How to Write a Hip Hop Artist's Sample Biography

Writing a biography about a hip hop artist is similar to writing any other type of biography. First, you should familiarize yourself with your audience. If you are posting this biography on a fan site, your tone and approach will be very different than if you are posting the biography to the artist’s official website. A biography tells a story, so the details you include should be fascinating and give the reader a complete view of the history, background and musical life of the artist.

Briefly describe the artist’s younger life. Pay special attention to factors that may have influenced his decision to become a hip hop artist as well as experiences that he commonly raps or sings about. For example, if the artist attended an arts high school or came from a musical family, these are important details to mention. If the artist commonly raps or sings about his home life, you should include the relevant back story.

Describe the artist's musical influences. For example, if the artist grew up listening to a particular musical group, this is a detail that will be interesting to your audience. If the artist collaborates with another artist, has released music in response to another artist’s music, or has a close relationship with another artist, include these details in the biography.

List the artist’s most important professional accomplishments. This can include label contracts, awards and sales information. You can either list these in chronological order or weave the accomplishments through the story as you describe the artist's achieving these milestones.

Discuss any shifts in the artist's musical direction and include the reasons for this shift. For example, perhaps the artist originally started writing politically motivated hip hop lyrics, but his latest album is focused on romance or relationships. Your readers may be interested in finding out which factors in the artist's life prompted this shift.

End with a description of the artist's future projects. Here, you can include a quote from the artist about the direction he hopes to take his music in. Does the artist have a concept in mind for a future album? Has a date already been set for a release of an album? These are relevant biographical facts to end the biography with.