Cole Season

Born Jan.28 1985,

 in Frankfurt, Germany, 

Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper 

who raps a lot about what is going on around him

and how it has helped him mold into who he has become.

Through each song of J.Cole, 

a story is told. 

Just like any other rapper, 

J.Cole began as a mixtape artist 

and within 4 years, starting in 2007,

dropped 4 of them:

The Come Up, The Warm Up, and Friday Night Lights.

A personal favorite of mines is The Warm Up.

Grown Simba and Lights Please are two of my favorite songs on this mixtape.

Grown Simba speaks for itself.

Cole goes on to explain how he will raise to his glory one day 

just as Simba rose to his glory after the fall of Mufusa.

Continuing repeating,

"I'm the young Simba, couldn't wait to be the King", 

meaning he is hunger to become signed and to become a king of the rap empire soon.

In 2010, Cole was featured on XXL Freshmen list, 

which is a big deal for an upcoming rapper like Cole.

Being on the Freshmen list meant that you were on the rise to your glory 

and others should probably look out for you.

Being the first to sign to Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation,

J.Cole was on the road to success.

Far From Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, 

born March 13.1972,

also well known as 

Common,

is a rapper from Southside Chicago

but is far from the common sound of the Southside.

Common began his rapping career in highschool 

and formed a trio named C.D.R.

This trio opened for huge stars at the time such as 

NWA and Big Daddy Kane.

Common continued higher education at Florida A&M University 

but little did he know that it would come to a halt 

and a huge oppurtunity was coming his way.

Relativity Records offered him a contratct in 1991.

Common took on the name of Common Sense at first 

and soon released a single named 

Take It EZ the next year. 

Within the next two years,

Common was able to release two more albums

and changed his name to Common 

due to a reggae band suing him over having the same name.

The very well known song,

I Used To Love H.E.R put Common on the map.

This song was foreshadowing the hip hop to come

and criticizes gangsta rap to an extent. 

He personifies hip-hop 

and describes how much she has changed.

In 1997,

One Day It'll All Make 'Sense dropped 

and thus many noticed Common's way of conscious rapping.

Signing to MCA in early 2000's,

Common released a few more albums;

The 6th Sense, The Movement, and Electric Circus

Common has been very popular for being able to keep his very conscious voice relevant. 

WHY COMMON?

Unlike many artist now a days, Common is able to still rap about what should be

important and relevant in our lives as teenagers or even adults. 

Common is a man of wisdom and does not rap about guns, girls, and drugs,

he raps about love, life, and issues that we do not realize anymore. 

Common is far far from an average rapper.

Take a look and listen to one of my fav. songs from Common:

The Light

Long Live La Flame

Jacques Webster,

also known as 

Travis $cott,

is an American hip hop producer/ recording artist,

raised in Houston, Texas. 

 

Travis has always been surrounded by musicians in his family

and at the age of 16 began to produce beats.

With Travis' first musical relationship being with Chris Holloway

creating the duo named:

The Graduates.

Together they were able to drop two EPs,

Buddy Rich & Crusin USA in 2011.

Soon after the duo broke up & Travis started his solo journey.

Although Travis dropped out of college, 

he had a bright vision of his future. 

He moved out to LA and began working with

Mike Waxx, and began to produce and release music once again. 

TI heard Travis' song and reached out to have him come down to the studio

and sooner than he thought, 

Travis' road to success began.

Acquiring Kanye West's engineers number while down in the studio with TI,

Travis contacted him and flew out to NY to meet and have Kanye listen to his music. 

Flight after flight, little did Travis' mom know that she was paying for plane tickets instead of college. 

Finally in NY, 

Kanye knew he had discovered a diamond in the rough and from there, 

Travis rose to glory.

Now under the wing of Kanye West, 

Kanye helped Travis produce Travis' debut project:

Owl Pharaoh.

Travis then helped produce G.O.O.D Music's debut compliaton album:

Cruel Summer.

Signing to Kanye's music label,

GOOD Music, 

Travis Scott has been a blessing to the production ever since.

In 2014, Days Before Rodeo recently was released.

WHY TRAVIS $COTT?

Travis Scott's favorite artist is Kid Cudi, so therefore resembles a similar feel to his music. 

He also helped produce alot of Kanye West's music which is why alot of 

Travis' music itself sounds similar to Kanye's.

If you are a fan of Kanye West and Kid Cudi, 

then it wouldn't hurt to listen to Travis Scott as well.

Although many aren't a fan of the overly popular "trap" music,

Travis Scott brings a softer kind of trap to the table.

RECOMMEND: Mamacita, SkyFall ft. Young Thug, and MIA.

Here's a clip of Travis Scott and fellow friend/producer MetroBoomin 

in the studio producing the creation of

SkyFall.

From the West Side.

For some West Coast vibes,

meet Dom Kennedy.

Dominic Hunn,

from Leimert Park, Cali. 

was born Aug.22.1984

In 2008, Dom Kennedy dropped his first debut mixtape, 

25th Hour,

featuring the radio hit, Watermelon Sundae. 

