Rebels: Damien & Tourie Escobar

Age(s): 17 and 19, respectively

Representing: New York City

Why You Should Fear Them: They're classical violinists and they rock cornrow braids. Need I same more? In a quest to merge classical music and hip hop, the Escobar brothers have formed the breakout group, "Nuttin' But Stringz," also known as NBS.

When most elementary school kids were staring at the television, Damien and Tourie began taking violin lessons. Raised in the inner city, they endured the taunting of friends and stuck with the violin in spite of its lack of popularity. Together, on weekends they studied at the Julliard School of Music as well as the Bloomingdale School of Music.

As the brothers grew up, they found their love of hip hop didn't mesh well with their love of classical music. They sought to change that. The brothers began performing their music in the subway and in front of anyone who would listen. At first glance, the Escobar brothers appear like the average hip hoppers--hair braided, the bling, baggy jeans, and clean sneakers. But they wield a secret weapon that promises to upset the average traditionalist. While in the past, hip hop has often incorporated strings, there hasn't yet been a true crossover into the classical music genre. With their fusion of R&B, hip hop and jazz, the brothers wear head mikes and incorporate their own vocals into their performances.

As it stands, the Escobar brothers have deferred any college plans so they can tour schools, do concerts and gear up for their album release. Their first album, "STRUGGLE FROM THE SUBWAY TO THE CHARTS," is set to be released this summer. Thus far, the brothers have been featured on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show," "The Tonight Show," "The Today Show," "The CBS Morning Show," VH1, BET and Nickelodeon.

As the brothers often say at the end of their set, "Welcome to a new era."

Man I love my generation. I am sooooooo coppin' this album.

Website: Nuttin But Stringz

Press: New York Daily News and Times-Ledger, New York Cool.

Past Rebels: Roger Powell, Jr., Taylor Moore, Ben Shapiro, Erika Harold, Farrah Gray, Hans Zeiger, Adam Hunter, Dwight Howard, Sheri Valera, Princella Smith

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Rebel: Roger Powell, Jr.

Age: 22

Representing: Joilet, IL

Status: Recently graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, star forward on one of the winningest college basketball teams in the nation.

Why You Should Fear Him: This man could've made even the diehard UNC Tarheel fan root for Illinois. Standing at 6'-6" Powell is more than just a star forward for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Nicknamed by his teammates as "The Rev," he's a star off the court too.

Powell's biggest accomplishment? A transformed life. Growing up in a Christian home, Powell got to college and admittedly struggled maintaining the lifestyle standard he knew was right. He joined the university's "Fellowship of Christian Athletes" and that was the beginning of his turn around. He is now proud to say he lives his faith in public via his actions.

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Rebel: Taylor Moore

Age: 15

Representing: Chicago, IL

Status: Sophomore at Kenwood Academy High School

Why you should fear her: A sought-after inspirational speaker on the topic of abstinence, excellence, and non-violence to young people. Taylor Moore has been commanding crowds around the country since she was 10-years-old. She is the youngest speaker on the Project Reality team, an organization focused on abstinence education. In addition to public speaking, Moore is a certified cable television producer and host. She hosts three shows locally on the Chicago Cable Access Network: "Making It," "Words to Live By," and "Behind the Scenes."

In addition to all this, Moore is also an excellent student ranked in the top five percent of her class and has been named to Who's Who Among High School Students. She's a percussionist, pianist and composer.

Moore has been honored by the Governor of Illinois, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, 4-H Club and many others. At only fifteen, she's definitely one to watch.

Links/Press:Taylor Moore's Website

Past Rebels: Ben Shapiro, Erika Harold, Farrah Gray, Hans Zeiger, Adam Hunter, Dwight Howard, Sheri Valera, Princella Smith

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Rebel: Ben Shapiro

Age: 20

Representing: Burbank, CA

Why You Should Fear Him: I'm not one to get muddled in the specifics of why I disagree with a person politically. A rebel is defined as someone who has countered the culture and done the complete opposite of what this country expects of us. When somebody's bad (it's slang ya'll), I give them their props. Ben Shapiro is bad.

He entered UCLA at age 16 and is now enrolled at Harvard Law school. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist. Today, a syndicated columnist he remains. In addition, Shapiro released his first book last year, "Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth."

He's appeared regularly on numerous radio shows and done speaking engagements across the country. For four years, he was a staunch and outspoken conservative on the politically correct UCLA (we protest everything) campus. He's willing to take unpopular stances in spite of much opposition.

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Name: Erika Harold

Age: 23

Representing: Urbana, Illinois

Why You Should Fear Her: Ms. Harold is no joke. In 2003, she deferred acceptance into Harvard Law school after being crowned Miss America. With her primary platform being "Preventing Youth Violence and Bullying: Protect Yourself, Respect Yourself," she faced a firestorm of controversy at the beginning of her reign, when she wanted to publicly discuss her past platforms of abstinence education. The Miss America Organization attempted to bully her into not discussing the "Sexual Abstinence" platform, but Harold did not relent.

In response to pressure to back down from one of her platforms, Harold said the following

"One of my jobs as Miss America is to be a role model to young people and to provide them with my story as an example of how they can achieve positive things in their lives. My personal commitment to abstinence from drugs, sex and alcohol in my opinion helped me to accomplish many of my goals. If I were prevented from speaking about that I think it would be very disingenuous in terms of serving as a role model."

Nothing more to say there. Harold has worked closely with Project Reality, a nonprofit organization promoting abstinence. She also spoke at the last RNC and has worked on many political initiatives.

She's a classically trained vocalist, a brilliant student, and can work an evening gown better than the average woman. Most importantly, she's a no-joke, on point, pull no-punches, woman of God. Oh, and she's gorgeous.

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(Important: If you arrived here via a search for "Farrah Gray," his personal website is: FarrahGray.com)

Rebel: Farrah Gray

Age: 20

Representing: Chicago, IL/Las Vegas, NV

Why you should fear him: For starters, he probably makes more money than you. At age 14, this young entrepreneur was a millionaire.

Gray's entrepreneurial journey began at age six when he went door to door selling body lotion for $1.50. Always starting economic empowerment clubs at school, Gray got the idea to do a radio show. At age 9, Gray co-hosted a radio show called "Backstage Live" which eventually reached 12 million listeners.

Feeling lazy yet? It gets better.

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Name: Hans Zeiger

Age: 19

Status: Sophomore American Studies major at Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Why you should fear him: He's everyone's favorite boy scout (correction, Eagle Scout). He's brash, he's a Republican, he's Hans Zeiger. Up until he wrote some grossly ignorant and misleading comments about voting and people who listen to hip hop, Zeiger was on my very good side.

Still it remains, Zeiger is a force to be reckoned with. Once called one of the most opinionated teenagers in America, Zeiger is a national columnist and an activist. He is the president of the Scout Honor Coalition, a network dedicated to countering politically correct attacks on the scouts.

Last year Zeiger was also a runner-up in MTV's "Stand Up and Holla" essay contest.

Zeiger's column appears in too many papers and online news sources to name them all. A few include the Seattle Times, WorldnetDaily, and TownHall. While many of us were home watching television, Zeiger was penning his first book, "Get Off My Honor", published by Broadman and Holman publishers, and due out in 2005.

Most importantly, he's a young man devoted to community service, serving in his local church, and being a responsible citizen. Can't ask for more.

Representing: Puyallup, Washington (also know as the cultural wasteland)

Articles: See HansZeiger.com

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