rap musicians

"Kendrick Lamar is a groundbreaking musician. He uses hip-hop to explore life in all its complexities. He raps about his own struggles and what it means to be a Black American. This book explores his life and music. A table of contents, glossary, index, author biography, selection of greatest hits, and sidebars are included in this title"--.

An exploration of the life and career of Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny.

"His mother is a BLM activist. Mason Tyndall is an aspiring rap artist whose mother is a BLM activist. She saw fatal officer-involved shootings as senseless tragedies. He viewed them as trending hashtags--that is, until he almost became one. Mason Zy'Aire Tyndall has big dreams. Dreams of sick beats, epic mic-drops, sold out stadiums. Mason's going to be a rap star--and you don't become a rap star by hitting up BLM protests with your mom or sitting at a desk. Mason wants to get out there and make a name for himself, but he'll have to graduate high school first. And he can't do that if he fails his senior year. Convinced his poetry class is a waste of time, Mason's teacher helps him see just how valuable a couplet and a rhyme can be. But when an unarmed Black man is killed by the police in his city, tensions start to rise--among the cops, the community, and even Mason's peers. Caught in the middle of increasingly violent conflicts, Mason will have to find a way to use his voice for change . . . and fast"--Back cover.

"The fully-illustrated, anecdote-rich story of the celebrated rapper and the iconic Wu-Tang Clan, told by one of its founding members With his fellow New Yorker RZA, Dennis Coles-aka Ghostface Killah-established the Wu-Tang Clan, the ... hip-hop group whose flexible format (originally seven members, growing to ten, it performs in various combinations and also allows its members solo careers), danceable singles and intimate melodic lyrics have kept it at the pinnacle of rap and hip-hop from its founding in the early 1990s to today. Rise of a Killah, Ghost's autobiography, is intense rather than comprehensive, looking back at his childhood in Staten Island, his commitment to his family (including a brother with muscular dystrophy) and lifelong sidekicks, how crime and violence have affected his life, his fellow Wu-Tang members, a formative touring trip to Japan in 1997, and his art"--Provided by publisher.

Explores the life and career of singer and rap artist Lizzo. Learn about Lizzo's childhood, family, and career, including how she got her start and her rise to fame.

"The essential oral history of hip-hop, from its origins on the playgrounds of the Bronx to its reign as the most powerful force in pop culture-from the award-winning journalist behind All the Pieces Matter, the New York Times bestselling oral history of The Wire. The music that we would later know as hip-hop was born at a party in the Bronx in the summer of 1973. Now, fifty years later, it's the most popular genre in America and its electric impact on contemporary music is likened to that of jazz on the first half of the twentieth century. And yet, despite its tremendous influence, the voices of many of hip-hop's pioneers have never been thoroughly catalogued-and some are at risk of being lost forever. Now, in The Come Up, Jonathan Abrams offers the most comprehensive account so far of hip-hop's rise, told in the voices of the people who made it happen. Abrams traces how the genre grew out of the resourcefulness of an overlooked population amid the decay of the South Bronx, and from there how it overflowed into the other boroughs and then across the nation-from parks onto vinyl, below to the Mason-Dixon line, to the West Coast through gangster rap and G-funk, and then across generations. In more than 300 interviews conducted over three years, Abrams has captured the stories of the DJs, label executives, producers, and artists who both witnessed and made the history of hip-hop. He has on record Grandmaster Caz detailing hip-hop's infancy, Edward "Duke Bootee" Fletcher describing the origins of "The Message," DMC narrating his introduction of hip-hop to the mainstream, Ice Cube recounting N.W.A's breakthrough and breakup, Kool Moe Dee elaborating on his Grammys boycott, and many more key players. And he has conveyed with singular vividness the drive, the stakes, and the relentless creativity that ignited one of the greatest revolutions in modern music. The Come Up is an important contribution to the historical record and an exhilarating behind-the-scenes account of how hip-hop came to rule the world"--.

A biography covering the life and career of pop and rap music star Lil Nas X.

Looks at the lives and careers of the members of the Korean pop band BTS.

"A cinematic narrative of glamour, grit, luxury, and luck, Fashion Killa draws on exclusive interviews with the leaders of the fashion world to tell the story of the hip-hop artists, designers, stylists, and unsung heroes who fought the power and reinvented style around the world over the last fifty years. Set in the sartorial scenes of New York, Paris, and Milan, journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy's reporting on the intersecting histories of hip-hop and contemporary fashion focuses on the risk takers and rebels-the artists, designers, stylists, models, and tastemakers-who challenged a systemic power structure and historically reinvented the world of haute couture. Fashion Killa is a classic tale of a modern renaissance; of an exclusionary industry gate-crashed by innovators; of impresarios-Sean "Diddy" Combs, Dapper Dan, Virgil Abloh-hoisting hip-hop from the streets to the stratosphere; of supernovas-Lil' Kim, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion-allying with kingmakers-Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, and Ralph Lauren; of traditionalist fashion houses-Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Saint Laurent-transformed into temples of rap gods like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, and Travis Scott. Krishnamurthy explores the connections between the DIY hip-hop scene and the exclusive upper-echelons of high fashion. She tracks the influence of music and streetwear on the most exclusive (and exclusionary) luxury brands. At the intersection of cultural commentary and oral history, Fashion Killa commemorates the contributions of hip-hop to music, fashion, and our culture at large"--.

"The first and only Estate-authorized biography of the legendary artist, Tupac Shakur, a moving exploration of his life and powerful legacy, fully illustrated with photos, mementos, handwritten poetry, musings, and more. Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just twenty-five, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated and prolific figures in modern history. Tupac's unapologetic lyrics, for which he was villainized by many at the time, read in these pages as prophecy. His cry of outrage in a country that repeatedly told Black men and women that their lives did not matter, continues to inspire his fans around the world. In Tupac Shakur, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson-who knew Tupac as a young man and who was entrusted by his mother, Afeni Shakur, to write his biography-peels back the myths and unpacks the complexities that have shadowed Tupac's existence"--Provided by publisher.