Rappers Stoop Lee, ItsErnie, A. Cook and Psedo have two things in common: they’re all MSU students, and they all harbor dreams of becoming professional rappers, even as they prepare for desk jobs in their MSU studies.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen down the road,” Psedo said, or computer science sophomore Matthew Rhodes. “Ideally, if I could do a song — and right now, I’m just doing it for me ... but if a song were to blow up, and I were to actually become known, I’d probably complete my degree just to have it as a backup. But it seems like I just keep doing my passion and get a job and go from there.”

Stoop Lee, or media and information senior Ade Olaniran, is known for being personable.

He used self-promotion to pack the Record Lounge for a concert on Jan. 13.

Kyle Preston, a Western Michigan University student who went to high school with Olaniran and was one of his opening acts on Friday as part of rap duo T.I.E, said Olaniran attracts admiration with his personality.

“Ade always had that steez, what’s the word, that clout,” Preston said. “People knew Ade, Ade was always that nice guy that everybody always wanted to be around, people loved Ade. Anytime we got to be around him, we were always influenced. We wanted to take notes, like, what was he doing? Because he had a sort of pull, people were attracted to him.”

Olaniran brings a collaborative spirit to his live performances. During his concert at the Record Lounge on Jan. 13, he used call-and-response chants and a 1990s-themed costume contest to get the audience participating.

He also invited any rappers in the audience up to perform a cypher, or collaborative freestyle rap, with him.

Olaniran brings the same collaborative spirit to his recording, as he has worked with several MSU musicians, including Charlie Burg, a self-described “indie/soul/rock” singer-songwriter and hip-hop producer who later transferred to Syracuse University for its music industry program.

“We recorded a lot in my dorm room at State and in music practice rooms,” Burg said. “I would just show him a beat and I’d set up the mic for him, and he’d be like, ‘Hey, let me try something over this,’ and he would rap or sing something, and it would just click. It’d sound great.”

Olaniran also helped introduce ItsErnie, or interdisciplinary studies in social science senior Jared Davis, to the MSU rap community when he transferred from community college in 2015.

“UAB does Open Mic Night every other Tuesday, and I was like, ‘Oh, I should go,’ Davis said. “There was one dude named Stoop Lee, dope artist, really good, and I was like, ‘hey, what’s up?’ And we just talk, exchange info, we go to school, I see him around. And then you meet DJs, you go to parties. ... You just start meeting people, we’re around. You start talking to people, and then a kid’s got a mic in his house, or someone hits the studio, or is having a show in Lansing.”

Olaniran and Davis are both building connections in the rap industry through music. A. Cook, or parks, recreation and tourism junior Aarmond Cook, is helping to forge connections and give artists a platform by organizing an annual concert called One MSU.

“I’m always looking for opportunities to give somebody else an opportunity that I wish I got at some point, which is why we do One MSU and everything, (for) the kind of people we talk to that never performed in front of a live audience, the kind of people we talk to that never recorded in an actual studio, or put money towards their career,” Cook said. “What I try to do is give them opportunities.”

Economics junior Dawson Laney is a hip-hop producer who has worked with various artists, including ItsErnie. Laney said although he has worked with MSU artists, the hip-hop community in East Lansing is not as cohesive as it could be.

“It’s just like, ‘I do my thing, you’re trying to do yours,’ the history of rap battles and everything, diss tracks and all that, it’s kind of built around competition,” Laney said. “But the more that you can get people together, the more you’re going to see success.”

Collaboration among other artists is an idea many of the artists consider.

“I would definitely like to talk to other rappers,” Rhodes said. “But I kind of see myself just doing my own thing. If there was a rap community, I’d like to be aware of it, just to know what’s going on around me. But unless somebody actually wanted to work with me, I probably wouldn’t really be active inside of it.”

Davis, who wants to get a job in human resources after he graduates this winter, hopes to be a figure in the rap industry in five years. For now, like many college students, he is trying to convince his mother that his five-year plan will work.

“I was just arguing with my mom about it,” Davis said. “She was like, ‘Get a job and go to grad school.’ So I graduate next December, and I’m like, ‘Mom, grad school, give me five years, I just want to get a good job, locally, and just build a fanbase, move to LA, talk to labels, start touring.’”