By Vishal Manglani – Staff Reporter

Law senior Bobby Phong wakes up in the morning and never expects to be bored at any part in the day. After his long day of academic classes, Phong practices as the captain of the tennis team. At home, Bobby stays committed to his rapping career, performing for audiences and releasing songs.

Soon, Phong is ready to start a new chapter of his life as an incoming freshman at Sacred Heart University. Phong has been exponentially growing in his high school career and has no intent to stop as he begins college. Along with his impressive transcript, he has given more definition to himself as an artist and a tennis player.

Phong’s teachers and peers have no complaints when it comes to assessing him on his schoolwork.

“Bobby is enthusiastic in class and eager to share his creativity – especially in my video production class,” technology education teacher Mr. Barcello said.

Over his four years in high school, Phong’’s academics have gained more significance as his career went on.

“Bobby always puts his academics before rapping, making sure his schoolwork is always complete,” said Jax James, Bobby’s producer.

James has seen Phong’s growth mainly in the past two years as a student and as a rapper. Phong recognizes the importance of his schoolwork in relation to his future as a rapper and a person.

With so much on his plate, many wonder how Phong manages to keep up with his school work when his leisure is consumed by his tennis and rapping career.

“Bobby handles his rapping, schoolwork, and music better than I ever could,” James said. “Somehow he always finds a way to get everything done in a timely fashion. He never ceases to amaze me.”

With so much on his plate, Phong remains focused and hard-working. The harder he works, the more he gets done.

“I have to juggle a lot of things as well, but a lot of times Bobby seems like he is able to focus more than me and knock out his work so we can book more shows.” said Zack Bailey, Phong’s manager.

Phong’s hard work and dedication to his academics have definitely paid off.

“It has come to my attention that he is attending Sacred Heart University,” Bailey said. “Bob shows a lot of intelligence in his vocabulary and common sense. This definitely ties into his rapping career.”

Phong’s future at Sacred Heart University will, without a doubt, feed into his growth.

Phong’s tennis career has been constant throughout his life. Currently, Phone is ranked 19th in Connecticut, 45th in New England, and 1,198th in the nation.

“I’ve been playing tennis for eight years so tennis has been in my life for a while,” Phong said. ““It means a lot to me because it has build my character and let me be able to meet people,who are now my close friends.”

Phong did not play tennis at Law his freshman year, but immediately made his mark as a sophomore. He led the team in wins and was named All-SCC..

His junior year, Phong lead his team in wins again made All SCC. He was also named captain of the team This year, Phong is projected to make All-SCC once again, lead his team in wins, and make states for the third year in a row. He also remained team captain.

“l am more ambitious and I try to fight for things i want now,” Phong said. “Basically tennis makes me more dedicated.” Phong’s tennis career will not stop making him fight for what he deserves.

Phong’s rapping career is the aspect of his high school career that shows the most growth. Originally, his art was a simple hobby and he rapped for jokes. However, with the release of his first song “Rigamortis,” a remix of Kendrick Lamar’s song, created much buzz around the school and sparked his rapping career.

The song quickly received over one thousand views on YouTube. His newer songs also receive the same amount of attention and it’s growing due to his public appearances at local clubs and events.

“In the course of a year, Bobby has gone from performing at only prom, to performing at the space in Hamden, Toad’s Place and PLM for Maren,” James said.

Phong’s producer and manager both have a profound effect on his career and life.

“With my help, the improvement of overall sound quality of Bobby’s music has brought him to the next level,” James said.

James is one of the main reasons Phong has been able to expand as a rapper from recording in his bedroom to performing in front of large crowds.

Bailey also plays a large role in Phong’s rapping career.

“He wants me to book shows all the time, which inspires him to put together songs and content that he can sell to venues and clubs.,” Bailey said.

Without Bailey, much of Phong’s fame and support would be non-existent.

Phong’s supporters have recognized his rapping as a hobby, but are beginning to see it more as a profession and expect him to move onto bigger and better things.

“He has grown in confidence and his ambitions have risen to a new standard,” said Masur Ahmed, Bobby’s close friend. “Performing in front of real people has placed a new found pressure on him to succeed and move onto greater things.”

Phong’s rapping style is unlike other big name rappers in the music industry. While most rappers rap about money, drugs and girls, Phong raps about his feelings, stories and anger, doing so with passion.

“Bobby has become very passionate about his art. Its very noticable that I get more calls asking about updates and new ideas from him compared to other DJs,”  Bailey said.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly where his passion falls in his music simply because there is so much to take in at once.

“After I listened to his music, I realized it got a lot deeper, more fluent and had a lot of style,” said Bailey. “Most of the time he is able to channel his anger anger and frustration and anger into his music which shows a lot of growth”.

His music continues to be sung with passion and heart in his newer songs. For Phong, his music isn’t about the fame he gets; it’s the passion he releases into the world.

On Soundcloud and YouTube, Phong’s songs can be found under his rapping name B-Phong. His newest songs are “Im B-Phong” and “Can We Both Talk”. In both songs, listeners can hear and understand Phong’s varying styles of music.

“Can We Both Talk” is a very elegant song and contains a very soft spoken chorus. This song was released on one year anniversary of his rapping career, which fell on Valentine’s day. To put a spin on this song, Phong made the song about love and dedicated it to “all the single ladies.” This style of music is just one of the varying styles of Bobby Phong.

“I’m B-Phong” is a very angry, and fast-paced song. This is nearly the opposite of “Can We Both Talk.” Both songs have received extensive positive feedback. In “I’m B-Phong” he raps about being the 18-year-old he is from Connecticut, wanting to be something more. He also outlines his battle against the stereotypes and criticism he has been hearing all his life.

Phong’s peers and teachers have recognized him for being dedicated to his work, whatever it be.

“He seems very dedicated to things he’s interested in – rapping and tennis especially. He also seems dedicated to annoying me occasionally,” Barcello said.

Phong dedicates countless hours of his life to master what he loves.

“Just know that is not just talent or luck,” Ahmed said. “It’s the hours that get you far. As far as I can see, he puts in hours.”

As Phong graduates from Law and enters a new chapter of his life, he knows that his work ethic and passion will carry over. His workload will increase as he studies in Sacred Heart University, but Phong will not fail to keep up with his various growing careers.

Additional information on Phong can be found on http://www.tennisrecruiting.net. His music can be found on YouTube and SoundCloud under the name “B-Phong”.