Xxxtentacion, born in Plantation, Florida in 1998 on 23 January, was a famous rapper.
He died on 18 June 2018.
His real name was Jahsen Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy.
Xxx was raised by his grandmother at the age of six; he had almost killed a man because he abused his mom.
His carreer began on Twitter and Sound Cloud (he had about 300k followers).
He lived his life breaking the law, and this behavior gave him an unmistakable air of authenticity. In 2014 he published his first video but received only negative comments, he didn't give up and began to publish many songs, until in 2015 he published Look At Me and he got a great success.
His music style is a mixture of hip pop and emo.
But on 18 june 2018, at the exit of a bike shop, he got hit by gunshots of weapon fire, he moved to the hospital and a few hours later they announced his death.
We have decided to tell his story because in recent times all media have talked a lot about his death and we have been really impressed about his life's story beacuse it is very difficult an troubled, his story fully represents what rap is and many stories of famous rappers resemble his story, which we would also like to try.
Glossary RAPPER: a person who performs a rap music. UNMISTAKBLE: not able to be mistaken for anything else, very distinctive. PUBLISH: prepare and issue (a book, journal or a piece of music) for public sale. HOSPITAL: an istitution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for sick or injured people. SOUND CLOUD: it is a website that allows musician to collaborate, promote and distribute their music. GUN SHOT: a shot fired from a gun, pistol or a rifle. HIP POP: a style of popular music of American black and hispanic origin, featuring rap with an electronic backing.
We’ve always loved rock music, we can listen to it for hours and hours. But Linkin Park's music left a mark on our hearts. We discovered the band hearing the song “What I’ve Done” from the Minutes to Midnight album and we liked it so much that we started to follow the band and the other songs later published.
This Band can satisfy all kinds of ears, because it's rock influenced by hip hop, alternative rock and electronics. The band was founded in 1996 in Los Angeles by three high school friends, Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon and Brad Delson. They called their band Xero and firstly recorded in Shinoda's bedroom. After recruiting Chester Bennington, they renamed the band Hybrid Theory.
Their first concert was in Los Angeles, after which they got a contract with the Warner Bros Records, but they had to change their name one last time in Linkin Park, and changed their lineup. Their first success was the album Hybrid Theory, that sold over 30 million copies influenced by other groups like Defnotes, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche mode, and other ones.
In 2003 the band began a small tour, the “Lp Underground Tour” reserved only for the fan club members; it started in Milano (23 February) and finished in Los Angeles (25 March). Their lineup in 2017 was: Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Rob Bourdon and Joe Hanh. Linkin Park's logo was initially a square with the letters L and P inside it (the letter P was reversed) but in 2007 the logo was modified to a circle with two triangles in it, indicating in a particular way the initials of the band. The last logo published was an exagon with the triangles inside, indicating the band formed by 6 members. After the death of Bennington, Shinoda posted the same logo, but with the exagon missing a side.
We wanted to leave here a tribute to Chester Bennington, who died in 2017: “You satisfied our ears with your music, now let us remember you continuosly hearing your songs".
GLOSSARY Lineup: members composing a music band Mark: sign, little scratch on something Underground: below the ground level Recruit: to look for and hire new members for a band Influence: to cause an effect on something or someone Found: to form a music band Record: to put sound on a disc or a tape Exagon: a figure having six angles and six sides
In 2011 Nas and Bob Marley’s son, Damian a.k.a. Jr Gong, wrote this fabulous song where there are clear questions about the difference of thought, culture, life style and religion. Questioning the lifestyle of the poor and the rich as well, the singers are sarcastically saying that science is not always right. We think that if this song could be heard in 15 years it would have the same shocking effect. In this video there are two singers sitting on thrones, in the background there are pyramids, animals and some people. All the population meet near the houses and there are two women dancing. They move constantly across a bridge to the desert and the two singers are in a pond with a waterfall behind, in the sky there are stars and the moon. The singer is sitting on the throne and at his right there is the Islamic symbol and at his left there is the Christian one. The two hip hop’s legends describe the ill society using unusual and little considered topics, like the Egyptian culture, clairvoyance, zoo, paparazzi and sacred books’ writers and if you try to imagine the scenery while listening to this song you can do a trip in your mind and take a look at the perversity of the actual world. In this song the masters mix hip hop with classic music and a little bit of reggaeton in one of the most catchy song of all time with American slang and a Hindi refrain.
Close your eyes, good listening and have a good trip!
