The King of West Coast Rap

The King of West Coast Rap. Kendrick Lamar, the next legend of rap hes keeping the rap game alive by making songs being produced by Dr. Dre. Section 80 Kendricks first debut album, in my opinion this album was really good. The debut album got nominated for BET Hip Hop Award best mixtape. This mixtape brought a different perspective about rap, it was different from everyone else's music. Kendricks music reminded me of 90s rap, it brought that vibe to me and it made me follow his music more. Good Kid Mad City was his 2nd album, once it released it rose to the top of the charts and by the end of the year he won two awards for this album. I noticed everyone was listening to this album, barbershops would be playing it, my friends would be listening to it, it was outstanding to me how fast this album got popular. Personally I really enjoyed Good Kid Mad City, I wasn't disappointed at all, it was an amazing album. I loved it so much I would listen to the album from start to finish, and would keep replaying the album.

(Good Kid Maad City Album cover)

Kendrick Lamar really changed the rap industry with all the music he's made. I can picture him being the next legend in the west coast rap industry. Dr. Dre all the big hip hop legends passed the crown down to Kendrick Lamar and told him that it was his turn to keep the rap game alive, Kendrick got really emotional and couldn't believe they passed him down the crown of rap.

(West Coast Legends passing the torch down to Kendrick)

J. Cole

J-Cole is a huge inspirational rapper, he's very popular and everyone love's his music. It felt like it was just yesterday when he wasn't that famous, now he's everywhere on social media, and many different areas. J-Cole has became very popular in such short amount of time, I remember the song "Work Out" by J-Cole became really popular and was a radio hit. They played that song more than once throughout the day. His music is really inspiring and touching. One song I really love from J-Cole is "Lost Ones" this song brings chills every time I listen to it. He's always rapping about his life and it's really amazing that he can open up to the public about his personal life. My dream is to attend a J-Cole concert, it seems like a lot of fun because his music is really popular and makes you want to sing along loudly. My friends went to one a few years ago and they said it was the best concert they've ever attended and that it's an amazing experience.

I have full respect for what J Cole brings to his fans. One day I was on twitter and I ran across a tweet about J-Cole, I remember reading that J Cole inspired this girl to continue on with school and not to give up. She then messaged him about her grades asking if he liked them, he said yes keep going, and then he made a promise to her that he'll attend her high school graduation, plus he gifted her some books she loved and also payed for her college tuition. J Cole is a really amazing guy just by watching his interviews and the things he does for his fans it's just really amazing.

Fetty Wap Inspiring Rapper

I have so much respect for Fetty Wap. I watched interviews of him on YouTube and he's such a humble, nice guy. On the interview I watched there was at least 15 fans came to see him. He then pulls out his wad of cash from his pants, and gave everyone in the room one hundred dollar bills. The reason he gave out the cash was that he understood how important his fans really mean to him. He stated that "Sometimes you can't really answer everybody, or take a picture with them. There's certain things you can't do so you may never know who really needed gas money, or anything in general..." Another huge thing he did was he inspired a 10 year old to be himself. From watching the interview they touched in on Jayden the 10 year old boy who wore a prosthetic eye his whole life, and once he saw Fetty Wap rap without an eye it inspired Jayden to remove his because he saw the bravery Fetty Wap had on rapping in front of thousands of fans. Fetty Wap was speechless on how he inspired a boy to be brave enough and remove his prosthetic eye, Fetty Wap then called Jayden over the phone and told him how proud he was of him.

(Left to right: Fetty Wap, and Jayden)

Fetty Wap (2015 Full Interview)

Fetty Wap also released his debut album on September 25, 2015. I listened to the album and in my opinion its a really good album, well produced and great lyrics. Fetty Wap is going to be the next big artist talked about for years.

("Fetty Wap" Album Cover)

The Game, a West Coast Legend.

