Pop-A-Lot

                                  A descriptive look at up and coming rapper "Pop-A-Lot".

The hip hop music artist I’m about to introduce you to is a 28 year old amazing underrated rapper signed to “Trap house digital” ( check out http://www.traphousedigital.com/  andhttp://www.youtube.com/user/TrapHouseDigitalTV) “Robert Hamilton” AKA “Pop-A-Lot”. He was born and raised in Brooklyn NY, went to high school in Miami and currently resides in Virginia. Robert got his stage name “Pop-A-Lot” from a close personal friend of his who is no longer with us. “I was always Pop for the life I would bring to our lil hood shows and Parties and it transitioned with the Bigger shows and the Music. One year we were in ATL for birthday bash and he just looked to me and asked " You ready to Go In Pop A Lot? “ And the rest is history.  #RIP Self.”

Pop-A-Lot started rapping when he was in 5th grade. “I been Rapping since I remember but if I had to say a time I would have to say 5th grade, I saw an older cousin doing it and thought that I can probably do that (LOL).” But he started really getting in to it in 2009. “2009 is really when I started puttin on with the Mix tapes and Shows”. When asked about his childhood Pop-A-Lot said, “Really everybody that I grew up with is either Dead or in Jail for A long time the College Graduates are few and Far between so that just gives you a certain mind state that the world is against you so it’s like you go hard to fight that. Music has always been an outlet to release that and explain that story, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, well a "Song" is worth a Million.” Not only does Pop-A-Lot rap but he also helps co-direct most of his videos and is also working on a documentary about his brothers entitled “Everything the game”

Lots of people inspire Pop-A-Lot’s music, including his brothers “Grandson and "Hollywood Mickey” who unfortunately got tied up in the streets.  (For more on their story see this link http://www.wvec.com/my-city/hampton/26-charged-with-operating-drug-trafficking-ring-on-the-Peninsula-197823981.html) He says “so now I do it for them and anybody that don't have the freedom to do it and ALL the HAVE NOT'S anybody struggling really. To pay bills, Rent, Looking for A Job all that”. His favorite rappers also inspired him. “Scarface, growing up Biggie and Pac the Usual’s ( LOL)”.In his career so far he has worked with a number of big artists such as “Red Café” (who is one of my favs) , "Gucci Mane" and "Fat Trel". On an upcoming project he is also working with 19 year old music producer “Metro boom” who is the producer behind futures “Honest”.

When asked what his future goals  with his music are and what artists he would like to work with, Pop-A-Lot said, “Probably F. Santana, LiL Durk and em, Yo Gotti and anybody really that tell the streets side of the story...(all some of my favorites!) and I want to Really Try to stay Independent as long as I can, Continue to make Good Music and do all that I can do to show my Fans and anybody that supported me at any point in any way that I appreciate them.”

I find a lot of artists get a bad rap with their because we don’t really get to know them and their view on life, so I asked him what he would want people to know about him, and he said, “I’m The # 1 dad in the world (LOL) and I would not be anything without God who made me, the people that are behind me and the Fans that support me.” He also has some amazing words of advice for others trying to make it in the rap game, “Make sure thats what you wanna do because its A full time hustle, Get good ppl in your corner and Go Hard and watch the Progress, Its out here to get no matter what you want, or want to be. A Lawyer, Doctor or President anything in life is possible if you work hard enough for it.” Wise words from a great artist! And last but not least his beautiful message for me! (J)

“I wanna give a special S/O to you to for what you have done and all you do for ya boy, see you on Top....”  If you haven’t already, please check out his music and support him! 

Thanks for reading!

~RabBit

Follow him on twitter:  https://twitter.com/Pop_A_Lot

Follow him on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.hamilton.5688

Follow his Instagram: http://instagram.com/pyrexpop (PS. he’s got really funny pics!)

MTV artist page: http://www.mtv.com/artists/pop-a-lot/

For his music:

Check out his Vevo Channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/PopALotVEVO

Check out his iTunes Page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/pop-a-lot/id286247507

And Check out his past work:

·          http://indy.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/20784/popalot-notorious-pop.html

·          http://indy.livemixtapes.com/artists/Pop-a-lot

Macaroni

       A descriptive look at Unsigned Chicago rapper Dante A martin AKA Macaroni and his music.

