How to Be a Hip-Hop Artist

I remember when I was younger, I would look up to Hip-Hop artists. It was just there style and swag. With the big "Donkey Ropes," women & fast cars. It just seem like they had it all. I embraced Hip-Hop with both arms open. I started rhyming when I was in elementary school, and all through the years I progressed to the point where people started appreciating my flow-style. Especially in High School. Here is my story of an up and coming Hip-Hop artist.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Charisma
• A Dream
• Longevity
• An ability to take criticism.
• A Creative Mind

1. I started rapping when I was in the 6th grade, just playing around, free-styling with my friends. We would have a radio and put a beat on and just talk about people. We would record it and listen to it and laugh. I wasn't to serious about it. I use to write stories just for fun. One time, I wrote a play and had my family act it out on a talent show. I forgot what it was about.
2. From there we would just go to my friend's house and make free-style tapes. Maybe my friend would have a turntable or a tape recorder. We would use other people's instrumentals. I got into high school and I met Roje Lewis. He would make tapes and let people around school listen to them. Everybody thought that he was a good rapper and praised him for his talent. Roje and I got tight, we would go to parties together among other things. I asked him if I could make a tape of my own. He said that it was alright with him.
3. Back then I had never written a rap down on paper. I made a song about a girl who I grew up with, I thought that she was fast. I wrote about how I warned her about the path she was going down. She didn't want to listen, so she turned to selling her body for money, and her life got all messed up. We let people around school listen to it, they said that they liked it. That encouraged me so much, I started writing almost everyday.
4. I have a friend named Darius Boone, who had been rapping for a long time as well. Roje went off to college so Darius and I hooked up and created a rap group called "Entrepremafiosis." We did a few demo tapes. We would better our skills by writing everyday. He became a brother to me. We would go to studios & audition's together.
5. All of this happend between 1991 and 1996. He moved to L.A. to attend college. We did a few more demo's by mail, he would send me a tape to record a song and vis-`a-vis. I started recording solo, until he returned.
6. I was introduced to Chris Reynolds (R.I.P.), aka Scarface aka, Savacion, in 1997. He had been doing basically the same thing I had been doing. He had a few demo's, I saw that he was serious, so we hooked up and created "Skitzofrantic." We put out a album in 2004, self titled "Skitzofrantic." We have doon shows all through California and one in Louisiana.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your dream alive.
• Keep a Book of Rhymes so that you can see your progress.
• Find a way to get compensated for your talent.
• Don't get caught up in the Hype, the Music industry is a business, not just a bunch of flashing lights. People are in it for the money.