La Porte County Public Library System

The life that 50 Cent was born into was anything but easy. From growing up without a father, to drug dealing, to being shot nine times and nearly losing his life, 50 Cent had to overcome a lot of struggles in his life, but this hip-hop biography will not only cover those struggles, but also his rise to becoming one of the biggest and wealthiest names in the hip-hop world.

Did you know that rap music was first made using a turntable and records? Some people use computers to help make rap music today. Find out more in Rap, one of the titles in the My Favorite Music series.

Colorful graphics, oversized photographs, and short, engaging sentences draw readers in to the fascinating life of pop star Carly Rae Jepsen! Readers will follow Jepsen's journey, from her family background and youth in Canada, to her success on Canadian Idol, leading up to worldwide fame with her catchy hit song "Call Me Maybe." Jepsen's albums are covered, including Tug of War and Kiss, as well as her work with Justin Bieber, Scooter Braun, and...

You are an android. Okay, well maybe you're not really an android, but you have been programmed. Hiphop artist, GaKnew Roxwel, dives into psychology and brings back a bounty of gems. Under the Influence, paired with the Sound of Silence album, creatively shares the science of automatization and how habits reign over more than we realize. This dynamic dual of book and CD tells the universal tale of Calvin Lloyd, and his triumph from being tangled in...

Get the Summary of Fat Joe's The Book of Jose in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. "The Book of Jose" by Fat Joe is an autobiographical account of Joseph Antonio Cartagena's life, from his perilous upbringing in the South Bronx to his rise as a hip-hop icon. Fat Joe recounts his early encounters with violence, gangsters, and corrupt police, as well as the influence of his family's history, including his mother's Taino...

This engaging book describes hip-hop music's key characteristics, history, and place in popular music today. It also feature an "Artist Spotlight" special feature, informative sidebars, a table of contents, a reading comprehension quiz, a glossary, additional resources, and an index. This Focus Readers book is at the Beacon level, aligned to reading levels of grades 2–3 and interest levels of grades 3–5.

In The Beat Game, Grammy Nominated music producer Darrell "Digga" Branch shows Hip Hop beat makers and producers how to play in the high-paced game called the music business: Branch draws on his own personal experiences, successes and failures, as well as interviews with his well-known professional peers in the music industry, to provide a comprehensive guide to the legal, financial and creative aspects of the Hip Hop music game. Branch examines the...

Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks always found a way to tell his story. He was one of the first rappers to record songs through a prison phone in the early '90s (much to the dismay of his jailors). His untimely death in 2004 left a wound in the Bay Area hip-hop scene that's never quite healed. This is the complete story of how Mac Dre became one of the most important rap stars on the West Coast, told through the eyes and voices of those who witnessed his meteoric...

Nicki Minaj is a rapper, actor, businesswoman, model, screenwriter, philanthropist, and fashion icon. Today, she is one of the most successful rap artists in the world and has won many accolades for her award-winning albums, mixtapes, and videos. She has sold more than ninety million singles and albums worldwide, ranking her one of the highest-selling rap artists of all time. Minaj is also known for her highly creative stage costumes, colorful wigs,...

"God sent me to piss the world off," Eminem boasts on his breakthrough hit "My Name Is." A grandiose claim to be sure, but it's hard to imagine another rapper generating as much controversy and outrage as this bleach-blonde Detroit MC outlaw while still selling millions of records and becoming a hero to pop fans and hardcore hip-hop purists alike. The sharp-tongued product of crushing poverty and an unstable homelife, Eminem is much more than the...