Blowin Up

Download or read book Blowin' Up written by Jooyoung Lee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-03-23 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Dre. Snoop Dogg. Ice Cube. Some of the biggest stars in hip hop made their careers in Los Angeles. And today there is a new generation of young, mostly black, men busting out rhymes and hoping to one day find themselves “blowin’ up”—getting signed to a record label and becoming famous. Many of these aspiring rappers get their start in Leimart Park, home to the legendary hip hop open-mic workshop Project Blowed. In Blowin’ Up, Jooyoung Lee takes us deep inside Project Blowed and the surrounding music industry, offering an unparalleled look at hip hop in the making. While most books on rap are written from the perspective of listeners and the market, Blowin’ Up looks specifically at the creative side of rappers. As Lee shows, learning how to rap involves a great deal of discipline, and it takes practice to acquire the necessary skills to put on a good show. Along with Lee—who is himself a pop-locker—we watch as the rappers at Project Blowed learn the basics, from how to hold a microphone to how to control their breath amid all those words. And we meet rappers like E. Crimsin, Nocando, VerBS, and Flawliss as they freestyle and battle with each other. For the men at Project Blowed, hip hop offers a creative alternative to the gang lifestyle, substituting verbal competition for physical violence, and provides an outlet for setting goals and working toward them. Engagingly descriptive and chock-full of entertaining personalities and real-life vignettes, Blowin’ Up not only delivers a behind-the-scenes view of the underground world of hip hop, but also makes a strong case for supporting the creative aspirations of young, urban, black men, who are often growing up in the shadow of gang violence and dead-end jobs.

Download or read book Blowin' Up A Storm written by Ninie Hammon and published by Sterling & Stone LLC. This book was released on 2022-02-21 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family loyalties, deadly feuds, and international drug wars are brought to life in Ninie Hammon’s new intergenerational tale inspired by the story of the Cornbread Mafia in rural Kentucky. Nobody knows what started the feud between the Hannackers and the McCluskys, but they’ve been enemies for generations. Now that the cash crop of choice for both is marijuana, the stakes have risen – and Riley Hannacker joins other Vietnam vets from Callison County to form a marijuana-growing co-op called the Cornbread Mafia. But Jackson McClusky harbors a dark secret from the war. It was he, and not the Cong, who fired that rocket into a bunker, killing and maiming his buddies. When Riley begins to remember what happened, Jackson sets out to kill them all. It’s not just Jackson plotting their deaths. They outsmarted Kentucky State Police Detective Booth Graham — now he is out for blood. And a competing Colombian drug cartel is sending a hit squad to wipe out the whole Cornbread Mafia in a hail of gunfire. Will the death plots by the McCluskys and the law succeed? Can they survive the cartel’s attack? And can they pull off an elaborate ruse to prevent future bloodshed by convincing all the South Americans that a handful of former soldiers is really an army of ruthless, blood-thirsty hillbillies? Will the other drug cartels buy the hoax? Will they believe the Cornbread Mafia really is the meanest dog in the junkyard? Blowin’ Up A Storm is the second book in Ninie Hammon’s new Cornbread Mafia series, a fictional story inspired by the real Cornbread Mafia that sprang up in picturesque Marion County, Kentucky, and grew into the largest illegal marijuana-growing operation in U.S. history.

Download or read book Blowin' Up written by Jooyoung Lee and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-03-22 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What many readers have wished for is now reality: a richly descriptive ethnography of street rappers. Blowing up refers to rappers dream of becoming rich and famous, or, at the least, successful as recording artists. Jooyoung Lee adds a shape to his story of Flawliis, VerBS, E. Crimsin, Psychosiz, and Tick-a-Lott: how do young black men from the inner city navigate their twenties? Blowin Up is a vibrant look at the young-adult stage of people who grow up in the shadow of gangs, dead-end jobs, and a glittering entertainment industry (the setting is Los Angeles). No other account of ghetto youth affords us this particular angle of vision. Lee discovers that in South Central L.A., rap can create bridges that bring young men together with peers from different neighborhoods (underscoring the importance of a healthy alternative to gangs). A rapper s underground artistic career is rooted in battle skills and crowd appeal, and, to boot, is meritocratic (whereas mainstream career success is based on branding, timing, funding, networks, and gimmicks). Rapping is an embodied artit takes much practice to learn, and requires body skills in dance, stance, and voice. Lee homes in on the skills and personalities of individual rappers, but he also illuminates the complex hip-hop scene around which these young men orbit, giving us detailed understandings of how young men navigate the intricate, tightly-wound world of tragedy and opportunity in the city. Lee balances the prospect of risk and existential uncertainty for youth entering a young adult life-stage with the hope for a big break in forging an entertainment career. In the end, Lee shows us how the arts can shape the lives of at-risk youth."

Download or read book Street Talk written by Randy Kearse and published by Randy Kearse. This book was released on 2013-09-11 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Street Talk: Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop & Urban Slanguage is the most authentic slang language lexicon that interprets the hip-hop and urban slang dialect. Over 10,000+ enteries, you will find the word, term or metaphor followed by information from it's origin to contextual examples. Randy "Mo Betta" Kearse proves that he has his finger on hip-hop urban street culture with the Street Talk's 700+ pages, 10,000+ entries. This unique dictionary simplifies the complex hip-hop slang vernacular. What makes this dictionary so unique is, though gritty, it doesn't have entries that disrespect woman by referring to them as &itches nor does it have entries that include the N-word. Randy Kearse should be comended for the job he has done. Street Talk documents the intricate way that people communicate throughtout the hip-hop and urban culture. Street Talk should be called Webster's cool cousin.

Download or read book Pick-me-up written by and published by . This book was released on 1891 with total page 1296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Delia Suits Up written by Amanda Aksel and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A hilarious, laugh-out-loud, thoroughly entertaining story.”—Helena Hunting, New York Times bestselling author She has one day to break all the rules. Delia Reese takes the financial world by storm in this breakout novel that’s Freaky Friday meets She’s the Man. Just once, Delia Reese wants to be the one calling the shots—not the one waiting to be called. Despite her stellar resume, hiring managers at the big banks won’t give her a chance. Following yet another failed interview, Delia commiserates with her roommates and drunkenly finds herself wishing she had the advantages that come with being a man. If society wasn't locked into gender roles, she'd be climbing the corporate ladder in designer heels with no apologies. By morning, her mirror reflects a surprising makeover. Now that the world sees her as a man, Delia’s determined to double down on society’s double standards. With a smart suit and powerfully pink necktie, she hits New York's financial district with a big gamble in mind.

Download or read book Longman's Magazine written by and published by . This book was released on 1892 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: