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Karanji is a hip-hop artist from Detroit, MI who
was raised by a single mother on the citys West side. His name,
Karanji means a "spiritual guide" or "one who guides." Though
his parents were divorced at an early age, he was influenced by
both as he grew up. Being raised with an Afro-centric
upbringing that taught self-love became an integral part of his
music interest and later on motivated him to create music that
moved feet as well as spirits. Artists he claims as musical
inspirations are Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Bob Marley, Peter
Tosh, Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind and Fire ,Common , Nas, Tupac,
Outkast ,KRS-1, Rakim, X-Clan and Public Enemy.
Karanji originally was an aspiring singer who was a member of
the Hampton University Gospel Choir while attending there and
was also a member in several singing groups while in high school.
A turning point came in his life at age 18 while enrolled at
Hampton University when his mother, whom he was very close
to, passed away from a rare form of brain cancer. Her passing
motivated him to continue on at Hampton University and
graduate with honors with a Bachelors of Science in Marine and
Environmental Science. After graduating from Hampton
University, he decided that he would give back to his community
the best way he knew how and that was by teaching. So he
enrolled at Marygrove Colleges GRIOT program, to become a
certified science teacher and received his Masters degree in
Education in 2000.
As a science teacher on the East side of Detroit at Pershing
High School he experienced things that would motivate him to
do hip-hop music. As a teacher at Pershing, he taught students
who felt no one really cared about the inner city child and the
things that they went through. Many of his students did not
know who their fathers were because they were either dead or
incarcerated.


Many had parents who were crack addicts and therefore were
being raised by their grandparents and other extended family.
Most of his students had never seen anyone in their family go to
college and the most common successful people in their
neighborhoods were drug dealers. Almost every child in his
classes either knew someone close to them who had been shot or
knew someone who had shot somebody. Moreover, he saw first
hand how most current rap music was encouraging children to
aspire to live a negative lifestyle that would damage their
communities. All of this motivated Karanji to do hip-hop that
would not only entertain but would also inspire change. At first,
he sought out and formed a group called, Griot Foundation. This
did not work out for him so he set out on his own as a solo artist
under his own name.
Karanji seeks to shake things up in the rap game and bring a new
era to hip-hop. He has nearly completed his first album entitled,
Appreciation, and hopes to sign a promotions and
distribution deal that will allow him to spread his music
worldwide. He wants his earnings to be substantial enough so
that he will be able to give back to his community in order to
make a positive change. He believes and lives by the idea of, to
whom much is given, much is expected.

"The
decisions
you make
will pave
the roads
you take"
~ Karanji