As rap music is becoming increasingly popular, more and more teenagers are finding out about it. As the genre expands, many high school students are trying to make their own rap songs. An attractive aspect of creating rap music is the ease and simplicity of it: all one needs is their computer and some lyrics.  Despite the basic process, the quality of the rap music made by many high school students is impressive.

One student rapper is junior Will Christakos. Christakos, also known as “A1” on SoundCloud, has dropped 2 singles: one sits at 1700 plays, and his second song currently has 2700.  

Christakos said that the biggest reason he wanted to start rapping was that it “seemed like fun. I love rap music, so I thought I’d try it out myself.”  

Christakos also likes that rap appeals to teens. 

“Rap talks about relevant stuff, energizing and uptempo beats attract more teens towards rap,” Christakos said.

Not only is rap perhaps the most relevant genre in music right now, but it is also in the news in general, with popular rappers talking about racism, sexism and more in their music.

Another student, senior Turab Naqvi or “$yed,” also makes songs.  His debut single, titled “Los Angeles,” sits at 1300 plays. Naqvi believes that rap has a major influence on today’s youth.

“Rap music is the new rock; the modern day youth can’t get enough of it because of how dope the music is,” Naqvi said.

While some teens might look at rap as a stress reliever, Naqvi simply appreciates the creative outlet.

“I didn’t see it as [stress relief]. I kind of just started it with my friends and then uploaded it to SoundCloud and it kind of took off so I thought ‘hmm what can I do with this,’” Naqvi said.

In the end, it seems these high school students start rapping because they love the genre itself; by making their own music, students can express themselves while having fun. Rap is already growing fast with more popular rappers releasing tracks, but now with more and more students creating their own work, the genre will just keep growing.