How do we define ourselves through the art of music? Is it a personal journey or a well-thought-out process? It is something different for each listener or artist. Music to me is a passion to express myself, combining emotions, poetry, and rhythm. I have always been an avid listener of all types of music, but never thought about writing my music until freshman year of High School.

I was at the age when boys and girls struggle with their image and just want to fit in. That’s right, a teenager. I didn’t stand out until one day, I rapped the lyrics to a popular Beastie Boys song to some of my peers in the school hallways. I was surprised by the reaction I got, as it seemed that I went from being just another freshman in a school of two thousand students to a bit of a celebrity. Girls were starting to notice too and became part of my audience. I liked being known as “the guy who raps” or one of my many aliases at that time. The extra attention was starting to make me feel like I was one of the “cool” kids in school. Since I was starting to get popular, by request, I started to rap other songs that were familiar to me. One of my favorites was “Jump Around” by House of Pain. I was starting to feel inspired and began writing my lyrics during Study Halls or lunch breaks. I wrote about stuff you think about when you are that age. For me, that was mainly girls and bullies. However, I did get myself in hot water with my classmates and the History teacher because one of my songs spoke negatively about a classmate. It was about a cute, Vietnamese girl who pretended that she was interested in me. She would walk up to me before class, and touch my arm or try to get me to stare at her. When I finally got up the courage to ask her out, she and all her friends laughed at me and made me look like an idiot. I was angry about how she treated me, so I used vulgarity toward her in the song, which hurt her image a bit. Regardless, I performed the song in my History class and opened some eyes, including hers.

I felt betrayed and wanted to voice my thoughts to my classmates and my teacher. What bothered me is that experience led to fake friends, naysayers, and worse, put a target on my back during one of the more difficult times in my life. I wasn’t very good at rapping, but I got caught up in the moment and enjoyed my 15 minutes of fame. Who wouldn’t? I told myself that I was done rapping. It was no longer fun to me and was systematically destroying my image as “one of the cool kids”.

I decided to go to Kent State for college, and I ran into the same problem there as I had in years prior. Who am I? How do I stand out from the masses? I learned from my experience, so I didn’t advertise that I rapped; it just slipped out one day. Freshman year was not what I expected because I wasn’t the most popular person in the dorm. The dorm wasn’t a place I felt comfortable calling home, because some of the guys weren’t the nicest people in the world. I had to go through a bit of an initiation process with my dorm mates to earn their respect. One day, I had had enough of their bullshit and decided to write a verse about it. I called it “The Truth” because it cleared the air about a lot of things going on with me and my dorm mates at that time. I kept it to myself and Chris, who was my hip-hop mentor at that time. The song was met with mixed reviews, but that didn’t stop me from writing. I wasn’t getting the spotlight I deserved, so I gave my words the chance to do that for me. All I wanted was respect in the dorm, and I thought my peers should hear what I was going through. I just didn’t have the guts to take my verse outside the dormitory.

Throughout college, I wrote lyrics that talked about my experiences with alcohol, girls, classes, jerks, and the future. By writing these lyrics, I let my emotions speak through my words. I decided rap wasn’t the only genre for me to do that, so I felt compelled one night to write a song about a girl that I had a history with. I’m not a singer by any means, but the song “Three Strikes and You Are Out” could be considered poetic art. After college, I continued to write, on and off, about my experiences in life. I struck a few chords with some people because I called them out by name in my songs. Once again, I didn’t care if I offended others, because I was getting my words on paper and emptying my mind of the toxins that were bottled up inside it.

In 2012, I met a famous rap artist who inspired me, and I wrote four songs on a long plane ride. I started to get serious about becoming a songwriter when I released what may be my best work about the “haters” in my life and music. This song is still one of the most talked-about songs I've ever done, because of all the emotion I poured into it! My fans, which I refer to as the Hypenation, have favorited, downloaded, and commented on this song more than any other song I released! I guess everyone has ‘haters,’ which makes the song so relatable. Once my talent was discovered from this song, I found a team of musicians with unique abilities, and we began to work on our first album. I had plenty of material to work with based on my past experiences, and I call it a blessing in disguise, rather than a curse. I was starting to see myself more as a role model, rather than just another rapper. Through my songwriting, I was able to express myself, gain support from my audience, improve as a lyricist, and build my confidence. I found myself in my lyrics.

Editor's Note (2025): This post comes from 2013, when writing hip hop lyrics helped me discover my creative voice. It's raw, but I've chosen to leave it as is to honor the beginnings of my journey as a writer.