He has made rapping for health his life and has done music videos and radio jingles on everything from preventing heart disease to promoting proper eating.
He has performed his works to a variety of audiences, including the School of Performing Arts and the Columbus Academy. He works with a musical collaborator to put his words to the song. These compositions, he says, have served as "an excellent form of education. And education," adds Cooper, "is the best form of prevention."
Cooper's Antismoking Rap Songs
Cooper is an African American hip-hop and R&B artist, record producer, and author. He researches health issues and writes rap jingles to educate people on how to keep their bodies happy and healthy. He also has a large collection of Black History Hip Hop and R&B.
He began his recording career with a music group, Demetrious, and the Gladiators, who were among the last artists to work with music arranger Lawrence 88 Keys. The group broke up later, and Cooper became a solo artist known as Ernest Super Cooper.
Cooper was a sergeant in the Security Department at the Albert Einstein Hospital, College of Medicine, a division of Montefiore Medical Center. Since then, he has been writing health-related songs and jingles that deal with stress, smoking, crime, and nutrition. He has performed his works before a variety of audiences, including the School of Performing Arts and the Columbus Academy.
Ron Scherer, a writer for The Christian Science Monitor, wrote, "Six hundred sophomores at St. John's Preparatory are listening to rap singer Ernest Super Cooper beat out his message, "You Make Me Choke When You Smoke."
Cooper also visited the West Brighton School with Joseph W. Cherner, President of Smokefree Educational Services, carrying leaflets and videotapes to encourage students to stay away from smoking. Then on March 16, 1988, Cooper received an Award of Excellence from Joseph W. Cherner Contest Sponsor, which certifies that Cooper participated in the 1987 New York City Antismoking Ad Contest by performing his rap song, "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute."
On December 21, 1987, he received a letter from The City of New York Office of the Mayor. He thanked Super Cooper for participating in their Antismoking Rally at the High School of Fashion Industries. It highlighted the health dangers caused by smoking. They hoped the attention and enthusiasm would spread the message among families and schools.
Cooper Revolutionizes the Rap Music Industry with Positive Message
"Once you make rap music, children look up to you as a role model. And when they look up to you as a role model, it made me realize if I should say negative things or positive things. So, I chose to do all the positive things."
For him, education is key. Cooper raps positive lyrics that educate people to focus on themselves and be concerned about their mental and physical health. He aspires to revive that "old-time religion" feeling through rap and make crime prevention and no smoking the right message. He has produced music recordings on the prevention of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, and AIDS education.