                             

I’d like to introduce you to one of my new favorite unsigned rappers from the Chi-Town Mr. Dante A. Martin! AKA “Macaroni”, Dante is a 34 year old father of two from Chicago Illinois or as he and many others call it Drillinois. (as to mention the type of music)  He was born and raised in the Cabrini Green row housing projects. His favorite rapper is Tupac Shakur and he has been free styling since he was 9 years old.  Growing up in the projects helped motivate him and has made his music what it is today; “to come from nothing and become something motivates me to keep grinding and climbing until I reach the top.” A lot of his inspiration comes from people in the music industry like Kanye West because Kanye is also from Chicago and rose up to accomplish great success. One of my favorite questions to ask the artists is how they got their stage name/ nick name and Donte’s story is one of my favorites! Dante’s uncle gave him the nick name “Macaroni”. “My middle name is Alchino, when I was young my uncle told me every time he took me out woman gave him attention because of me, so he started calling me Alscony macaroni.”

So far Dante has worked with some big names such as Pokie who is a cameraman for “Blind Folks Vision” (For more about Blind folks vision check out blindfolksvision.com) and when asked who he would like to work with he said “would love to work with T.I. because I feel my hustle has always been grand” and Dante’s goals for the future of his family and music are; “To go platinum and put my team and family in a different situation regarding success.”  Not only does Dante rap, but he also produces, ghost writes and is a very active father in his children’s life. He is dedicated to what he believes in and a big team player always focused and loves to help others reach their dreams and goals. When asked what his advice he’d like to give up and coming rappers he said: “Be yourself, don't hold back, being unique is classic, never try to fit in when you're born to stand out and read allot, upgrading your vocabulary can set trends and make serious statements.”

Dante is a smart, positive person that has risen from a negative situation, which makes for great flow and emotion in his lyrics. Please check his music out and show some love and support!

Follow him on twitter: @chino_colione

Follow him on Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/showtime2402

Listen on YouTube: (Type in moneybag swag for videos.) 

Thanks for reading!

~~RabBit

My bestfriend

Dedication: Most of you who follow my writing know that I normally write about rap and hip hop, but today I am writing for my best friend Kayla for her 25th birthday.  This is the story about what she’s done for me and why she is such an amazing person.

Have you ever felt hopeless, lost, trapped in a relationship? I Did. I was in a toxic relationship for four years with a crack addicted. We met when I was 16 and he was 25. I spent my teenage years up to that point drinking, partying, doing and selling drugs. I left home at 16 to be in this life. When I fell for him we moved to a city about 45 minutes away from my home town. I knew no one except his family. I took this move as a fresh start to grow up and become an adult in a positive way and we agreed no more drugs. Shortly after this I realised he was an addict. He continued to do drugs behind my back and spend our money. I’m embarrassed to say this but I think it helps explain my story a bit more. I was jealous of him when he came home high. He got to be care free and oblivious to life like a teenager normal is and me (the teenager) was at home being an adult dealing with real life, working, cooking cleaning and paying bills. I did grow up because of this but in a negative way not in a positive way. Too quickly, the rest of my childhood was taken from me. The drugs turned him in to a horrible person. He was a very suspicious and paranoid of everything I did and said. My whole life revolved around him weather I wanted it to or not. I couldn’t have certain people on my facebook. If I got a message from an old high school male friend and I had never even written back I was in trouble. If I didn’t answer text messages or phone calls right away I was called a cheater and nasty names. I couldn’t say what I wanted to, I couldn’t dress how I wanted to. If I tried to become friends with someone he would use his drug problem to guilt me in to not spending time with them. If a man looked at me while we were in the mall he would squeeze my hand as hard as he could. Any time man or woman physically touched me in any way (hug hand on shoulder anything) I was in trouble, even if it was his own family members. Now don’t get me wrong, I never once sat down and took it. If he got mad at me for having a man look at me or something ridiculous I would freak! And we would end up in a fist fight. He is the only person I have ever lifted my hands to ever in my life. I never won of course but I always went down swinging! It’s hard to determine when someone is “Ride or Die worthy” I felt like it was my job to fix him. It was my job to be there and put him first. I felt like “ok this is my life. I just have to deal with it.” But it wasn’t my job. In your relationship it is worth fighting for if you give as much as you get. I tried to leave a few times. He had me so cut off from the outside world I felt trapped. I had nowhere to go, no one to help me. Not even one person I felt comfortable asking for help or felt like they would help me as much as I needed 100%. He would also threaten suicide if I left. Eventually when I was 20 we moved back to my home town. I got a job and one day they were looking for a new employee and I had seen a girl I went to school with (Kayla) on facebook was looking for a job. She got the job and we began to spent time together. I don’t know why but she was the only friend I had ever fought to have when it came to him not approving. Didn’t matter what he said or did about her, in my mind she was not going nowhere! One time she was over after work and he was coming home from work. He was texting me telling me he wanted her gone by the time he got home. I argued with him because I wasn’t going to ask her to leave and not explain why. Inside I had so much anxiety and I was scared what would happen when she left. He came home and hung out in the bedroom. I can’t even really remember what happened to set me off but he said something while she was still there and I flipped. We screamed at each other , she eventually left  when she felt comfortable enough to leave( that she felt like I wasn’t going to be hurt) and later told me she could hear us screaming when she went to her car. We were on the 4th floor of an apartment building in the back and she had parked way up the street. That was one of the worst fights we ever had. He hit me so bad I ended up having to drop to the ground and just kick and kick until he stopped. Of course we ended up having to move as fights like that in an apartment are pretty well herd.

