, selling drugs, and gun violence. Various issues are displayed in this movie involving the black community including deviance, poverty, gentrification, the importance of a father in a young man’s life and black on black crime. Singleton displays a tale of three friends growing up in the “hood”, plagued by drugs and violence and layers textures over rough and compelling visuals of black culture that shows us what it means to come to maturity, or die trying, as a black male. In this essay, I will be giving a thorough analysis of the film, as well as covering certain points from the movie from a sociological perspective to explain why singleton chose to write this film.
(Beah 15) The rap cassettes made him connect with his friends and family because they would all
The movie Boyz N the Hood is an illustration of how a group of early adolescents’ lives was affected negatively due to the environment they lived in. These adolescents lived in an environment where drugs, gangs, and shootings were the center of their community. Living in a predominantly African American community these adolescents were faced with many misfortunes. Ricky one of the adolescent characters I have decided to evaluate for this particular paper was faced with adversity.
then got him signed to Island Def Jam Recordings. He then released his first album, and went platinum
Artists such as New Edition, KRS-One, Mariah Carey, Lil Kim and others wanted their re-mixes done by the young entrepreneur. This being said to emphasize the power that the label had to sign other hot unknown artists. Faith Evans (now widow of B.I.G.), Total, 112, MA$E, and new artist Dream are all on the Bad Boy label. Every one of the artists has achieved gold, platinum, or multi-platinum sales. As a matter of fact "to date, all of the releases under the Bad Boy label have achieved these staggering sales figures…(AP Wire, December 5). Sales were solid for Bad Boy in 1995 and 1996, however 1997 was the year that the tiger was let loose on the hip-hop scene, and it has never been the same since. The year started off in March with what seemed to be a disaster. Chris Wallace a.k.a. "The Notorious B.I.G." was gunned down in front of Combs outside of an industry party in L.A. What looked like a catastrophe for the label was actually a godsend. The shooting in March of 24 year-old Christopher Wallace boosted the ascent of businessman/producer Sean "Puffy" Combs, Bad Boy Records. In fact during the summer of 1997, most of the songs on the upper reaches of the music charts were either by, featuring, or about "The Notorious B.I.G." (Cox News, Nov. 28). Combs and Wallace, joined by 19 year old protégé rapper MA$E, were at the top of the charts almost the entire year. Nothing prepared the label for the biggest selling single to come. Combs and R&B super
After a friend introduced him to the owners of Cash Money Records, he pestered them by leaving rap songs on the owners’ answering machines until they finally would give him a chance. The owners, Bryan “Birdman” or “Baby” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams signed him to their record label when he was 12 going by the name of Gangsta D. The owners were impressed by his freestyle abilities. Birdman really liked the young Carter and took him under his wing so to speak and became his mentor. Many people mistakenly believe that Birdman is Lil Wayne’s father and they are additionally confused by the fact that Lil Wayne also refers to Birdman as his dad and pa, but there is actually no relation. The first album released with Cash Money Records was in 1995 when the producer, Mannie Fresh, teamed Dwayne with a 14 year old named B.G. The album was called True Story. In 1997 there was supposed to be a follow up album; however his mom tried to put a stop to his association with Cash Money Records after she noticed him wearing gang related clothes, but Dwayne ran away. He took his stepfather’s gun with him and accidentally shot himself. He was taken to the hospital and questioned by police. He admitted stealing his stepfather’s gun. This landed Rabbit in jail for having an unregistered handgun. Sadly, a short time after Rabbit was released from jail he was kidnapped and killed.
Boyz in the Hood is a statement of how urban youth have been passed a legacy of tragic indifference, and the writer has shown that it is an almost inescapable fate for those born into racism and poverty to repeat the patterns they wish to escape. The movie’s characters are clear representations of how the system fails young black youth in the United States, and the difference one mentor can make for these kids. During segregation young black children became targets for white brutality. This movie reflects what the European mentality and what it has done to the African American culture.
Some challenges between anti-social behaviors and geographic are evident in the film Boyz n the Hood. It a 90’s films created by John Singleton, about a boy Tre styles who is sent to live with his father Furious styles in South Central Los Angeles after he got into a fight at school. At his father 's house, he is taught morals and values of being a respected man. On the other hand, his friends Ricky and Doughboy who are half-brothers has a different upbringing with no real support system, resulting in forming a gang, involvement with drugs and a tragic ending. This film is based on the African American experience in terms of environmental conditions which results in a great deal of African American males being pushed into the criminal justice system.
John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood is an American teen drama film released in 1991 that focuses on three black teens who live in the dangerous neighbourhood of Crenshaw, Los Angeles. The main characters Doughboy, his half-brother Ricky, and their friend Tre grow up together but meet drastically different fates as young adults. As Swanson (2011) points out, it is important to understand the tension within black communities in Los Angeles at the time of the film’s release; the Rodney King beating had taken place only months before and LA’s gang wars were reaching a peak. As a Los Angeles native, Singleton’s goal with the film was to alert people about the situation around them, as he said: “I couldn’t rhyme. I wasn’t a rapper. So I made this movie” (Swanson 2011). To reflect the environment as accurately as possible, the film was shot on the streets of South Los Angeles, so the crew was just as on edge as their characters would be; there were even threats of gun violence from local gang members.
Boyz N the Hood, displays the challenging upbringing of adolescents who have to live with harsh conditions around not only their home but also their surrounding town. The film compares the differences between the lifestyles of Tre Styles and his friends’, Darren and Ricky Baker. Darren and Ricky are half-brothers who are nothing alike. Singleton demonstrates the importance of male leadership in a home in the ghetto of Los Angeles by comparing the difference between the lifestyles of Tre and his friends. While many adolescents in the hood have close friendships, some form close relationships by assembling gangs and create a world of violence due to alcohol abuse, which together ultimately breeds discrimination.
Set in lower-middle-class, predominately black, south central Los Angeles, a neighborhood where constant gunshots regularly interrupt study time and the sound of police helicopters flying above is a familiar tune, Boyz N the Hood is basically the story of three
Furthermore, Boyz N the Hood also offers an honest and realistic portrayal of a father's absence in urban America. This is best exemplified by Tre's boyhood friends, who lack a strong fatherly influence, end up involved in gang violence, selling drugs, and other societal traps. More specifically, a close friend, Doughboy, lacks a father in his life. And although Doughboy's mother ties to lead him in the right direction, she favors Doughboy's brother Ricky over him, and Doughboy ends up spending time in prison and dealing drugs. Doughboy experiences gang-related violence first-hand and ultimately becomes a neighborhood victim. Without a strong father figure, Doughboy never valued responsibility, dedication, respect for women, or morality. Resultantly, he succumbs to his neighborhood's social ills.