Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"An updated business biography of one of the biggest names in the music business I'm not a businessman-I'm a business, man. --Jay-Z Some people think Jay-Z is just another rapper. Others see him as just another celebrity/mega-star. The reality is, no matter what you think Jay-Z is, he first and foremost a business. And as much as Martha Stewart or Oprah, he has turned himself into a lifestyle. You can wake up to the local radio station playing Jay-Z's...
Publisher
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Pub. Date
[2016]
Language
English
Formats
Description
In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking viewers back to where it all began, the film tells the true story of how these cultural rebels-armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent-stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world's...
4) Decoded
Author
Pub. Date
2010
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time.
Praise for Decoded
“Compelling . . . provocative, evocative . . . Part autobiography, part lavishly illustrated commentary on the author’s own work, Decoded gives the reader a harrowing...
Praise for Decoded
“Compelling . . . provocative, evocative . . . Part autobiography, part lavishly illustrated commentary on the author’s own work, Decoded gives the reader a harrowing...
5) Pharrell
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
In this book, you'll learn about Pharrell's many talents: producer, songwriter, singer, actor, fashion designer, and more.
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971–1996) was an American rap artist, actor, and social activist. More than seventy-five million of his albums have sold worldwide, making him one of the bestselling music artists in the world. Rolling Stone magazine named him the 86th Greatest Artist of All Time. Shakur also gained notoriety for his conflicts with the law and time spent in prison. Most of Tupac's songs are about growing up amid violence and hardship in ghettos,...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
From one of the most lyrically gifted, socially conscious rappers of the past twenty years, Vibrate Higher is a firsthand account of hip-hop as a political force. Before Talib Kweli became a world-renowned hip hop artist, he was a Brooklyn kid who liked to cut class, spit rhymes, and wander the streets of Greenwich Village with a motley crew of artists, rappers, and DJs who found hip hop more inspiring than their textbooks (much to the chagrin of...
9) Jay-Z
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Describes Jay-Z's journey from a Brooklyn housing project to an award winning musician, successful business owner, husband and father.
10) Will
Author
Language
English
Description
Will Smith's transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale-- but it's only half the story. His whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world-- only they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they had not signed up for. Here he shares his journey of self-knowledge, telling how he mastered...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Working at Miami's Queen of Diamonds gentleman's club to support herself until turning twenty-one, Desirae discovers her talent for rap music and becomes famous seemingly overnight, before her success is threatened by a rival newcomer and a friend's brutal murder.
Kicked out of her parents' home in Little Havana on her eighteenth birthday, Desirae Fernandez get an opportunity to make fast money at Miami's Queen of Diamonds gentlemen's club. She dives...
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 4 - AR Pts: 11
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"Three Brooklyn teens [..] plot to turn their murdered friend into a major rap star by pretending he's still alive. Brooklyn, 1998. Biggie Smalls was right: Things done changed. But that doesn't mean that Quadir and Jarrell are cool letting their best friend Steph's music lie forgotten under his bed after he's murdered -- not when his rhymes could turn any Bed Stuy corner into a party. With the help of Steph's younger sister Jasmine, they come up...
Author
Publisher
Crown
Pub. Date
[2023]
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
"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...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Have you ever wanted something so bad you was willing to crawl over bodies to get it? I mean, fiend for it so hard it didn't matter who you hurt, how low you had to scrape, it was gonna be yours? That's what music and balling did for me. They were the fundamentals behind my rise … and the perpetrators of my fall. They called me Harlem's black prince. A rising star who carried street dreams on his back. But the streets, ya know. They got a way of...
Publisher
A & E Television Networks
Pub. Date
[2022]
Language
English
Description
The eight-part docuseries delves into the compelling, inspiring stories of some of hip-hop's most celebrated and groundbreaking artists in their own words. Narrated by renowned rapper Nas and featuring never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with family, friends, and collaborators, the hour-long episodes chronicle the rise of eight culture-defining hip-hop legends across multiple generations and styles, including Busta Rhymes, Eve, Fat Joe,...
16) Street rap
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
"For Reece and Qwess, being rap superstars was the dream, but in real life nothing moved without money. So they formed the Crescent Crew, and outfit of young, ruthless hustlers that locked the Southern drug trade in a stranglehold. They're at the height of their power when Qwess is offered a record deal from a major label. He accepts and makes plans for his whole crew to go legit, but Reece enjoys his position as king of the streets and has no desire...
Author
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Pub. Date
2017
Language
English
Description
"Born in rural Alabama, Radric Davis became Gucci Mane in East Atlanta... [This book] us to his roots in Alabama, the streets of East Atlanta, the trap house and the studio where he found his voice as a peerless rapper. He reflects on his inimitable career and in the process confronts his dark past--the murder charge, years behind bars, addiction, career highs and lows--the making of the Trap God." -- Jacket.
18) OutKast
Author
Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 7.6 - AR Pts: 1
Language
English
Formats
Description
Outkast burst upon the national scene with their joyous, giddy, and insanely infections single "Hey Ya!" in 2003. Yet Outkast's duo of Andre 3000 and Big Boi had been recording their unique and inimitable brand of hip-hop, spiced with tantalizing dashes of funk, soul, rock, pop, jazz, blues, and electronic music since 1992. In fact, the album from which "Hey Ya!" was drawn was Outkast's fifth full-length record. The video for the song, as well as...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Hailed by the New Yorker as “the eminence grise behind half of what is great in the Top Forty these days,” world-renowned producer Timbaland has been a fixture on the pop charts, with more top-ten hits than Elvis or the Beatles. An artist whose fans are multi-racial and multi-generational, Timbaland works with the hottest artists, from Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott to Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Madonna, and his childhood friend, Pharrell...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
Professional bodyguard D Hunter takes a gig protecting rapper Asya Roc at an underground fight club in poverty-stricken Brownsville, Brooklyn. Unknown to D, the rapper has arranged to purchase illegal guns at the event. An acquaintance of D from the streets named Ice turns out to be the courier. During the exchange a robbery is attempted and a bloody shoot-out ensues. D finds himself involved in multiple mysteries. Who were the gunmen? Why were they...