We ended up moving around the exact same time Kayla was moving back in to her parents to help save money to go back to school. TWO WEEKS LATER after we had all moved, me and him had our last fight. My work schedule was very weird because we had a start time but we ended when the work was done never at the same time every day. We got in a fight because he did not believe one day I was actually at work. It finally hit me it wasn’t “ride or die” it was “if you keep riding you’re going to die.” He ended up choking me and pulling my hair so hard I had a lump on the top of my head for two weeks. I called Kayla, packed my stuff and left. For some reason she was the only person in the whole world that I 100% trusted that she would do everything I needed her to do to take care of me. It wasn’t her job I knew that. But she treated it like it was her job. Her and her parents took me in. She didn’t just share her home with me, she shared her room, her bed and all her free time with me. She rarely left me alone. I thank god every day she didn’t because she never gave me a free second to even think about going back to him.  A month after I moved in to her parents’ home, we moved out together into our own place. She sacrificed what she wanted in the future and the whole purpose of moving back in with her parents for me because she knew I needed her and I couldn’t do it without her. That’s not just friendship that is love. I have never felt this loved by anyone in my entire life.  I have never felt like someone would do anything for me until I met her. I have never trusted anyone but her 100%. I have had a lot of people in my life come and go and the “going” has usually ended badly so I do not let people in easily. Her and her daughter are the only two people I trust will be in my life until the day that I die.  I still to this day even though I live so far from her feel like it is me, her and her daughter against the world! We are a team and we always will be and I hope one day we can add to the team and we can both find men that love us as much as we love each other! I love you LA! You are not just my best friend you are my sister. I feel like what we have is how family is supposed to feel so you are my family, My OTF (she knows what it means ;P) I am always here for you!  happy 25th birthday to my La!! Thanks to everyone who reads this, it is a very personal story and I appreciate the support.  She is an amazing person and I wanted everyone to know how lucky I am!

Thanks for reading!

~RabBit

"The Prequel; Stay Patient"

I review Stoley1st and THREE60's EP "The Prequel; Stay Patient"

                                              Stoley1st (left) THREE60 (right)

I am proud to introduce the EP Collaboration of “Stoley1st” and “THREE60”! “The prequel; Stay Patient” It’s made up of five songs.
1.       “Domination”
2.       “We Win”
3.       “Just Peddles”
4.       “Goin Thru it”
5.       ”Intro/Outro”
Now, naturally for me that’s a bit short, when someone’s got great flow I love to listen for hours. BUT! It’s called “The prequel” for a reason! Stoely1st and THREE60 consider this the preview or “Forewarning” of what is to come from these two awesome up and coming rappers and “Stay Patient” pretty much means you’re going to love what they have to offer so your gunna have to be patient! Their time is coming.
So, here is my review on “The Prequel; Stay patient”. I want to start off by mentioning how much I love the little skits THREE60 does throughout the EP! It really brings me back to my day when almost all the rap albums coming out had skits. Like for example Eminem’s “Public Service announcement” or “Ken Kaniff”. It makes the album more fun and entertaining when there is somewhat of a theme in an album and helps tell the story the artist wants to portray. They officially brought it back so other rappers….get on it!  The skits throughout the songs to me represent the struggle of trying to become an artist while everything around you is negative and trying to bring you down. But rising up and conquering anyway! but he does it in a fun entertaining way.
The EP has amazing flow and entertaining lyrics. I love a song that has a great beat and memorable lyrics. One of my favorite lines is from “Domination” from Stoley: “I use to urkel it, now I murder it!” I love this line because it’s so universal. It can be a euphemism for being nerdy and awkward growing up then turning in to “The shit” or it can just be a funny reminder of a classic television character. Either way it makes you laugh and it’s very memorable.
A fun fact about the songs “Domination and “Going Thru it” Stoley1st’s younger sister is the female voice.  Her voice suits these two perfectly, it is soft and smooth like the flow these two put together. Apparently talent runs in the fam!  Another thing I love about these two is there unique voices and flow. They don’t remind me of any other rappers out there. There are a lot of rappers coming up and out and a lot of them have the same tones, beats, and their voices don’t mix well with the beats. These guys kill it every song. They change the tone of their voice to go with the beat which is a real new school type of rhythm but I get such an old school vibe from their songs.
In conclusion, if you are sick of hearing all the same beats, lyrics, and boring voices, check out “The Prequel; Stay Patient”  by Stoley1st and THREE60. You will not regret hearing these guys. They are already going places and have fans all around the world. If you would like to peep the EP yourself here is the link:
https://soundcloud.com/crimson-james/sets/the-prequel-stay-patient
if you like please support,  like and share! And watch for part 2! It’s coming soon!
Thanks For reading!

