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How It All Got Started: Lessons in Life, Art and Entrepreneurship from Hip Hop Icons

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Described as the 'Hip Hop Entrepreneur's Bible,' How It All Got Started is a book like no other.
A journey through the lives and lyrics of dozens of people who have used Hip Hop as a vehicle to achieve remarkable things, this book tells the story of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and artist, from a rather unique point of view.
Featuring twenty-three universally applicable entrepreneurial lessons and life philosophies, gathered from hundreds of sources,
• How Kanye developed his ‘God-like’ self-belief and why it’s fundamental to his success.
• Keys to longevity and how Dr. Dre has remained at the forefront of Hip Hop for thirty years.
• Where Jay Z, and dozens of other successful ‘hustlers’ draw the line over what’s acceptable and what is not.
• Why most Hip Hop icons choose to have long-term intimate relationships with one person.
• The ‘secret’ of creative genius, and how Pharrell, Grandmaster Flash and others earn millions using it.
• The one thing Diddy as an intern, Drake as a rapper and Dame Dash as a CEO, all did to break into their industry.
• The power of ‘celebrity’ and how Eminem, Snoop and Hopsin know how to solve the problem of getting noticed.
‘How It All Got Started’ also features the in-depth biographies of Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z and Eminem. Read in extensive detail the remarkable stories of how four seemingly unlikely people rose to their position at the helm of popular culture.
This book is made especially for entrepreneurs and artists, aspiring and established, who are inspired by Hip Hop icons and aspire to emulate their success.
“You love to hear the story, How It All Got Started” – Nas, Back When

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2014

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About the author

Ramses M.

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
2 reviews
January 22, 2018
The author, Ramses M., explains the life and lessons of several different hip hop icons, such as Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Eminem, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Drake, Snoop Dogg, Nas, and many more. The author explains their story, their way of being successful, their life lessons and life philosophies. He does that by using literary terms such as characterization, imagery, and allusion.

The author uses characterization to describe different hip hop artists on who they are. In this quote, the author describes hip hop star, Kanye West, as a kid, someone who is creative and had an extremely bright future. "Kanye is creative. He was displaying that from an early age. In 1980 a three year old Kanye would draw 'outside the box' objects, like purple bananas or blue oranges. His elementary school would hold talent shows, where Kanye's confidence was already clear" (pg. 17). The author is using direct characterization to explain the kind of person Kanye West was as a kid.

The author uses imagery to describe what kind of person 'Kanye West' is. He is described as a creative and colorful mind who thought outside the box like no other as a kid. The author puts an image in the reader's head to describe what kind of person Kanye West was as a kid. "Freshly born Kanye West came home from the hospital in a loud rickety car. His father had Big Daddy Kane on blast through the vehicles speakers, bumping his head as he gleefully drove his first son to their home in the city of Compton" (pg. 34). The author makes the reader picture mental images and events in his/her head.

The author uses allusion to describe past works from hip hop icons, specifically Kendrick Lamar. The author brought up a song Kendrick had written to describe Kendrick's introduction to being baptized and starting a new life. The song is called 'Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst.' "He would later write the song 'Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst' to describe the importance of this chance encounter in changing his life. 'That song represents being baptized, getting dipped in holy water. It represents when my whole spirit changed, when my life starts - my life that you know right now, that's when it starts" (pg. 107). This use of allusion shows the reader an interesting facts about Kendrick Lamar about his past works. "'good kid m.A.A.D city' was released in 2009. It was released in Kendrick's mind that is. That's when the concept came to him. As Punch says, "This project was in the works Kendrick's whole life. This is his life story'" (pg. 118). This allusion is a part of Kendrick's history, a storytelling album that was dropped in 2009.

The author, Ramses M., explains the life of many hip hop artists. He does that by using literary terms such as characterization, imagery, and allusion. Those were only three of the many literary devices he used to write this book for the reader. The author did a very good job on using the literary devices to explain the backstories of these artists. This book would be very interesting to those who are interested on hip hop culture and hip hop business.
7 reviews
January 13, 2015
Great historical content on hip hop. Allot of repetitions

Book give great insight on the backstory of allot of artists and history of hip hop. Throughout the book the author uses the same examples of (kanye,Jay-Z, 50 cent) to describe a scenario or type of thought. This book I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn about hip hop, modern examples of hard work or the music business.
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