Bars, bars, bars. That’s all Josiah “JoGeezy” Greene knows as his lyrics fill Granite Bay High School’s hallways daily. Since the beginning of his high school career, Greene has single-handedly pioneered a stand-out personality that can’t go ignored: freestyle rapping.

Greene originally began attempting freestyle rapping in middle school, and as he developed his style, he carried the tradition with him into his time at GBHS. On nearly any given school day, his nonstop hip-hop notes can be heard out in the heart of the quads, in hallways between classrooms, and anywhere in between. 

“My mom keeps on telling me that I talk too much, which I do,” Greene said, “I don’t know when to shut up, and that’s actually one of the reasons why I rap.”

As he breezes through the campus, pondering his lyrics and absorbing rhythm and rhyme from some of his favorite artists (Lil Wayne, Drake and Kid Cudi to name a few), he is recognized by nearly everyone who passes him – his rapping career building him a healthy reputation among GBHS students as JoGeezy, the legendary guy who raps in the hallways.

For Greene, the world of rap is more than just music and words – it’s how he translates his emotions and thoughts into symphonies of rhythm, pieced together from the artists he admires. His lyrics represent his life, his interests and his own journey of self-discovery.

“It’s how I express myself. At times I’m savage like Eminem, at times I’m chillin’ like Metro Boomin,” Greene said., “And it lets people know why I talk too much.”

Though Greene’s rapping career is what he is renowned for, it isn’t his only experience in music creation. Following a desire to understand rhythm and tunes, he has experience playing a multitude of instruments.

“I have played the clarinet. I play the saxophone, violin and the guitar,” Greene said, “Somehow I’m really good with the violin and the saxophone. But not so much on the clarinet.”

Greene’s instrumental journey has relied on a uniquely non-linear approach to learning, one that has contributed hugely to his rapping skills. By understanding instrumentals, he spends his free time taking songs apart and running them back in his head, finding new ways to insert new lyrics into them.

“Go to instruments in rap songs that you like, and then try to rap them,” Greene said, “That’s how I started – it’s part of my secret formula.”

Greene also elaborated that he plans to elongate his rap career further into his life, his freestyle personality at GBHS is just the beginning.

“I don’t really know what my expertise is. But what I do know is I make this sugar honey iced tea my own way,” Greene said.