Open Letter To My "Peers"

Dear Local Hip-Hop Artists and Purists And Those Who Had Big Chat On What I Do:

Pretty much.
(via Black World Films)

Yes, my paws are on a different path from yours.
That hardly makes me any less valid.
I'm of a different breed.

I come from a school half of you younger artists know nothing about. A different code that many of you spat upon because those before you who knew better spat upon it to stay relevant and not look "stupid" in front of their/yer boys.

And I was never understood so I don't expect you to get it now.

I knew what I was doing, I knew my mission, and if you think that what I did was worthless--think again.

I knew that I was on a hard mission to have folx remember what the purrpose of the MC was and still could be. I haven't forgotten. The *rest* of you have.

Oh, BTDubs:

Did *you* get scouted for a popular show?
Did they use *your* music in two seasons?
Did LA Mag's Blog include *you* in a list of artists you should hear?
Are *you* collecting royalties from it?

Lemme know, nuh...

via Giphy

Are you versatile and flexible? Prolly not. "Flexible" does not equal being able to rhyme about bxtches in one track, hoes in another, and weed in the next, and knowing whether to use the hard ER in that N-word yawl like to throw around so much. "Flexible" does not mean "do I wear the snapback to the front or back? Do I swagger or do I just stand there onstage and hold my balls?" "Do I come for all the competition with venom and diss trax because I need to prove I'm the baddest bxtch out there cuz there can only be one?"

Yup. That's that REAL hip-hop (sarcastic font *heavily* on).

Yeah-huh. Sure.
(via Giphy)

See, my flex is what you *haven't* seen. Yawl too fxcking judgmental. Yawl was so busy looking at the ears, the hair and the gear that you just dismissed my ability altogether.

(I'm not talking to yawl con folx and event planners...that's a whole other post. I might have words for yawl, too, so be patient.)

I may not have been worthy to be doing yawl's shows, interview segs, and whatever the fxck else yawl came up with to clique up strong, but I know who I am and what I bloody stand for.

👏🏾I. 👏🏾LIVE. 👏🏾 IN.👏🏾MY. 👏🏾TRUTH.

Can you really say the same?
The kawaii is real, not some shxt I made up to seem interesting.
The geekiness is real, not geek chic like some prominent female rappers I could name.

The ears are worn because channeling totems, not because they cute. If that were the case you'd only see me with them onstage and in pix (catch me at Shoprite and see if I'm fxcking kidding).

And what I write is real, not manufactured for the fxcking masses. I didn't visually or musically genre-jump to seem fresh and new. Influences abound because I actually listened to and liked that music/those clothes.

I didn't bite off another's whole lyrical style like some mainstream artists and then win awards for it, and get praise for being "real". I *stayed* real from the jump.

Nobody cosigned me.

I'd give you my kicks to walk in but they might fit funny and not be your style. They're custom...and floss free.

Living in your truth *IS* hip-hop.
And that's all I've ever done from the get-go.
Maybe you should re-evaluate yourselves and live in yours...not what you *think* is yours.