My all time favorite rap artist will be "The Game". Nothing will ever change that because, I grew up listening to him, and at a young age I thought he was an amazing rap artist. I believe he's the meaning of West Coast Rap, if you listen to his albums, they all have a story behind it. All of his albums are amazingly produced, but a classic album he made was "The Documentary". This album went 2x platinum, produced by Dr. Dre and many other producers, and this is where he began to gain fame. As a kid I didn't really have much sources to listen to music I liked. My father, he knows that The Game is one of my favorite artists. Til this day I remember my dad took me to Best Buy, he then bought me a copy of The Documentary. It brought a big smile to my face, mixed emotions were just going through me. This album has a huge meaning to me because, my father bought me a copy, and I grew up listening to this album multiple times where I began to remember the lyrics being rapped in each track. Every song in the album ties a special memory, from listening to this with my cousin and going on road trips.

(Album cover of "The Documentary")

In the year 2014 I was really stoked to hear that The Game was going to release "The Documentary 2" on January 18, 2015 for the 10 year anniversary of "The Documentary" but he pushed back the release date to October 9, 2015. He pushed the dates a lot because he wanted his 6th solo album to be the best album he's ever released. The Game also mentioned that the album will be a double disc so a total of 38 tracks on "The Documentary 2". I am really excited for this album to release, i'm going to pre-order this album, and also buy the 2nd disc to the album. Everyone like my friends and cousins are really excited for this album to release.

(Album cover of "The Documentary 2")

Logic the Young Sinatra

Logic, is the most underrated rapper. Back in 2012 I was introduced to logic by my cousin. We were heading to the mall and he played a song that really caught my attention. That song was "5 Am" after listening to the song, he had an amazing flow, with heavy bass, sick beats, amazing lyrics, and he was really different from the rappers I've been listening to. That night after the mall, I went to my room, turned on my computer then started downloading every single song I can possibly find from Logic. I started memorizing his lyrics on songs and tried rapping along with it. A lot of different emotions were going through me like it gave me the chills, it got me hyped, it just made me happy for some reason. I had to introduce Logic to some of my friends because his style of music was really different from all of these other artists that have been making music. I noticed that every single song I've listened to has a different style and attitude. In my opinion his style of rap reminds me of, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Biggie, and few other rappers.

I'm really excited that Logic will be releasing an album its called "The Incredible True Story" it'll be releasing in Fall of 2015. I'm really looking forward to the music hes going to have on the album, hopefully after releasing this album he gains more fame and hopefully people notice the style of rap he puts out. I'll list of few songs that I personally like below.

(Artwork of "The Incredible True Story")

Few Personal Favorites

Logic - 5am

Logic - Inception

Logic - Feel Good

Logic - Let Me Go

Logic - Roll Call

Phora

When I listen to rap music I just don't listen to mainstream artists, I also like listening to underground rappers that don't have a lot of fame. One of those underground rappers I listen to is "Phora" a lot of people may or may not know him. I was introduced to him when I was barely entering my freshmen year at Central Valley in 2011. I came across Phora on Facebook, someone one had shared his music video it was "Gotta move on." and it grabbed my attention. After clicking the link I was impressed how the beat, video, and lyrics were produced. I was pretty amazed how his lyrics were just real and straight forward, from listening to the song It gave me the chills because his attitude and style of rapping made the song pop out. Some people dislike him due to the lyrics he writes, most of his songs are about reality, and how he grew up as a child from struggling, joining in gangs, and getting into trouble. He found his way from staying out of trouble, and that's from making music. His songs really touch me depending in what mood i'm in. A song that really touches me is "Before It's Over" the lyrics on that song are just mind blowing in my opinion, and I can relate to the lyrics in a way.

A few personal favorites (no particular order)
Phora - My Story

Phora - Before It's Over

Phora - What It's Like

Phora - Hope

Phora - Girl

Phora - The Old Days

Till this day I still listen to Phora, his music is something else to me. He's different from all the other mainstream rappers, a lot of people find his music really helpful. On his Instagram page I like to read in on the comments, it's amazing how a lot people say his music helps them keep moving forward in life, if they're ever going through some hardships, they just play a song and it helps them get through their day or whatever the case is. I hope he gets known by huge record labels, because he really is something else when it comes to making music.

