Vince Manuel on the RapGenius Experience: An Interview

Vince Manuel is a 4th year student here at SIUE. He was recently telling me about the considerable amount of time he spends on RapGenius. I asked him a few questions about his experiences on the site. He writes under his stage name AckurateThatWise.


Rambsy: When did you first start participating on the RapGenius site? What drew you there; that is, why did you keep going back to the site?

Vince: I found out about Rap Genius in 2010, but I never really took great time to realize how useful it was until the summer of 2012. The sites offers you so many opportunities not only to understand what artists talk about in their pieces, but it can also add to your own arsenal if you're an artist or if you just want to expand your words and the way you view situations. A big thing that I recently found out that is interesting is that even though the site is called "RapGenius" they have poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and even just speeches from people that can be deciphered and addressed to the public.

R: As a student, what do you enjoy most about RapGenius? Why or how so?

V: RapGenius gives me the opportunity to expand my musical influences. As a student, there are many different types of music that can catch your attention around campus. RG helps me identify these artists and whether it's the song or just the way they construct their music, it offers me a look into their minds and works.

R: As an artist (rapper/poet), what do you enjoy most about RapGenius? Why or how so?

V: Being an artist, this helps me focus on how I can formulate my own works of art. Most people tend to hear the instrumentation of music or just "look" at the words of a specific poem. Growing as an artist, I tend to spend quality time researching the artist I look up to as a person, and I analyze the way they construct their pieces. This is how I build up vocabulary and specific ways of shaping the way I use my terminology.

R: What's one notable thing you do differently now as a student as a result of your participation on the RapGenius site?

V: As a student, you learn that people in the student body have all sorts of different music they listen and sometimes want you to hear. I used to only restrict myself to a certain category of artist (the ones with the same style I have), but now I'm learning that sometimes you must look at other artist to learn as well whether it's just the formation of the verses or some words you can add to your vocab.

R: What's one notable thing you do differently now as an artist as a result of your participation on the RapGenius site?

V: As an artist, I take time to jump out of the same artist I listen to on a daily basis and give others a chance. Sometimes, I find songs by new artists I really enjoy.  I try to take the labels off artists now and at least give songs a chance.

Related:  
• A Notebook on RapGenius