Just sit right back and I’ll tell you a story

About today’s rappers in all their glory.

From 50 to Eminem to Ice-T,

All over the movies and magazines,

They’re crossin’ boarders,

Haulin’ in the dough,

Out of the studio and on the show.

They started in basements, closets and streets,

Sellin’, haulin,’ workin’ the city beats.

Gettin’ thrown on their ass outside studios,

Tryin’ to make it big with money, cars and hoes.

They try so hard, try to make it big,

From the streets, to kings, faces frescoed

Like Da Vinci, albums goin’ gold.

Platinum, awards, toppin’ the list,

No more prizes to win, nothing else exists.

What to do now, they can’t be touched,

Sittin’ on their piles of gold, but it ain’t enough.

There are new fields to conquer, wars to fight,

Swagger in the Holy of Woods, takin’ a bite.

Whatever’s offered, movie contracts and a Benz,

They want to make movies about life and friends.

Ice Cube began the transition,

With his “Boyz N The Hood” being Oscar competition.

Tellin’ life on the West Side, lead is a way of life,

That boy almost made it to college,

It made us white boys see a

different side of the tracks,

And then later Eminem brought us back

To the other side of 8 Mile, a white boy rappin’,

Trashy mom and his pigments makin’ fame hard to happen.

And then Xzibit leaves his dubs behind,

On the television to go and find

A spot on “Triple X’s” high-tech crew.

And he tries to pull in too,

But no rhymer’s fame is too hot

To excuse that spot.

Ignorant mothers can’t explain

Why X’s stain will forever haunt his name.

And now 50 is out to speak,

To display his life from bottom to peak,

On the world’s largest movie screen.

Let tech recapture his nine wounds,

Showin’ us he’s not so mean.

The raps won’t stop and they’ll keep movin’ on up.

The floodgates are open, they’ve pulled all the stops,

And even when Cary Grant is rolling in his grave,

The rappers are gonna keep riding the wave,

Until that day when it all shuts down.

When there’s no more money to be had,

The bling pirates will move outta town

And try to conquer the next big fad.

-Alex Switzer is senior in journalism and mass communication from Shelburne, Vt.