GO:OD AM

I'm impressed with Mac Miller. I found out on Sunday September 13, 2015 he streamed his 3rd new studio album "GO:OD AM" over the internet. Due to being in a dark period of time of using drugs, and not recording any new music for a few years, I'm satisfied with the music that's on his new album. Over the years listening to his albums, and mix tapes, he's really changed for the better. I remember listening to his album "Watching Movies with the Sound Off" the music on that album was really personal and dark. He had a lot of things going on in 2013, from losing one of his good friends. In my opinion i'm not disappointed with how he managed his albums, and the music hes produced on the albums or mix tapes. Not all artists can rap about the same thing, they're human and sometimes they have to change things up for them to progress.

I pre ordered his album and i'm really happy that i invested my money in his album. I wonder how much he'll sell in the first week once the album releases on September 18. Hopefully people will support his new album due to the new way hes rapping and writing his lyrics. Everyone misses the old mac miller, but hes came a long way to be in the position hes in right now. I'm proud on how far he's came. From first listening to him in Jr High he's had varieties of emotions on his albums.

Three K.I.D.S in Jr High

Take me back to Jr High School where everything was less stressful. In 2009, for a pre-teen I made a huge choice in life. After 6^th grade I decided to move to Blaker Kinser Jr High School, meanwhile all my friends ended up going to Mae Hensley. After attending my first day of Jr High, I thought it was the worst mistake I’ve made in life, due to the fact that I was the shy kid at school, it was really difficult for me to make new friends. After spending my first week of Jr High alone, it was a miserable feeling to experience. In my 8^th period math class, due to this logo on my binder, my life changed.

Due to the power of music, I made some really good friends. Alexis, Brandyn, and I are friends till this day and it’s pretty amazing. This logo is a record label found and owned by Jayceon Taylor also known by his stage name “The Game”. I thought it was pretty funny how Alexis noticed the logo on my binder and he asked me “you like the game too!?” and I’m like “yea he’s my favorite rapper”. Ever since then we clicked and it was the three of us Alexis, Brandyn, and myself, every day we hung out at lunch. Brandyn was Alexis’s friend and the three of us got really close. It’s crazy how we shared the same interest in music. Due to them I got introduced to one of my favorite rappers his name is Mac Miller. After listening to this incredible mixtape “K.I.D.S” from Mac Miller, I fell in love with his music.

Till this day the three of us are always updated with Mac Millers mixtapes, and his albums. If you think about it, it’s pretty crazy how much power there is in music. I don’t regret moving to a different Jr High School, losing all my old friends, and making new ones. I made some really amazing friends due to having similar interest in music. Jr High was the best experiences in my life I really wish I can go back and relive it.

Growing Up around Rap Music

Growing up around rap music, I got to say it's an amazing genre. I remember when I was about 5 or 6 years old first time I listened to various artists like Ice Cube, Eminem, Dr. Dre, The Game, Tupac, Notorious Big etc. This genre was something else to me. Back in elementary I would always carry my portable Cd player with discs of my favorite music. There are certain tracks that give me the chills by just listening to the lyrics that are being rapped over the beat. Some of these tracks are "Game - Pot Of Gold", "The Game - Game's Pain" and various of other songs. The reason why some songs give me chills, either is I can relate to the song, or just listening to it and how they speak the truth it's just a great feeling to experience. I will always have the love for Rap. Everyday there will always be a song on replay depending what mood you're in.

The first time I got an Mp3 I was the happiest kid on earth. At that time I didn't know how to add music on it because I had no desktop nor internet. The only person I knew that had all of that was my uncle. My uncle ended up teaching me and he introduced me to Limewire, and Frostwire. That's where everyone got there music they liked. I was so amazed on how with one click you can add all of your favorite music, and new music you've never heard. I remember adding all of my favorite rap songs that I can possibly find. I filled my Mp3 up with a bunch of rap songs, and that's when I started to listen carefully of the lyrics being rapped. At a very young age I was amazed, from there I grew lots of love for rap and i respect it because not everyone has the talent to rap. Stay tuned, I'll be posting more about my personal experiences, and on new albums from various artists.