Personal Narrative: Rap Music

When I was younger, I became interested in being a rapper. The thought of it came from me seeing performers on tv in music videos and how people looked up to them like they were some type of superheroes. I would think to myself, “wow, one day I would like to have that effect on people.” At that point of time I started rapping myself. Today you will learn about how I overcame my fears to rap in public.

What defines someone as being inspirational to others, do they have to wear a suit and tie, have a Harvard degree, drive a fancy car and speak of nothing but glory? I beg to differ; it depends on the person of whom they are trying to inspire that is why I believe Tupac Shakur is an inspirational icon to underprivileged individuals. Tupac Shakur, through his music, poetry, and political views, inspires young disadvantaged people to recognize that there is life for them outside of the ghetto, poverty, drugs and other adversities. He speaks of poverty, teenage pregnancies, single parenting, self-esteem and an array of other problems that people living in the ghetto are faced with. Despite all of the negative associations with his name, Tupac

I experienced my pop culture moment when I was a senior at my high school. My transportation to go to my school was buses. I took the same buses to school from freshman year, but I have never noticed what I notice in my senior year. Every morning I wake up to go to school at 8 a.m. I would see people going to work, schools etc. but one day I notice there was a group of white women who is going to their work wearing sari (sari is a garment which is long and usually it’s draped around women’s body. Asian women mostly wear it). I found that very odd because they didn’t look like to me that they would know anything about the roots of sari or the culture. I thought they were mocking the culture because the saris that they wearing weren’t 100% correct. I used to see them wearing traditional Indian cloth and I

It was a hazy morning, It was the opening day of rifle season. We had just sat down and we were getting all settled in, We were hunting on state land just outside of Tawas Mi. We had been hunting for about 3 Hrs and we were getting hungry so we decided to head to town and stop at a restaurant and pick up some cheeseburgers for us to eat for lunch.

Working with music takes a certain type of patients. That’s why when I knew this project was present, I had the perfect person in mind because I worked so close with this person once before. So, I decided to gather my resources and get in contact with our family friend Dr. Snodgrass who is the superintendent of the Fort Osage R-1 School District and ask if I could receive her email so I could set up a facetime call with her and get this interview on the road. Her name Is Erica Gregory and she is a high school band teacher at Fort Osage located in Independence Missouri. The reasons I decided to interview her were simple. First, she was my star time teacher which meant she was my study hall teacher. As a freshman coming into high school and being placed in a study hall class

As I walked into the intermediate room at Monsters of Hip-Hop, the nerves inside of me built up like a hot air balloon. I was stretching in jealousy of other girls and boys as they showed their amazing talents. I start to worry if I mess up on the choreography, out of nowhere the choreographer Laura Edwards comes in. I look at my mom in fear,

It was a bright and early morning on a Friday, and I was doing my ordinary thing. Like brushing my teeth, getting my school supplies ready, and etc I then walked to the bus stop and waited, and waited, until the bus finally arrived. I got on the bus, sat down and listen to my music. I always listen to hard core Hip-hop/Rap. We all had finally arrived to school waiting for the teacher to call the kids to get off the bus and go inside. A few minutes later the teacher said to let the kids off the bus and I headed into the school.

Music is delightful sounds that lead us to experience good feelings, which make others think more about the meaning of the lyrics. During the war, many soldiers went to fight for their country and families. They want to feel proud of themselves and make their country proud. Some of them lost their lives trying to save others, and others went back home with mental problems that they faced after the war and hard time they had. The wars that happened over time were very hard for the citizens, such as families who lost someone from their family, soldiers who lost their lives, and countries that lost many things such as lands and some sources. During

In Geoffrey Bennett’s essay titled, “Hip-Hop: A Roadblock or Pathway to Black Empowerment,” he speaks about the positive and negative effects that hip-hop has on the Black Community. Bennett goes all the way to the beginning of hip-hop, which he says took place in the early 1980s with rappers such as Run DMC, Public Enemy, Sugar Hill Gang and many others. The author then speaks about how hip-hop grew not only in the young black African American culture but also in the white youth culture as well. Finally, Bennett states that hip-hop has the power to influence positive and negative effects on African Americans

I almost always listen to country music. My favorite artists/bands are Brad Paisley and Dan and Shay. I enjoy listening to their music because I can relate to their songs. Two of my favorite Brad Paisley songs would be “Perfect Storm”, or “She’s Everything”. Dan and Shay sing two songs that I really enjoy listening to “Stop, Drop, and Roll” and “What You Do to Me”. Brad Paisley’s “Perfect Storm” talks about finding that perfect girl, and his song “She’s Everything” is about that girl that means everything to you. “Stop, Drop, and Roll” by Dan and Shay is about driving around in a 65 mustang, going fast, having fun, and laying rubber. Dan and Shay’s song “What You Do to Me” talks of having found that perfect girl. I can relate to every one of

My mom said ‘’We should eat beerbutt chicken for dinner, after your sister and I get home from the grocery.’’ 2 hours later …. My mom and my sister were home from the grocery.

As time moved forward from the antebellum spirituals, more less hopeful songs surfaced. The tiredness of years and years of injustice set in on many, and inspired them to write songs that express that feeling. Many of these songs serve a purpose for protest too though, through pathos. Bringing up past instances of hatred and racism, and the tiredness of it now, will pull heartstrings and possible cause someone to act and fight for freedom and equality. From a place lacking hope and love, a powerful song is able to bring forth positive action. Because of this, older songs are powerful. They hold a memory of the past, and how much has change, and how much has got to change.

My parents separated when my brothers were nine and seven, and I was five years old. My grandparents live on the same street and developed a close bond with us. They felt music would be a good outlet for emotional stress. Benjamin and Nicholas started taking lessons for piano and guitar. I started playing violin through my elementary school. As middle school was approaching, Nicholas was considering playing in the school band, but guitar would not be a suitable instrument. My grandfather’s friend, Mr. Phil, said we could borrow his saxophone. It was a Tuesday night in the year 2009. Nicholas and I rode our bikes down to our grandparents so he could test out the classic saxophone. He picked it out and blew pure cacophony in the air. I laughed as he grew red in the face from blasting squeaks and squeals. After he set it down, nodding his head pridefully from the noises he produced from this big metal instrument I excitedly asked if i could try. My grandpa was impressed with my curiosity and encouraged me to give it a whirl. I put on the neck strap and connected it onto the heavy instrument. Nicholas

I asked the question “What kind of music do you like??” He replied with the statement I like all types of music except for the music I can’t understand and I am also not a fan of country music if I had to pick a favorite form of music I would have to say rap I believe his statement is valid because when you listen to music it can be for one or more reasons you can like the lyrics or you can like the beat if you don’t like either of them then there isn’t a point to continue listening to that song.

Also, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole are both known for their elite storytelling abilities, making Cole and Lamar two of the best hip-hop lyricists of all time. Kendrick Lamar is known for his story telling abilities about relevant on-going racial or political issues. J. Cole, on the other hand, is known for his story telling abilities about his past. For example, on Kendrick Lamar’s song, “Lust,” he says, “We all woke up, tryna tune to the daily news, looking for confirmation, hoping election wasn’t true. All of us worried, all of us buried, and our feelings deep. None of us married to his proposal, make us feel cheap. Still and sad, distraught and mad…” Kendrick is speaking about how there was so much disbelief and dismay on how an individual