Reggie G

Rapping has been a hobby and a career dream for Reggie G. When he was 18 in Grambling, La., he subscribed to what could be thought of as the typical rapper's philosophy.

Reggie G remembered something his mother told him. She said, "Why don't you get your degree out of the way and then you can do whatever you want?" That stuck. So the kid who found school easy because he quickly memorized everything moved to SMU in Dallas TX and began his undergraduate work.

"I grew up in an all-black town," he says. "And then I moved to Highland Park. Culture shock."

He learned to assimilate into the educational system. But rapping never left his life. He continued to do it, releasing three CDs and two mix tapes. Education, however, changed his rhymes.

"I went from rapping about what everybody wanted to hear, to rapping about what I wanted to hear. I became more focused. All of my music is different," he says. "I'm an artist. I wake up in the morning and if I don't feel like taking a shower, instead writing a rap about the basketball game I saw last night. Or the girl I saw. Or making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I got peanut-butter-and- jelly-sandwich songs. I'm moody and mood is music. It's everyday."

Reggie wants success, the big national kind that made Jay-Z a superstar.

Reggie G wants his music to connect with every hip-hop fan, and those who don't normally listen to hip-hop. He wants them to hear the words of a guy who feels passion for music, for education and for life. If his nonstereotypical existence is an uphill battle, so be it.

"I'm motivated by challenges, accomplishments."
"The degrees are accomplishments. I'm always trying to set goals for myself. I love music. I might be doing rapping for the rest of my life, or I might not. Right now at this point in my life it brings me a lot of pleasure. That's what I like to do."Plan your life