The Climb
Music found me early. I grew up in uptown Harlem. Kept a CD player & would sneak away just to listen to it. When I was 7, mom dropped me & baby sis off in Nigeria for 2 years. My cousins taught me music theory. I watched them play the piano, then taught myself to play as well.
Came back to NY but left my classical piano days behind me. Skip to high school and I'm back on the keys playing by ear for my church. Meanwhile, I'm at school judging my wannabe rapper friends. My basketball coach and team would taIk about Kendrick & Cole but I was too detached to contribute. (I'm not sure how, I had one of those OG brick iPods with a million songs.) Tried rapping once or twice at home in private lol #HypocriteGang but I was raised to value academic excellence and moral purity above all.
Skip to @kenyoncollege. My sisters went there as English majors. Swore I'd never take an English class. I studied psychology. Wanted to be a Special Agent in the FBI. Freshman yr, my gf gets me a journal. I start writing my thoughts down. One day she asks me to write a poem and I freeze like T'Challa. Re-plagiarized a poem from my childhood (I cheated on a poem in 5th grade, sorry @berryandco). My ex thought I was a legend for coming up with it on the spot 😅🤐🤦🏿♂️.
Skip to sophomore yr. @thekye__ wants me to come with him to a party. He knows I don't party. I stay behind, turn up some music, and write a poem...about love 🤧. I rhymed. Then I rhymed again. And again. Then I couldn't stop. Wasn't my first poem ever, but it sure felt like it. (Was hype after, so I went to the party.)
Skip to Junior yr. I'm WRITING. The kid had bars, can't even lie to you. Spring comes & I study abroad in Copenhagen. Can't stop writing, rapping, or singing. It's like a radioactive bug bit me. I skip/FAIL Danish on purpose so I can steal back time to create.
Skip to 2018. Self-published African-American (link in bio). Skip to 2020. Pandemic. Married. Adulting. Dream job feeling less dreamy.
Now we back. Been distracted. But it's time I end my sabbatical. God didn't give me these gifts to keep ‘em. So let the beat run, let the ink flow. I gotta know how far I can go if I actually try. I gotta know.