Local Music Rock This Town Young May Bishop turned his poetry into lyrics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Javacia N. Harris Young May Bishop is trying to escape his past, largely through rapping about it. When the reporter's tape recorder clicks on, rapper Young May Bishop seems a bit shy. He lowers his head and covers his mouth between words. But when this 25-year-old Louisville native raps, he keeps it raw and real. Take this lyric, for example: "I don't rap gangsta, I'm a gangsta that raps." Sound His mixtapes don parental advisory labels for explicit content, but rapping about street life doesn't mean Bishop (real name: Randy Stokes) doesn't have room to rhyme about girls, grief and even God. Bishop says he speaks from the heart. "Some people feel like they got to have an image," he says. "I just say what's on my mind, and I don't care really what nobody think." For example, when Bishop raps about God, it's not all praise and worship. "I might mention in one song that I pray and I might mention in one song that I don't have no faith in God," he says, adding that it all depends on how he feels when his pen hits the pad. Background At an age when he should have only been worrying about acne, Bishop was dealing with the death of friends. He decided to handle his grief through poetry. About 13 years ago, Bishop started turning his stanzas into raps, laying verses over tracks by a friend who produced beats. "Poems ain't really cool," Bishop says candidly when asked why he made the switch from poetry to hip-hop. "Rap is cool." Bishop soon decided he wanted his music to be more than just therapeutic. He was ready to hit the stage. When he was 14 years old, he opened for Spice 1 at a concert in Alabama. He's also performed in Louisville at Oasis and Headliners Music Hall. Bishop's rap career was put on hold after he had to do time in jail for selling drugs. But as soon as he was released, he was back to work. In May 2004, he hooked up with Holman Harley of D-Tour Music. Since then he's been collaborating with other D-Tour artists and recording music of his own. He hopes to have a new CD out by spring 2006. Bishop says he's also ready to be a businessman. He hopes to own a clothing line or a music company so he can lift others as he climbs. Copyright 2004 The Courier-Journal. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service. Send questions and comments to The Webmaster.