“My lyrics mean the world to me, they’re all I can think about on a daily basis. I memorized almost everything I’ve written or thought of,” says junior Jeremy Edwards, also known as DieVerse. Jeremy has been rapping since the age of 14, and says rap has influenced his life in a positive manner since he picked up the microphone. The main reason he started rapping was his love for the rapper Eminem.

Jeremy said, “He’s [Eminem’s] the reason I wanted to rap, he made me feel like it’s possible no matter how your past is or what you’re labeled as by society.”

To Jeremy, rap has been an outlet for his emotions.

“The reason I love rapping is because it lets me express myself in a way where people have to hear me and listen to my stories and ideals. Since I’m a loud mouth I love having the attention,” he said.

A lot of Jeremy’s raps have been about hardships he’s experienced in his life or ­­obstacles he’s had to overcome to get to the point he’s at in his life. Coming from Newberg for his sophomore year in high school, Jeremy didn’t know anybody and had a hard time adjusting. Through basketball and his rapping he made new friends and fit right in at Tigard High. He models his raps after one of his idols, rapper Earl Sweatshirt.

He said, “I admire Earl Sweatshirt because he is almost exactly a year older then me and he’s doing it big already when he was my age and it’s impressive, really impressive, makes me wanna be better each day.”

DieVerse is an up-and-coming rapper and is trying to crack the surface of the hip-hop world. Look for his raps on his Facebook page, or his Youtube Channel.