Some of the smartest dummies Can't read the language of Egyptian mummies An' a fly go a moon And can't find food for the starving tummies Pay no mind to the youths Cause it's not like the future depends on it But save the animals in the zoo Cause the chimpanzee dem a make big money This is how the media pillages On the TV the picture is Savages in villages And the scientists still can't explain the pyramids, huh Evangelists making a living on the videos of ribs of the little kids Stereotyping the image of the images
[RIT]
Huh, we born not knowing, are we born knowing all? We growing wiser, are we just growing tall? Can you read thoughts? can you read palms? Huh, can you predict the future? can you see storms, coming? The Earth was flat if you went too far you would fall off Now the Earth is round if the shape changes again everybody would start laughing The average man can't prove of most of the things that he chooses to speak of […]Can you read signs? can you read stars? Can you make peace? can you fight war? Can you milk cows, even though you drive cars? huh Can you survive, Against All Odds, Now?
[RIT]
Who wrote the Bible? Who wrote the Qur'an? And was it a lightning storm That gave birth to the earth And then dinosaurs were born? damn Who made up words? who made up numbers? And what kind of spell is mankind under? Everything on the planet we preserve and can it […]Like somebody got a doll of me Stickin' needles in my arteries But I can't feel it Sometimes it's like 'pardon me, but I got a real big spirit' I'm fearless.... I'm fearless Don't you try and grab hold of my soul It's like a military soldier since seven years old I held real dead bodies in my arms […]
Glossary A.k.a.: Also know as Average man: the normal and common man Catchy: a nice thing to hear Claim: when you express your right to something Clairvoyance: the ability to predict the future Dummy: a dummy is a type of doll that looks like a person/stupid Fearless: invulnerable to fear on intimidation, without any fear Flat: something straight Pillage: to rob someone Refrain: the repeating part of a song Rib: a bone of the body Root: the part of the plant that’s underground Shape: the form of something Starving: people who have so hungry that they could die Stereotyping: repeating often the same images Storm: a violent weather condition Tummies: the principal organ of digestion Wiser: when you possess knowledge of something
Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in New York , 16 June 1971 and he died in Las Vegas, 13 September 1996. He was a rapper, activist and actor.
Artist of great success, with over 85 million records sold worldwide, he is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time, despite the short musical career and his disappearance occurred in September 1996 in Las Vegas, when he was hit by four bullets fired from a speeding car. His disappearance was followed by another violent death, Notorious B.I.G’s one. These two disappearances have marked a deep grief in rap history.
Tupac released a large amount of albums (many of them are posthumous) which include “All Eyez on Me” in 1996 and his “Greatest Hits” in 1998, both listed among the best-selling albums of all time in the United States of America. Many of his songs were also focused on the difficult life in the ghetto, on racism and social exclusion, corruption institutions and also clashes with other rappers , alcoholism, drug, prostitution and violence between street gangs.
His attitude, both on and off the music, and his idealism have meant that Tupac was, and remained even after the untimely demise, a benchmark for Black America. The famous magazine Rolling Stone placed Tupac at 86th place in its list of Top 100 artists of all time.
In 1994 Tupac wrote a special song: “My life be like”.
It is a very beautiful song, and above all it is the mirror of a different reality that still exists "on the road" and Tupac is a great artist and a great poet “of the road”. The song is very blunt and blends perfectly on the beat on which he sings in his West Coast style. Listening to him and his entire discography is always an exciting experience, because from his deep and meaningful lyrics you can understand what his crime and on-the-road life was.
Despite all the problems he got - such as racism and marginalization - because of the way he grew up but didn’t choose (he was forced to sell drugs to earn his living), the song talks about how much Tupac liked his life.
Lyrics - “My life be like”
My life be like Ooh Ahh
CHORUS:
It's times like these that make me say,
Lord if you see me please come my way.
Leavin bread crumbs for when I stray
Rely on sacrifice and the price you paid
Feel me like a fingertip
(flow fingertip flow fingertip)
Sometimes I fall I slip
Got a heartfelt desire be more like you
Trying not to quench your fire by the things that i do
I'm on an island by my lonesome stranded
Low key and stayin' candid
Reflectin on the things I try my hand at
Search for the equations to persuasions I'm used to
Findin comfort in the zones of closet bones I get loose to
A mountainous fontaine,
Spinnin and monsoonin
Grinnin its high octane
This worlds out wacky
Rollin down the hills cause lifes a hassle
Encircled by my folly like a moat surround a castle
Stay a float,
Catch a second wind thin is the air I breathe
Teary-eyed nose runnin, wipe the snot on my sleeve
I'm callin on my savior to be all that I need
Please forgive me my behavior had me lost at light speed
CHORUS
The fear of never falling in love
And the tears after losing the feelings
Of what you thought love was
Like the dirt still up under the rug
(My life be like)
Bad characteristics covered in Christ's blood
The joy of new birth and the pain of growing up
The bliss between giving my all and giving up
The highs and lows,
Paths and roads I chose
In the cold I froze
Trying to ease my woes
In this world of sin
Clothes to thin to fend
So to God I send
Words of help to win
In grumblings so deep letters could never express
So the sounds of Ooh Ahh beneath my breath projects
CHORUS
My life be like (Toby Mac)
My life be like ooh aah ooh
Dum dum diddy
Here comes that boy from the capital city
Last up on the Grits new ditty
But eight bars of the truth will do,
uh
I believe there's a pride thats stunning,
And I believe in the kingdom coming
I believe if you seek the truth,
You don't need to look far cuz it's gonna find you
So why, oh why, do I trip and stumble?