~RabBit 

Stoley1st

A descriptive look at up and coming Harlem rapper "Stoley1st"

I’m proud to introduce this up and coming American artist from Harlem NY, 23 year old “Stoley1st”. Crimson Chris James AKA Stoley1st, was born in Harlem NY, moved many times and was raised between NY, Florida, and LasVegas. Also currently resides in Las Vegas. He has an awesome outlook on his childhood, moving around and how he feels it affects his music.

 “Living all over kinda got to experience different ways of life, different customs, and people along the way. Hopefully the way I deliver my music people from all over can appreciate it.”

Stoley1st has always liked rap since he could remember.

“ I always liked rap music...I would write lil poems, haiku’s and stuff in 3rd grade but in 6th grade we'd bring verses to school every day and spit em...”

Music was the only consistency he had while growing up and moving place to place. Meeting fellow rapper “THREE60” at 15 years old kept that consistency in his life. THREE60 adopted him as his little brother and in Stoley1st’s own words “he taught me to really rap”.  He considers THREE60 to be the biggest name he has worked with so far and clearly respects him very much.

                                                 THREE60 (left) Stoley1st (Right)

When asked what artist he would most like to work with he mentioned fellow Harlem rapper “Max B” (too check out Max B see here :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_B)  However,  he has many favorite artists such as Andre3000,DMX, Jay-z, Nas, Lauryn Hill, Kanye, Jadakiss, MAX BIGGAVELLI, Playaz circle.

Stoley1st has many other interests as well. He is also a graffiti artist, plays basketball and reps his bro’s clothing line #SMACKFACE T-shirts (Check ‘em out here on Instagram: @freshdinero) As for plans for the future Stoley1st has big ones! When asked what his goals are he said

 “goals for the future....I want to make my wildest dreams come true, definitely got the fam, hopefully have the impact like Michael Jackson, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix.”

When asked what message he would like the world to know he quoted the great Einstein:

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking it’s stupid.” Which I 100% agree with. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and we should always keep that in mind while judging others.

I have recently started listening to Stoley1st and I have to say I really like his stuff. I would say his style is a little bit of everything. It’s nice to see a rapper have variety in a world where most rappers have the same styles, beats and lyrics on all their songs. Stoley1st has songs that make you wanna move such as “Just peddle” to love songs with emotion such as “thank you”. Me being a big lover of new school rap yet have my respect and love for the old school his vibe fits perfectly! Please do me a favor and check him out! And if you like his stuff share and support!

Follow him on twitter: @stoley1st

 Like him on facebook: Stoley1st 

Follow him on Instagram: yung_durty_bastard

Listen to him on Soundcloud: Soundcloud.com/crimson-james

Thanks for reading!

~RabBit

B-Lones

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Why Do We Hate Music?

A written piece on why we shouldn't hate on others love for music.


