The Birth of A Fallen Angel

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William “Nephibis” Young was born in Baltimore City, MD. He would hang around his cousins, who taught him that the streets weren’t a world he wanted to live in and encouraged him to avoid getting involved in any trouble. At a young age he eventually moved to a suburban area where he was constantly bullied and at times would face racism, while being beaten and verbally abused at home by his stepfather(at that time). He was often picked on in school due to him being an oddball and having a voice that people felt was too weak. William kept to himself and wrote poetry about the darkness he saw in life and the people around him. Eventually this sadness turned into anger and he began to get into trouble on a frequent basis. Later, he became suicidal and was eventually admitted into the hospital and labeled as a trouble child.

 

In high school William moved back to Baltimore, where he was surrounded by drugs and violence. It was here that he was introduced to Bloods, Crips and different crews. One of these crews jumped William in and tried to force him to do whatever they wanted. Due to him not liking the members of this group or the things they did, William found a bigger and more dangerous crew to become a part of. The leader encouraged William to concentrate on school and not become involved in trouble.

 

On New Year of 2005, William was visiting his cousins on the West Coast when they invited him to do the “New Year spit.” On this day he fell in love with rapping as he was able to express the pain in his heart for the first time and have people listen to his words. Later, William met a Crip named Pain, who changed his life. She worked with him to direct his life into a positive direction. She educated him on Malcolm X, The Black Panthers and why gangs started. She gave him the name Rippa. This inspired him to become a conscious artist and he began to speak about wanting change in his music. People would often compare him to 2Pac, which led to William finally deciding to listen to his music. 2Pac was someone that William could relate to. William was motivated by 2Pac’s music to change the world through his music.

 

Eventually William’s music caught the ears of a Baltimore rapper by the name of Shy Ladyheroine. She encouraged him to take his music to the next level and begin performing live. She took him to her shows with Money In the Bank and encouraged him to push himself further. She gave him the name Noble. Later on down the line William met Kieshawn Richardson, who managed him and taught him about the business side of music. With her help he was able to release his first single Bumpin’ My Music. After the release of his first single William decided to fuse the names given to him into one and became Noble Rippa. His music caught the Attention of Catherine Trotter, who invited him to the Speak Life Open Mic event. Catherine encouraged William to speak positivity through his music and through working with her, he was able to make a positive impact on the youth and help them build their creative writing skills.

 

Things were going well for William, until he fell into an emotionally dark place due to his relationship at the time. As time went on he felt as though the “hero” side of him was beginning to die and he was stuck in a place between light and darkness. This is when Noble Rippa disappeared from the earth and in 2017 was resurrected as Nephibis.

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