And ooh ahh as commitment crumble?
I can't believe that I'm here again?
Glossary
Hip-Hop: the popular subculture of big-city teenagers, which includes rap music, break dancing, and graffiti art to Grumble: to murmur or mutter in discontent Kingdom: a state or government having a king or queen as its head Path: a way or small passage on the ground beaten by human or animal feet: a path through the woods to Catch: to seize or capture, esp. after chasing: The police tried for weeks to catch the thief Ghetto: a section of a city, esp. a thickly populated slum area, in which mostly members of a minority group live Benchmark: a mark made on a measuring device at a known height from which other heights may be calculated Gang: a group or band to Disappear: to cease to exist or be known; pass away Worldwide: throughout the world Untimely Demise: a death for decease occurred before the expected, normal or proper time Blunt: having a thick or dull edge or point
NWA is a rap band. They performed many songs in a gangsta rap style. The band was composed of five famous rappers such as Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Dj Yella, MC Ren and the leader Eazy-E, affectionately called "The Godfather of Gangsta Rap”. All of them were from Compton (California) and operated from 1986 to 1992 when the band broke up because of Eazy-E’s death due AIDS. “Fuck The Police” is a very famous song from the album “Straight Outta Compton”, the only album released by the band. Composed in 1988 it talks about the racist behavior the cops had (and still have) towards black people, the testimonies in rhyme express anger against racism and violence by cops . Because of this song NWA were watched by the police and in Detroit when they performed “Fuck The Police” during a gig the cops stopped the concert and arrested NWA. We have chosen this song because it says in a loud voice what most people think about the police but are afraid to report because of the violence and the repression they could be affected by.
Excerpts from Lyrics - "Fuck The Police"
[Ice Cube]
Fuck the police coming straight from the underground
A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown
And not the other color so police think
they have the authority to kill a minority
Fuck that shit, cause I ain't the one
for a punk motherfucker with a badge and a gun
to be beating on, and thrown in jail
We can go toe to toe in the middle of a cell
Fucking with me cause I'm a teenager
with a little bit of gold and a pager
Searching my car, looking for the product
Thinking every nigga is selling narcotics
You'd rather see, me in the pen
than me and Lorenzo rolling in a Benz-o
Beat a police out of shape
and when I'm finished, bring the yellow tape
To tape off the scene of the slaughter
Still getting swoll off bread and water
I don't know if they fags or what
Search a nigga down, and grabbing his nuts
And on the other hand, without a gun they can't get none
But don't let it be a black and a white one
Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
Black police showing out for the white cop
Ice Cube will swarm
on ANY motherfucker in a blue uniform
Just cause I'm from, the CPT
Punk police are afraid of me!
HUH, a young nigga on the warpath
And when I'm finished, it's gonna be a bloodbath
of cops, dying in L.A.
Yo Dre, I got something to say
[cut and scratched 4x] "Fuck the police"
[Dr. Dre]
MC Ren, will you please give your testimony
to the jury about this fucked up incident?
[MC Ren]
Fuck the police and Ren said it with authority
because the niggas on the street is a majority
A gang, is with whoever I'm stepping
and the motherfucking weapon is kept in
a stash box, for the so-called law
Wishing Ren was a nigga that they never saw
Lights start flashing behind me
But they're scared of a nigga so they mace me to blind me
But that shit don't work, I just laugh
because it gives em a hint, not to step in my path
For police, I'm saying, "Fuck you punk!"
Reading my rights and shit, it's all junk
Pulling out a silly club, so you stand
with a fake-assed badge and a gun in your hand
But take off the gun so you can see what's up
And we'll go at it punk, and I'ma fuck you up!
