My Passion for Hip Hop

Ever since I was young, I held a strong passion for music and somehow that led me to develop an illusion that I could sing. Truly believing in myself that I was capable of singing notes that are as high as Alicia Key's “If I Ain't Got You,” I would drag my friends to the karaoke machine continuously and blast the room with my raspy but heartfelt voice.

On my iPod, ninety nine percent of the artists that I listen to are popular American artists. They are those who could be found on iTunes top hundred and Billboard's hot hundred. Just to name a few, I prefer listening to hip hop and therefore my all time favorite artists would have to be Eminem, Bruno Mars and Lil Wayne.

When I first heard that Lil Wayne was making his visit at the Bryce Jordan Center, I had to gasp for air. I was so excited! I've been to Mariah Carey and Beyonce's concerts back in Japan but never really had the opportunity to attend my all time favorite idol's concert.

As I gaily discussed Lil Wayne's concert and attempted to come up with a strategy to obtain the tickets with my friends on my dorm floor, they were in shock: “How do you know him? Is he popular in Japan?”

Are you kidding? Is he popular in Japan? He's popular everywhere! Popular American music is prevalent and dominant in music industries all over the world. This may be due to websites such as YouTube and music hosting sites such as Pandora that allows diverse audience to truly appreciate international, foreign and exciting music. I can't imagine my life without popular American rhythm and blues and hip hop- I probably adopted my passion for these genres as my friends were mostly from America.

But my friends have trouble understanding how I came about to these artists and memorizing the lyrics by heart. So I rap for them- I rap one of Lil Wayne's most renowned song, “A Millie.” Although I feel that I'm talented in rapping and singing, my friends laugh.

I may stumble on words and lose track of rhythm- but that doesn't stop me from manifesting my passion for hip hop and lining up for his tickets by camping out at the HUB.