Ocean State Libraries

"When sixteen-year-old Bri, an aspiring rapper, pours her anger and frustration into her first song, she finds herself at the center of a controversy." -- As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time-- and has massive shoes to fill. She's been labeled a hoodlum at school, and the fridge at home is empty after her mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger...

"In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking viewers back to where it all began, the film tells the true story of how these cultural rebels-armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent-stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world's...

New York District Attorney Butch Karp goes head-to-head with a crooked wannabe mayor, the rap underworld, and rogue churchmen in yet another pile-driving thriller in the New York Times bestselling series. When a rap impresario is gunned down in his limo in New York City, it appears that gang-related violence has reared its ugly head once again. But nothing's as it seems in this taut, virtuoso thriller from the pen of Robert K. Tanenbaum. For a start,...

Brooklyn, 1998. When their best friend Steph is killed, Quadir and Jarrell don't want his tracks to lie forgotten. They know his beats could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a celebration. With the help of Steph's younger sister, Jasmine, they come up with a plan to promote Steph's music under a new rap name: The Architect. When his mixtape catches the attention of a hotheaded music rep and, the trio must race to prove Steph's talent from beyond the...

Rapper DJay, who dreams of becoming the next big rap superstar, works all the angles to get his first record made. He even has the help from assorted people in his Memphis 'hood. When he hears that rap superstar Skinny Black is heading to his area, DJay decides to throw together a supreme hustle to grab Skinny's attention.

Gucci Mane began writing his memoir in a maximum-security federal prison. Released in 2016, he emerged radically transformed. He was sober, smiling, focused, and positive -- a far cry from the Gucci Mane of years past. Born in rural Bessemer, Alabama, Radric Delantic Davis became Gucci Mane in East Atlanta, where the rap scene is as vibrant as the dope game. His name was made as a drug dealer first, rapper second. His mixtapes and street anthems helped...

"Female rapper Patti Cake$ takes advantage of every opportunity in her New Jersey hometown as she chases her dreams of music stardom." --

"Rick Ross is an indomitable presence in the music industry, but few people know his full story. Now, for the first time, Ross offers a vivid, dramatic and unexpectedly candid account of his early childhood, his tumultuous adolescence and his dramatic ascendancy in the world of hip-hop. Born William Leonard Roberts II, Ross grew up 'across the bridge,' in a Miami at odds with the glitzy beaches, nightclubs and yachts of South Beach. In the aftermath...

After musical mogul Lucious Lyon is diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, he must choose which of his three sons with succeed him at the legendary Empire entertainment company. The game changes when ex-wife Cookie returns from prison. This groundbreaking series features a pulsating soundtrack from legendary music hit maker Timbaland.