Will Smith

Born on September 25, 1968, Willard Christopher Smith Jr., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Starting his career at the early age of 12, Will began creating his own style of rap under the influence of Grandmaster Flash. Then at the age of 16, he met Jeff Townes, as known as DJ Jazzy Jeff, who helped him come up with the name Fresh Prince. These two produced several songs together, winning Grammy's and creating albums. In 1997, Will went solo with his first album titled, Big Willie Style. Along with his music career, Will Smith was cast in 1990 for the lead role in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After his music and acting career took off the movie offers came rolling in. The first films he was featured in were Made in America, Six Degrees of Separation, and Bad Boys. Following these came Independence Day in 1996, Men in Black in 1997, Enemy of the State in 1998, Ali in 2001, Hitch in 2005, and The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006. He has won 28 awards and has been nominated for 49 others, including 2 Oscar nominations for Best Performance by an actor in a leading role. These two nominations were for his performances in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith is now a producer. He and his partner, James Lassiter, just recently launched Overbrook Entertainment, a film and television production company that also does artist management. Since he launched this company it has produced several box office hits, including his movies, I, Robot, Hitch, and The Pursuit of Happyness. Smith has and still is one of the most recognized and esteemed performers and producers in the industry.

Written by: Lauren Welch

The Official Will Smith Website. "Will Smith". Retrieved April 21, 2008. http://www.willsmith.net/_bin/artist.cfm.

Kanye West

Not only is Kanye West a rapper, he is a producer and music writer also. Born in Chicago, Kanye has produced beats for rappers like, Jay-Z, Ludacris, and Scarface. After Kayne's near fatal car accident he was able to produce more mix-tapes that are in the industry become among the best hip-hop music released in 2003. Like many other rappers in the business today, Kanye's music is highly inspired by his life experiences. According to some people Kanye is only known for his beats and not for his rhymes. "As Kanye imparts a charmingly laconic vocal delivery, equal parts Mos Def and Snoop Dogg that is brimming with radiant wit, and agile word play." Kanye continues to show his beats and rhymes through songs like; "Through the Wire", "Home", and "My Way".

Written by: Kelsey Oler

Goldstein, Hartley. "Kanye West". retrieved April 18, 2008.
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Kanye-West-Biography/D08AAB9FDE5039E448256E0000077DF3

DJ Hollywood-The "Godfather of Hip Hop"

How did Rap music actually become part of our world today you ask? It first originated in “the 1970s in the South Bronx area of New York, and was primarily marketed to the African-American community” as a new genre of music (Rap Music: When Did it Start?). It began as a cross-cultural product created by two generations of early artists that derived from Jamaica. These two creators, Jool Herc and DJ Hollywood, used their cutting and mixing of American music which also led to the trend of turntables. Rap began to record by small independent record companies and the term “rap music” became coined in 1978. “The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC were the first two rap groups to hit the Billboard top-ten list” and since then, they have laid the grounds for all of the artists out there today and the inspiring rap artists to come.

Rap Music: When Did it Start?. (2003). Retrieved April 17, 2008, from Rampwayonline Web site: http://www.rampway.org/article.php?id=177




Written by: Morgan Hinson

Rap is more to some than others

Just like Country, Blues, or Jazz; Rap has meaning to people. To some people rap can be offensive, annoying, or even disturbing. But in others eyes, it takes them home and they can sing about their lives. "Rap is classified as urban poetry of lyrical resistance." Rap is a way for artist to express their feelings through a somewhat type of poem mixed in with beats and mixtures of music. Some people who listen to rap dont even think about the lyrics, they know them but they dont necessarily care about the violence because the beat and the voices are catchy and gets them in the groove. "First goes the beat, and then goes the lyrics! It is not as smooth and tender as classical music, not as glossy as pop, but it has the scream of pain of real emotion of the world's harshness." This shows that it doesnt have to flow or satisfy everyone like other music does, because it has its own way of getting peoples attentions.

By: Kelsey Oler

Mima. "Rap is more than music" retrieved April 11, 2008.
http://www.allthelyrics.com/articles/rap_is_more_than_music-202790.htm

Lil Wayne

Dwanye Michael Carter, Jr., also known as Rapper Lil Wayne, was born on September 27, 1982, in New Orleans, LA. Growing up in a New Orleans neighborhood, “he became acquainted with the Cash Money Records collective, which he eventually joined as a teenager” (Lil Wayne Biography). In 1997, at the age of eighteen, Lil Wayne was the youngest member of the Cash Money Records group Hot Boys and was well on his way to preceding a solo album. Unfortunately, in 2002, all of the members of Hot Boys left the group but Wayne decided to continue on solo. Today he has joined with Rapper Birdman and is becoming more and more popular each day.

Written by: Morgan Hinson

Lil Wayne Biography. (2008). Retrieved April 11, 2008, from AOL Music Web site: http://music.aol.com/artist/lil-wayne/biography/1352386

KJ 52

KJ52 is a well known Hip Hop artist in the Christian music world. He has released 5 albums, 4 of which sold over 100,000 copies. He is known for his ability to mix hip hop and rock into his songs, to appeal to a wider audience. He has encountered and overcome many obstacles through the past 7 years. A few major obstacles have been people questioning his art because of his Christian faith, and the fact that he's White. Through all of this he has set his name above the rest and has a huge loyal fan base across the world.

Written By: Matthew Thompson

The Yearbook. (2008). Retrieved April 11, 2008.
http://www.kj52.com/bio

Toby Mac

Toby Mac is probably the best known Christian rapper today. He grew up in northern Virginia and got his claim to fame while attending Liberty University. With the help of Michael Tait and Kevin Max he formed the group DC Talk. DC talk performed a variety of gospel, rock, and Hip Hop music up until 1999 when they broke up. Shortly after their separation Toby Mac released his first solo album, Momentum. It was a huge hit! In it Toby Mac mixed rock and hip hop to give the listener the best of both worlds. Today Toby has released many other albums, and is touring the world promoting them.

Written By: Matthew Thompson

Toby Mac Biography. (2008). Retrieved April 4, 2008. http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Mac,_Toby/Biography/