After this mixtape came Best After Bobby in 2009 and Future Street/Drug Sounds.

Hours after dropping Best After Bobby, 

10,000 downloads occurred putting him on the map with all the rest of the top rappers,

now with Dom Kennedy a popular rap name to underground hiphop.

Within the next 3 years, Dom K. dropped two more mixtapes,

The Yellow Album and Young Nation. 

OPM, Other People's Money, was a record label created by Dom. himself 

and with this label, dropped two more mixtapes,

From the Westside With Love II & Get Home Safely. 

WHY DOM KENNEDY?

Well for one, Dom Kennedy is one of the west coast rappers that I do enjoy listening to because he brings a laid back kind of style of rapping to the table. I first began to listen to him when I heard Graduate on From the Westside With Love II and fell in love with the kick back beat. Nothing too hard or too soft, it was perfect. Talking about just hanging out with the homies on a nice night out, something anyone could relate to. He resembles someone like Nipsey Hussle. Even the song Watermelon Sundae just is something different from what you would hear today. Maybe it's me, but when it comes to East v. West, its very distinct and you can tell the rappers apart. See for yourself, a great example: TuPac v. Biggie.

Cleveland is The Reason

Kid Cudi,

also known as 

Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi,

born January 30 1984

grew up in the town of Cleveland, Ohio.

Although, he is originally from Cleveland, 

he is a Brooklyn-based rapper. 

Cudi started off as an actor and it wasn't until he moved out to Brooklyn,

that his career soon began to fall together. 

Cudi became aaffiliated with Fool's Gold 

and soon dropped his first mixtape called A Kid Named Cudi in 2008.

With this mix tape now putting Kid Cudi on the map, 

record executive, producer- rapper

 Kanye West, 

signed Kid Cudi to the record label GOOD Music. 

In late 2008, "Day n' Nite" became a hit around the world

with plenty of artist and dj's remixing it.

 He became a musical genius with it debuting

at #3 on the Billboard's Hot 100. 

Soon after, he was recruited for his vocals in the fairly famous Kanye West album: 

808's and Heartbreak. 

Two songs on this album were actually written by Cudi himself, which are:

Paranoid and Heartless.

Continuing on this amazing streak,

 he then dropped a debut album during the summer of 2009 named: 

Man on the Moon: The End of the Day. 

A continuation of the album was dropped a year later in 2010, named

Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager.

By 2012, he decided to take a different route 

and

 try a rock and roll themed album so in 2012, 

WZRD was dropped. 

2013 was the arrival of the next album:

Indicud

Then finally surprising us all,

in 2014 

Satelitle Flight: The Return of Mother Moon was released. 

In 2013, however, 

Kid Cudi decided he would depart from his music label G.O.O.D music

 and 

go solo dolo.

His response to Kanye West's reaction was:

"I've never fully been signed to GOOD music

We still crew, whether its GOOD music or not, thats my dog."

Here's one of Cudi's most beloved songs:

Pursuit of Happiness

WHY KID CUDI?

Kid Cudi brings me back to the bittersweet days of middle school and reminds me of when I first became interested in rap. I wasn't much of a hip hop fan until I heard Kid Cudi and it was like a gateway to all the rest of my fav. artist such as Jay-Z, Kanye, Travis Scott, and more. Regardless of where I am or where I go, Kid Cudi will always make me feel at home and back to the better days. 

Brooklyn's Finest

Shawn Corey Carter

 better known as Jay Z, 

born Dec.4.1969,
 grew up in the concrete jungles of Brooklyn,New York. 

Jay Z was raised by his single mother, Gloria Carter. 

"He was the last of my four children, 
the only one who didn't give me any pain when I gave birth to him, 
and that's how I knew he was a special child" Gloria Carter

Jay Z attended Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn

with his very good friend and well legendary, 

Biggie Smalls.

Although Jay Z fell into  dealing drugs and gun violence very early in his life, 

he ran to rapping as an escape route.

Jay Z's rap career began to flourish when he took in Jaz O as his mentor.

He appeared on MTV 

and soon changed his childhood nickname from "Jazzy" to Jay Z. 

Jay-Z still working his way up the ladder took a large step in 1996 which ultimately begun the greatest of his legacy and signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. 

In 2003, Jay-Z begun his own record label, Def Jams Records and became the president as well as a business man. 

Jay Z has become very famous over the last couple years and throughout his life has become both an idol to many and an amazing rapper as well. 

He is now wedded to his beautiful wife, Beyonce and has one child, named Blue Ivy. 

Here's one of Jay-Z's hits from The Blueprint:

Aint No Love

WHY Jay-Z?

Jay-Z keeps a consistent type of flow through his rapping 

and as well as the old hip hop vibe. Jay-Z is a business himself. 

He started from the concrete jungles of Brooklyn and now he is the president of the record label

Def Jams. 

I think I've always had a love for Jay-Z because of how successful he's become

and from all the interviews I've watched on him,

he is nothing but a man of wisdom.