It’s Unbelievable

Biggie Smalls is the illest.

In 1994 Christopher Wallace dropped the album, Ready to Die. It was nothing I ever heard before.

At that time, I was attending classes at BMCC. Borough of Manhattan Community College. Both working and going to school full time. I was 23.

I look back and think about how important Ready to Die was to me. It was a motivating force. Motivation to SUCCEED.

I felt like the chips were stacked against me. I felt like the rules always changed once I became “eligible”.

I quickly realized..

Though I went to private school and continued to pursue higher education, I was still Black in America.

Though I didn’t personally know anyone that smoked crack, I was still Black in America.

Despite the middle class home, the car in the driveway, private school education, and hard working parents; I AM STILL BLACK IN AMERICA.

The dream was never intended for us.

DISENFRANCHISEMENT was and still, is very real in America.

Wallace was our spokesperson for what was really going on. A generation feeling helpless and hopeless in the face of the CRACK ERA.

So depressed that we were Ready to Die.

His cadence and beats acknowledged the struggles that I, too, suffered from.

I knew every single track and lyric.

I took four courses that semester and I scored an 3.8 GPA!!!!

Unbelievable.

He told the stories about the seen and unseen. He rhymed about love and friendship as well as the importance of community.

He was like everyone I knew. He was like ME.

It’s 2020. Wallace is in the essence. Instead of a cassette tape, I spin Ready to Die on vinyl.

Twenty five years later, it’s still very relevant. He will eternally be a hero to the Bedford Stuyvesant community. A community I call my own.

ode

\ ˈōd  \

plural odes

Definition of ode

1: a lyric poem usually marked by exaltation of feeling and style, varying length of line, and complexity of stanza forms

2: something that shows respect for or celebrates the worth or influence of another

ODE is a dedication to the influences of my life. Person, place, or thing.

It’s celebration of everything I love and my desire to celebrate them in every moments of life.

ODE is for everyday consumption. ODE is for everyday motivation. ODE is for everyday survival.

CURATE YOUR WORLD VIEW.