Steven Broom, wood manufacturing major, expresses himself through his freestyle rap.

Broom has been rapping for nearly three years now, mostly through his freestyle rapping that he does around Cerritos College.

He has been coming to Cerritos College for two years. After he is done with his studies, Broom is thinking about transferring to CSU Fullerton.

He was inspired by rappers such as Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot.

“I am just a kid who grew up from hard struggles, but I’m a kid who likes to joke around (and) do stuff to get my mind off struggles,” Broom said.

His reason for rapping, he said, “I like to freestyle because it helps me keep my mind focused and helps me stay out of trouble. I do it for a hobby, it keeps me all mellowed out.”

Jenifer Morrison, baking/pastry major, commented, “Steven’s freestyle requires a certain skill level to do what he does.”

Broom was influenced from where he lived. “When I started to learn to freestyle in the boarder line of Compton, there is a lot of people I know who freestyle.

“Other black people I know on my block, they like to write rhymes. They kind of encourage me to freestyle a little bit.”

When it comes to the stereotyping of rappers, Broom went on to say, “There some other races out here that are expanding their vocabularies and try(ing) to join.”

“It’s not just for black people with the stereotypical thing, ‘Oh he’s black, he should know how to rap, he should know how to freestyle.’ For me the word race doesn’t exist and we blend in,” Broom explained.