kris7

Party For The Fight To Write

Hip-Hop is the most portable genre in music ever. It can happen anywhere. While one person raps, another can beatbox, or hammer out a beat on some nearby object. Hip-hop can happen anywhere. It's for this reason why I owe a lot to hip hop.

It was my sophomore year in high school. Junior high was fucking hell, and I had a rep for being a loser which carried into high school. I wasn't getting into any fights, but I'd still get harassed every once in a whil and not many girls talked to me.

I took a computer class as an elective. It was more typing than it was doing anything computer wise. Sitting next to me was a Jamaican kid named Dain. He was having trouble with the class so I helped him out. He noticed that I didn't have any "crew" that I rolled with at school. I spent many lunches by myself. So one day he goes "Hey yo, come chill at my lunch table man". So I did. I was the only white guy at the table. This really didn't bother anyone at the table; they were all cool guys. I was just a quiet kid who wasn't afriad of them b/c of their skin color and I was also friends with Dain so I was "down".

One of the thigns I realize now was that all a non-Caucasian wants is to be treated just like any other person. They knew I was quiet b/c I was a normally quiet kid; and that I didn't feel intimidated. I picked up on the slang just from hearing it everyday. Shortly afterward I'd see Dain or any of the other guys and they'd greet me with "Yo wassup nigga?" I NEVER called them "nigga" back, even if it was as a term of endearment. They probably wouldn't have minded it at all, cuz to them I was just another black kid, but I still wouldn't do it, cuz the word carries such an ugly weight in a white persons mouth. So I'd just call them "g" or "kid" or "brotha" and it was alll gooood

A month or two later, my friend Dain would sometimes sing rap songs quietly to himself during class and sometimes Jamaican songs. At one point, I just randomly sang part of a Rage Against The Machine song. Dain said "Did you write that?" I said I wish I did. He said "Damn nigga I didn't know you culd flow!"

At some point I did part of a different RATM song in front of a bunch of guys and everyone went nuts. This was BEFORE anyone ever heard of Eminem, so a white guy rapping, and rapping well, was still an undheard of phenomenon. It occurred to me that people thought *I* was writing these songs; being an extreme HATER OF PLAIGERISM, this bothered me alot. So I quickly started writing my OWN ryhmes.

At first my style was very doom and gloom content wise (imagine Glenn Danzig with two turntables and microphone). What the hell, I came from a happy family in a safe suburb, I sure as fuck ain't gonna try to be "gangsta" or "ghetto". Eventually I started writing social/political commentary type ryhmes. Then before I even knew what a battle was, I started writing battle verses.

Eventually I became really popular. People couldn't believe that I could rap and do it well. I was still a recluse and didn't hang out much, but I wasn't getting bullied anymore. All the popular people who didn't know me from middle school, now knew me and liked me, and their popular friends who were the ones who used to fuck with me backed off, either because of some newfound tolerance or the realization that I beat them at their own game, or both.

One of the things that really blows my mind as I look back on those days was that I would get props and accolades from guys who have been rapping since they were ten years old and they were regarding me as a peer! Woah. I didn't realize it then, but now I know that definitely means something for a hip-hop aficianado who has listened to and participated in this music all his life to be complimenting a guy who is normally a rock fan on his rhyming skills

The absolute best moment of it all....was the Senior Breakfast. At the Senior Breakfast after everyone ate at the Bear Mountain lodge (I think that was the name), they announced the awards of the "Best of's" i.e. Best Dressed, Teachers Pet, Golden Shovel (biggest bullshiter), Nicest Smile etc. A few months before when the voting started, I was told I was being voted as "Best Musician". I asked my friend "why?" I still sucked at guitar! How could I get that? He said because I was a rapper. Now this guy was on the football team, and when one guy on the team goes "VOTE FOR THIS GUY" in a category no one has any real opinion on, they all follow suit, and that has a domino effect on the rest of the school.

At the senior breakfast, before the awards, and after the jazz band played, a woman whom I am forever in debt to named Danielle Dillon suggsted I go on the small stage and rock the mic. With permission from one of the Principals, and getting the drummer to hanmer out the beat, I got up there, and rocked the mic...

The place went nuts....everyone was up on their feet, hands in the air, the whole bit. All the rage from being pushed around, alienated, and treated like a subhuman got released in that performance. One girl even compared my performance to Zach from RATM after the show. After that, the winners were announced and sure enough I won. (wouldn't it have sucked if i didn't?)

I got bit by the bug that day. The LIVE bug. BOOM! Instant addiction. The quiet kid now has to get on some sort of stage on a regular basis, be it a show, or a poetry open mic. It was electrifying to say the least.

Hip-hop gave me the chance to voice my feelings in a way that wouldn't work in rock. Can you bring your rock band to school and rock out at the drop of a hat when someone wants to see your skills? Since hip-hop can happen anywhere, I was given a foundation upon which I stood up for myself. I was able to fight back and get some respect; and I owe a great deal to hip-hop music.

The pen, truly is mightier than the sword.