| Blake Le Vine AKA The Rap Therapist has been an entertainer his whole life. As a child his hobby was collecting autographs and meeting celebrities. By the age of 15 he had met Notorious B.I.G., Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Spike Lee, Bill Cosby, Arnold Schwarzenneger, 7 United States Presidents, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, and almost every famous person.
He was asked to write a book based on his experiences titled Okay Dad You Can Take The Picture which was a top seller and Blake was one of the youngest published authors in history. As a result he appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Maury Povich, Jon Stewart, NBC, FOX, CNN, MTV, in The Los Angeles Times, NY Post, NY Daily News, NY Newsday, Philadelphia Enquirer, Premiere Magazine and over 500 radio shows around the world.
Also at this time Blake living in Manhattan began rapping with friends and family. In middle school Blake recalls "I had a teacher who was eighty years old. I told her my rap name was Bo and I asked her to call me that. She said if my mother would write a note saying I should be called by my rap name then the teacher would call me by my rap name. I rushed home and had my mom write the letter and from then on I was addressed as Bo."
In college Blake created an online television network and a television show interviewing the celebrities he had met as a child. Blake was on the red carpet interviewing Michael Jackson on 9/10/01. When he woke up in Manhattan on September 11th he saw the planes crashing into the towers. His father who is a photographer rushed to the scene to document it for People Magazine and Blake took his mother and sister to safety outside of the city.
Wanting to help Blake went to get his masters in social work at Adelphi University. While in school he would study by day and rap at night at open mikes around New York. In his internship at a psychiatric hospital most of the patients were mentally ill children from the inner city. None of the social workers were able to get through to these children many of whom had been shuttled from foster home to foster home. Others had parents who were crack and heroin addicts. Some had been sexually molested by family members.
Blake was trying to run group therapy one day as the kids were beating each other up. One of the patients said to put on the rap station. "I put on the rap song In the Club by 50 Cent and the kids stopped fighting. When I shut it off one of the children called me a honkey. So I freestyled at him:
You calling me a honkey,
You are acting like a donkey.
Being silly and acting rude,
You better start to respect me dude.
Your attitude makes me say,
If you don't calm down you'll stay put away.
You better relax and breathe,
Groups over I'm about to leave.
The children's eyes almost bugged out of their heads. They couldn't believe that a preppy white social worker could rap. They begged me to stay and teach them how to rap. In the next few months I taught them how to rap and it was amazing. They opened up about things they talked about before. Below are some of their raps:
Sometimes when I'm here I start a fight,
But mom I miss you especially late at night.
There are some things I wish I never did,
But I am just a kid.
Being black is hard for me,
Because people are racist towards me.
Hopefully one day I'll be like Dr. Martin Luther King,
And through my raps all people will sing.
---------------by Jason
Sometimes I get mad as can be,
People shouldn't be allowed to be mean to me.
I grow like a tree or flower,
Learning how to live right is the greatest power.
People think I am not cool,
Because I get made fun of in school.
But I am going to be a winner,
And god will forgive me for when I was a sinner.
Luckily I know I can live right,
And that makes me feel good at night.
-----by Dennis
I was taken from home to home,
But inside I always felt alone.
My mother died of AIDS and I miss her,
When I look at her picture I just kiss her.
Dad did drugs and sold them too,
I don't know why he had to.
I think of killing myself but will not,
Because my rhymes are hot.
One day people will here my voice,
So I am making the right choice.
Mommy I miss you and love you forever,
One day we'll be together.
------by Samantha
As you can see the kids changed my life and I became the rap therapist. Rap Therapy is writing rap songs to let out your emotions and be able to talk about things you never could say. The Rap Therapy documentary, film, book, and album is my therapy and helping to give back to the children that continue to change my life for the better. It doesn't matter your background or your age, anyone can do rap therapy. Please support us and thank you to all of the people that have helped me. Below are a few verses from the upcoming album:
I always tried, never lied, could have died but will not quit.
This is it my chance to help others, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers.
You take a chance to learn, put this on your brain, watch it burn, make a uturn,
Change yourself for the better, and I bet ya, You will come out on top,
One this drops, because we don't stop, we land on top.
Rap Therapy, its elementary, from the schools, to the penetentaries.
In centuries they'll talk about us like Rosa Parks not leaving the bus.
We respect others, like our mother, and this is why we try, and when we do
God is our alibi.
Peace-
The Rap Therapist
Please support the upcoming Rap Therapy album, documentary, feature film, soundtrack, and book!
Join the mailing list by emailing blakellevine@yahoo.com
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