Re: Writing Prompt: Coming of Age

Sure life is short, but it is full of learning experiences or profound moments. If we look hard enough, we would be able to identify something that we learned or a profound moment probably everyday, so writing this, for me, is difficult because there are so many moments that I consider profound, and because I rarely do this.

I rarely include myself in my own stories. Already, I probably set a record for how many times I used the pronoun "I" in a story.

Everyone experiences a coming of age, or at least everyone should. A stage of maturity--an awakening.

If you're on the right path as far as your job, school work, or what have you, that coming of age might be actually growing into and accepting that role and realizing that you have to keep it up.

And if you were like me, that coming of age is realizing that you have to change your life around. That you can't keep on living the way that you're living and expect to be make it anywhere or even be successful at much of anything positively productive.

Luckily for me, I noticed that a change was needed, and was definitely pass due, at a young age--much younger than usual, I suppose. I always have had a firm grip on reality, but like millions of other struggling teens, it was hard to stare at reality in the face--painful even.

At 13 or 14-years-old, bad skin was synonymous with who I was. I was disturbed--aggravated, full of blemishes, like bad skin. But when your skin clears up, you feel brand new. For me, as my skin went through a metamorphosis, so did I as a person.

I was a bad kid, I'd be the first to tell you. I was involved in things and with people I shouldn't have been involved with. I've done things that most people would pray to forget about.

My actions were regrettable, but I don't regret them--let me explain. Everything deviant that you can imagine at that age, I probably did it--or came close to it, but I don't regret them, and I will try my hardest not to forget them because they keep me humble and are partially responsible for the man that I've become.

I needed those days, and I'm thankful that I woke up before it was too late. In addition to being a deviant young teen, I wasn't performing the way I should have in school--I barely got out of the eighth grade.

But I had a role model. A positive role model. A role model who was almost the exact opposite of me. I followed his every move and still learn from him to this day. I looked in the mirror--I stared at my face and I cried. I cried because I knew I wasn't shit.

I saw my role model excelling--exceeding expectations and I witnessed what a huge gap there was between what he was doing and what I was doing.

My brother was getting 90s in his classes, he was getting scholarship offers from the best, distinguished colleges and universities, he was well-spoken, and well-liked by everyone, including teachers, who because I went to the same schools as he did, had great expectations for me because he did so well. I was one of the biggest disappointments they had ever seen, the biggest compliment that I got from a teacher was from my eighth grade English teacher. She said that I was a hoodlum, but I had a heart of gold as she shook her head in disapproval.

I realized that my brother worked harder than anyone, and hard work demands a reward. I stepped it up in a major way. I was always smart, I just applied my intelligence to different things--I didn't have to change my aim, I had to change the target.

And so I did. I dropped friends and became committed. Along the way, I found people who have shaped my life in different ways and I've developed skills that will stay with me for as long as I live.

My work isn't done--there's always room for improvement, but I'm in a far better position because of the realization of my coming of age, by embracing that profound moment.

Expanding The "Parameters" of A Rap Battle: Did 50 Cent Go Too Far?

We've heard this story before...in anticipation for an upcoming project, we've seen 50 Cent go at other hip-hop artists to build hype and promotion.

But this situation is a little different. In "Mafia Music," one of his latest songs for his upcoming album, Deeper Than Rap, Rick Ross took a shot at 50 Cent regarding the fire that burnt down his multi-million dollar mansion on Long Island.

It was a short, four-bar shot in which he called 50 jealous and boasted about how he would love to take his son's mother (who resided in the house) shopping...you'll peep the irony later.

As you can probably imagine, 50 responded promptly with "Officer Ricky, Go Ahead Try Me." One the track, 50 Cent disses Ross about his past as a Correction Officer as well as his rhyming style and DJ Khaled.

50 also brought up how Rick Ross lives a lie by naming himself after the currently incarcerated "Freeway" Ricky Ross, who along with the CIA and Ronald Reagan created and used crack-cocaine to fund a war in Nicaragua--the Iran-Contra Scandal. If you don't know about it--please do your research.

On a side note, "50 Cent" is also named after a former convict, Kelvin Darnell Martin, who was a stick-up kid infamous for the robbery and murder of hustlers.

Back to music. Typically, what would happen next is a few radio interviews on nationally popular hip-hop shows, and they would go back-and-forth with songs until one of them waves the white flag. Hip-hop fans know that 50 Cent is veteran in beef on wax and he's not going to stop dissing his opponent (unless your Jadakiss.)

Going into the music battle, some speculated that this might have been the begginning of the end for 50 Cent's rap career because of Ross's affiliation with other popular hip-hop artists, especially in the south, and that if they combine their efforts, it could put 50 "Curtis Jackson" Cent away from mainstream radiowaves for good.

Rick Ross, whose birth name is William Roberts Jr., did an interview with radio host Angela Yee on Shade 45 (Sirius Satellite Radio.) Ross essentially called 50's response weak and gave him 48 hours to come back harder.

Within 48 hours, Jackson took the beef to a different level. First, on his website, 50 vowed to "fuck [Ross's] life up...for fun." He then flaunted some public records that he retrieved and warned Ross--saying that he (50) is very resourceful.


But that was just step one. The proof is in the pudding and 50 seems to be as resourceful as he claims. Within the next two days, he released a brief animated cartoon depicting Rick Ross as the cop and himself as the person in jail. Jackson took the liberty to diss Ross's mother and one his baby's mother.

But that was just step two. 50 continued his onslaught on Ross by flying his sons's mother (not the same one he dissed) out to New York for an interview, which essentially was the airing out of Ross's dirty laundry. 50 released video of the interview and then had the cameraperson follow them to Fifth Ave. in New York, where they went shopping.

In the video, Ross's baby's mother, Tia Kemp, verifies that William Roberts a.k.a. Rick Ross was a correctional officer, on top of a bunch of other details including his evident failures as a father.

Afterwards, 50 Cent took did an interview with Funkmaster Flex on Hot 97 in New York and explained it all.

Before 50 released the video, Rick Ross did an interview with Hot 97's Miss Info and said that he knew about his son's mother flying out to go see 50, and added that "Mafia Music" ended 50 Cent's career.

Finally, 50 is planning to put the final nail in Ross's career by publishing a book by Ross's baby mother, called Tia's Diary: Deeper Than Rap--ex[ect it in book stores in March--the same date Ross releases his highly anticipated album Deeper Than Rap.

We shouldn't expect this to be over--it's probably far from over--let's just hope that they keep it on wax.