Personal Narrative: AP Rocky

As I walked or rather pushed my way through the masses of people to get to the Samsung stage to listen to the eccentric A$AP Rocky. I should probably point out that I had no idea who or what A$AP Rocky was. The only song I have that he is remotely in a Taylor Swift song. He had drawn one of the largest crowds of the night, so I decided to check him out. Zilker Park was packed to capacity, I was overwhelmed by the blaring music, fried foods, copious amounts of pot and alcohol, and just the sheer size of the festival. I waited for an hour for the concert to finally start, body to body with two very sweaty men who had clearly never heard of deodorant. After several agonizing moments, A$AP finally came out on stage and began his act. His act consisted

I remember out of all the little boys in my group who when I asked them what they wanted to be when they were older only two of them responded that they wanted to be rappers who had a lot of money and who were not afraid “to pop some bitches”. No one wanted to be doctors, lawyers, dentists, or a marine biologist. Keep in mind that these kids were from various shelters, who were beaten, raped, and homeless. When I asked the two other boys why they wanted to be rappers, One of the little boys, Isaiah said quite confidently “ Because my cousin is a rapper”. “That 's cool, does he have any songs? ” I asked curiously. He looked down at his sneakers and said quietly “ No not yet...but once he gets out of jail he’s gonna be real good. I remember initially feeling shocked, but then ultimately sad. That these kids, these young black kids had no dreams of college or jobs all they wanted to do was be like Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and of course A$AP Rocky. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them their idols were thugs. I just repeatedly throughout the entire week tried to emphasize to them the importance of doing well in school, studying. I told them all about George Washington Carver, and other famous black academics. By the end of the week three out of twelve of my campers wanted to be something other than a

I actually like some rap music, just not the type filled with curse word after curse word that it becomes hard to distinguish whether this an adult or a third grader kid who just learned the f-word for the first time. I want us to think about what these so called “idols” are saying, some of it 's just hateful that deserves no protection under so called artist creativity or the bullshit people always tell me about how lyrics about hitting women, shooting people,doing drugs have some sort of deeper meaning that display creative genius makes me sick. If anyone wants to let me know where this so called creative genius is, please let me know I still haven’t seen it yet. Sure, it 's fine to stand in a crowd of people, in nice park shouting the word “nigga” and waving your middle finger in the air like a clown, because you want to feel like you are “bad” and rebel, because you get bored of your nice lifestyle and parents that care. That’s a luxury that my campers cannot afford, and would probably do anything for the privileges we take for advantage each and everyday. I ask all of you to challenge yourselves to think about my campers who live in this reality each and every day, some whose parents were killed in drive bys, who watched their mother be beaten right before their eyes, some who have been raped, who wonder every day if they are going to get attacked