I was born in the south in 1992. Growing up I heard a lot of Master P, Outkast, and all that other good southern hip-hop stuff. I liked it. Who didn’t?

Okay. Let’s fast forward to a decade over.

So here was the year of 2007. MySpace was popping and music took a turn. Rappers started dressing like Kriss Kross all over again. And they were doing dances that my fat, uncoordinated self wouldn’t even attempt to learn. So I wasn’t feeling the music at all around this time.

I was a freshman in high school and I started to “notice” myself. I noticed that I didn’t like what a lot of other people around me liked. Especially when it came to music. But everyone can appreciate a nice beat and a catchy hook though, right? I did. That was nice, but there was something else that I started to love. LYRICS, WORD PLAY, METAPHORS!!! And all that dopeness. A little flavor in ya ear as Craig Mack would say.

I found myself listening to a lot of music that was before my time and a lot of music that some people thought I was too young to remember. Everyday before and after school, you could find me locked in my room listening to Eric B & Rakim, The Fugees, and Nas. Just to keep the list short.

A lot of the guys that I would talk to and be around at school talked about sports and girls that they were messing around with. I didn’t really watch sports, nor did I play. And around that time in the 9th grade, there was not one girl giving me any play. It was straight friend zone for me.

Then this one day in the cafeteria, they were talking about rappers. I was thinking to myself, “this is my chance to be heard, this is my moment, this is an icebreaker”. I knew that I loved music, so I was ready to put in my two cents for once.

So the discussion was about rappers Boosie and Lil Wayne. Someone yelled, “Wayne will straight murk Boosie ass in a freestyle.” I sat and thought to myself that I agree with that. Then someone else yelled, “but Boosie mo realer than Wayne.” I kind of agreed with that as well. And then there came the moment I spoke and said, “That’s not really a good comparison. Who y’all think is the best between Nas and Jay-z?”.. That’s when everyone burst into laughter. I sat there with a smile on my face. Wondering what the hell was so funny. Then someone said to me that “man, that shit is lame.”

I just hushed my ass up and continued eating my lunch.

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