Raheem's master plan

HIS STAGE name, Random, was no random choice for triple-threat hip-hop artist Raheem Jarbo. The Philadelphia native's inspiration was the X-Factor comic-book character who shape-shifts to meet the challenges that come his way.

Jarbo certainly has a willingness and ability to adapt, whether he's teaching middle-school English or straddling the hip-hop and video-game music genres on stage, as a conscious underground MC and nerdcore superstar, and as a studio producer.

"I'm able to get some pretty good support on both sides . . . which is great," said Jarbo, embracing the conscious and nerd rapper labels. "It's like we're in the virtual cafeteria - there's the cool table and the nerd table and I kind of sit in the middle. I really appreciate that I bring those guys together and we can all listen to some good music and have fun."

Jarbo brings that approach into the classroom with equal success, according to Keturah Lee, assistant dean at Omega Academy, a charter school in Phoenix.

"It is so ironic that his passion is poetry in the form of rap, because he teaches an English class and teaches poetry among other requirements," Lee said. "The kids love it because they get to see his videos on YouTube or hear his music on CD while working on their own assignments."

Jarbo's relationship with hip-hop dates back to one of the genre's first hits and his youth in West Oak Lane.

"My earliest hip-hop memory would have to be late '70s, early '80s and hearing Grandmaster Flash's 'The Message,' " Jarbo, now 33, recalled in a recent interview. "My baby sitter would play it all the time. I had no idea what the song was about, I just remembered the chorus - 'Don't. Push. Me!' "

Summertime raps

"It was 1993 - summertime," Jarbo said. "I was on my mom's step sitting with my friends and listening to some music. We all decided to try to write a rap verse. We all sat down and wrote something, then rapped it to each other. I was scared to say my rap, but everybody was like, 'Ooh, that was tight!' "

With that bit of encouragement, Jarbo's creative nature was unleashed. Armed with the most basic of home-studio equipment, he and his friends began shaping their verses into songs. He even started supplying the beats - in a very unorthodox yet ultimately fitting way.