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Living My Life Like I’m De La
How to fight the good fight, walk away, and keep creating
Ask ANYBODY who knows me well and they can tell you that, in my vast canon of favorite things, there is absolutely no contest as to who I name as my Hip-Hop GOATs (Greatest Of All Time, for you seasoned folks and the culturally-deficient).
For as much as I acted out some form of youthful rebellion by blasting N.W.A.’s cassette [out of earshot of my father, mind you], my everyday musical selections were decidedly more eclectic and suburban.
I was among a boisterous middle school crew who turned allowances into rolls of quarters and spent an inordinate amount of time camped out at the arcade in DC’s Mazza Gallerie, environs that were decidedly more posh than your average pizza shop or other digital entertainment establishments. Whatever cash I had left after indulging my Ms. PacMan and Galaga addiction went to British import music mags, where I first learned about soon-to-be-faves like Sade and Duran Duran, artists introduced in their glossy pages and on oft-included CD samplers, protected by shrink wrap. In my teen girl mind, that fully justified the $5 to $8 price tag for each issue.
When I landed in my first public school for high school, I quickly surmised that I needed a bit more edge in my life, as a matter of basic survival. So I began to split time…
