Rapping his way to success

Words spill from the musician's mouth, peppered with syncopated beats. "I think about all my younger days/And I realize how this one was raised/This goes out to all the friends I'm missin'/I am reminiscin'," junior Andrew Spence rhymes, rapping about his childhood in Philadelphia. "Hip hop is my love/I ain't choose this life/But this life chose me," he says with conviction. It's Spence's life story, sketched with emotional lyrics and dynamic style across eight tracks recorded in Washington, D.C.

Rapping on a semi-professional CD from 2003, Spence's words recount scraps of his life, which, through his raps, have become well-known throughout Blair.

Spence has been a rap enthusiast since age nine. After listening to one of his idols, Jay-Z, he realized that rapping would become a part of his life. "I can relate especially to his song ‘Daddy, Where Have You Been,'" he says. "My dad isn't around."

Spence's rapping career began two years ago in Philadelphia when he was upset at a fellow student with whom he had had prior conflicts. "Instead of fighting, I started to rap about it," he says.

Through rapping, Spence established his form of expression, interlacing his improvisational gift with both trifling and critical episodes in his life. "I don't get too into it so that I'm about to cry," he says, "but my words carry a lot of emotions."

Spence quickly adopted his own style and enthusiastically joined rapping challenges, like Blair's weekly Freestyle Friday. Though he did not win his first rap battle because he had prepared his verses beforehand, Spence believes he has learned a lot. "Everyone has to go through this kind of experience," he says. "You have to lose and learn and then get better."

Spence's talent in rapping has been recognized by many Blazers. "He's a prodigy," remarks senior Mustapha Nyang. "I am affected by his lyrics and moved to do things."

Spence's recent CD, produced with Washington, D.C., studio Target Squad, showcases songs that reflect his past ("Reminiscin'"), his beliefs ("I Owe Nothing") and his perceptions ("What You Want from Me").

Because being part of the professional music industry is unpredictable, finishing school is still Spence's top priority. In college, he wants to work toward a music business major and hopes to become familiar with the music industry to help launch his career as a rap artist.

Since recording his music, Spence has been making tentative plans for his future. He wants to record a professional album of his raps. Jeff Jeffrey, owner and president of CUE Recording Studios, warns that a professional CD requires at least 32 hours of work in initial tracks and overdubs which emphasize the artist's voice and mixing.

But, Spence says, he will do whatever it takes. "Rapping is my expression," he says. "It's my medium."