It's funny how unknowingly racist black people are to each other. I qoute Shakespeare, Morrissey, Poe, Frost, Dalai Llama, Einstein, Kennedy, X, and a gang of other great men I've read about my whole. People assume I'm quoting a rapper. I love rap. I look and speak the part because I have no shame in my game, but hip-hop has never been about ignorance. It's been about expanding horizons and upliftment.
Without Pac I wouldn't have gotten into poetry. I read Tupac before I heard him. The Rose That Grew From Concrete is one of my earliest memories in my life. I remember the visual the words gave me. I remember examining his handwriting because he wrote in a way unlike anyone I've read in 27 years on this planet.
He had his own grammar system. He wrote in the cadence he'd perform the piece. I remember reading it and hearing the rhythm he wrote it too. I swear to God I was alive after that. Colors were brighter and I was excited.
Also if you haven't rapped STFU. It is an art from and all rappers are using a system and structure to deliver their piece. Just because you don't understand the craft of poetry and storytelling doesn't mean it isn't a meaningful art form.
I've won awards for public speaking, I've done some theatre, and I've always been a leader in the classroom or at work. I wouldn't be me without reading that poem.