Make you think I'ma kick your ass
but drop your gat, and Ren's gonna blast
I'm sneaky as fuck when it comes to crime
But I'ma smoke 'em now and not next time
Smoke any motherfucker that sweats me
or any asshole, that threatens me
I'm a sniper with a hell of a scope
Taking out a cop or two, they can't cope with me
The motherfucking villain that's mad
With potential, to get bad as fuck
So I'ma turn it around
Put in my clip, yo, and this is the sound
[BOOM, BOOM] Yeah, something like that
but it all depends on the size of the gat
Taking out a police, would make my day
But a nigga like Ren don't give a fuck to say
[cut and scratched 4x] "Fuck the police"
[Dr. Dre]
Eazy-E, won't you step up to the stand
and tell the jury how you feel about this bullshit?
[Eazy-E]
I'm tired of the motherfucking jacking
Sweating my gang, while I'm chilling in the shack, and
shining the light in my face, and for what?
Maybe it's because I kick so much butt
I kick ass - or maybe cause I blast
on a stupid-assed nigga when I'm playing with the trigger
of any Uzi or an AK
Cause the police always got something stupid to say
They put out my picture with silence
Cause my identity by itself causes violence
The E with the criminal behavior
Yeah, I'm a gangsta, but still I got flavor
Without a gun and a badge, what do ya got?
A sucker in a uniform waiting to get shot
by me, or another nigga
And with a gat it don't matter if he's smaller or bigger
([MC Ren:] Size ain't shit, he's from the old school fool)
And as you all know, E's here to rule
Whenever I'm rolling, keep looking in the mirror
And ears on cue, yo, so I can hear a
dumb motherfucker with a gun
And if I'm rolling off the 8, he'll be the one
that I take out, and then get away
While I'm driving off laughing this is what I'll say
[cut and scratched 4x] "Fuck the police"
Fuck the police! [3x]
Glossary To watch: to keep someone or something under close observation Cruelty: behavior or action that causes pain to others Warpath: the path or course taken by American Indians on a warlike expedition Slaughter: a brutal or violent killing (murder) Gang: a group of persons associated for some criminal purpose (terrorist gangs) Sneaky: a person who should not be trusted Gun: a weapon consisting of a metal tube from which bullets are shot by the force of an explosive Dumb: lacking intelligence or good judgment; stupid Hint: an indirect, partly hidden, or helpful suggestion Cop: a police officer
Tupac Shakur wrote "Hit 'Em Up" with collaboration of the Outlawz. This song talks about the rivalry with the enemy Notorious B.I.G. In this song Tupac insults Notorious with bad words.
B.I.G. and Tupac were friends, but when in 1994 at the Quad Recording Studios Tupac suffered an aggression with many shots of firegun, the rapper thought that his friend Notorious was responsible of his aggression, and this is the reason why Tupac wrote this song against Notorious B.I.G.
Hit em’ up is a single, this song was written in 1996 and it is known as one of the most famous dissing of hip-hop.
We think this song is very aggressive, very gangsta, that is what we like about this song.
Lyrics - Hit 'Em Up
First off, fuck your bitch
And the clique you claim
West side when we ride
Come equipped with game
You claim to be a player
But I fucked your wife
We bust on Bad Boys
niggas fuck for Life
Plus Puffy tryin' to see me weak
Hearts I rip
Biggie Smalls and Junior Mafia
Some mark ass bitches
We keep on coming
While we running for your jewels
Steady gunning
Keep on busting at them fools
You know the rules
Little Ceasar go ask you homie
How I'll leave you
Cut your young ass up
See you in pieces
Now be deceased
Little Kim,
Don't fuck around with real G's
Quick to snatch your ugly ass, off the streets
So fuck peace
I'll let them niggas know
It's on for Life
Don't let the west side
Ride the night (ha ha)
Bad Boys murdered on Wax and kill
fuck with me
And get your caps peeled
You know, see
Grab your glocks when you see 2pac
Call the cops when you see 2pac, uh
Who shot me,
But your punks didn't finish
Now you 'bout to feel the wrath of a menace
nigga, I hit 'em up
Glossary
Westside: Tupac is from Harlem, he says the West Coast is where he learned the “game”. Quad Recording Studios: Tupac was there when he was shot. Outlawz: a gangsta rap group. Bad Boys: the record label of Notorious B.I.G. Dissing: a song with the aim of insulting other rappers or groups. 1996: in this year Tupac Shakur was killed. Gangsta: gangsta rap is a musical genre born in Compton, a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States.
In 2014 he published his first video but received only negative comments, he didn't give up and began to publish many songs, until in 2015 he published Look At Me and he got a great success.