Why do we hate music? I’ll be more direct.  We all love a certain type of music and usually if an artist doesn’t fit in our category, we hate on them. Why? When I was younger I never herd what music people didn’t like, I knew what type of music they loved and that was a part of them and it helped explain who they were. Now, I Know more about what music people hate over what they love. For example I had a person complain about something I had written that I used Nicki Minaj as an example in. It wasn’t even specifically about Nicki Minaj I was just using her as an example. This person told me every reason why she hated Nicki Minaj and why she didn’t deserve to be in my writing. Why does my love for someone’s music bring out so much hate from some else? To me, this doesn’t make sense. I love rap and hip hop music! It is the highlight of my life getting to talk about it and write about it. I love all different kinds. That includes old school, Hard core, Drilla, even the softer stuff. I love it all! If there is an artist I’m not really a fan of, I just don’t talk about them, but, If I can convince one person to like one of the artists or songs that I rep I am so happy. We need to stop complaining about all the music we hate and start showing extra love for the music we do love. We should not judge a person for their taste in music or explain to them why they shouldn’t like an artist. We should rep the music and artists we love to those people and hope that they will fall in love with it too. Music is a beautiful thing, no matter what type it is. It helps us with our lives and our struggles. Rep the music that gets you through your day, don’t hate on the music that gets others through theirs.  Thanks for reading!
~RabBit

Looking at Lil Durk Positively

A written piece on the rapper "Lil Durk" and the positivity I find in him.

Durk Banks AKA “Lil Durk” Is a rapper from Chicago Illinois. We all know the stereotype of a Chicago rapper: violence, gangs, and drugs. Lil Durk is known for violence in his music and he gets a lot of flak for it. Unfortunately many of these harsh critics hear only the bad in the music; never the good. Lil Durk grew up in the Englewood area of Chicago’s south side. This area is notorious for gangs, violence and drugs. Numerous rappers who grew up in this area commonly rap about these topics; or matters far worse. When compared, Durk’s message is generally more positive.

Recently, a tragedy struck Chicago. Jonylah Watkines, a 6-month-old little girl, was shot 5 times while in her fathers care. All of Chicago, including Durk, was outraged. Durk took to his Twitter to let everyone know how he felt.

“Killing babies goes against every street code”.

“Repost this shit crazy Lil niggaz go around shooting vans up that all look alike….not knowing it’s a baby in there… Lil mfer that thirsty for a name if you really want a name niggaz graduate from high school go to college get a degree make something of yourself make your family proud”.

“….killing babies goes against every street code you Niggaz out here tweaking str8 up for a lol street cred so the guys can call you shooter…ya’ll not savages for shooting a baby you just dumb with no aim #fuckboyz”.

Lil Durk, a father of two, made very clear that this was not ok with him.

If you listen closely to Lil Durk’s music you will hear a lot of positive messages. He has his own sign that he throws up in the air…and no, it is not a gang sign. He calls this gesture his “L’s” (you see him pictured above “throwing up his L’s”). This represents Live, Love and Loyalty. You hear him talk about his L’s in a lot of his songs . Instead of throwing up the infamous middle finger, Lil Durk would say, “L’s up for my haters face!” meaning, “I don’t care about your hatin’ . I’ve got my life, love and loyalty, I don’t need you.”

Another big positive message -and my personal favourite- is “OTF”. Used by Lil Durk and any other GBE rapper, it means “Only the family in my eyes”. OTF is promoting the love for family and putting them first. As Lil Durk is a teenage father (he has a little boy and is expecting a little girl soon), this is a huge milestone for his fans who are teenage fathers. Young teens who are fathers look up to him, instead of running away from their mistakes, begin to take pride in their child(ren) and be part of their lives.

Instead of judging a song by what is on the surface, take the time do some research, especially if you are doing an interviewing. Research the artist and find out who they are and what their music is about. Not all rappers songs and lives are all about violence, gangs and drugs. Many reviews and interviews of Lil Durk profile his music as being violent: they rarely take in to consideration the meaning “his L’s”  or “OTF”. Rappers and singers are writers and poets; their music is an outlet for their emotions. Rappers are also like actors: they have their character to portray and a ‘brand’ to uphold. If a rapper writes a song about shooting someone, it doesn’t mean they would actually do it. A popular example of this is Eminem. His lyrics and content range from upbeat to violent and even shocking. Consider the differences between an artist singing about committing a murder and an author writing a book about a murder?  No one thinks that an author will act out their work, but audiences are always critical of a rapper’s lyrics. Audiences need to understand that rappers have a persona to uphold and their lyrics are not necessarily about their personal beliefs or views on life.

Thanks for reading!  You can get to know Lil’ Durk more by following him on twitter : @lildurk_ and like him on face book!

-RabBit