Rap Music, Who I am and My Mission

Last updated on: August 12, 2015 at 2:04 pm by Leticia Adams

Rap Music, Who I am and My Mission 2015-08-12T14:04:29-05:00 Leticia Adams

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I grew up in a small town in south Texas that would be considered the “country”. There were cows everywhere, I rode horses and got chased by wild hogs when I walked through a field looking for a place to read. I watched Old Yeller in the 3rd grade and it was a movie that was meant to teach us something, not traumatize us. I don’t know if it was because I was already traumatized by life or if that was how it was for everyone else, but watching that movie made me wanna dog and know how to run from wild hogs. My childhood was no the greatest, but I didn’t really know that at the time, it took me becoming a teenager to figure out just how angry I was about things that had happened to me when I was little. Now that I have done some healing I am able to look back and see all the of things that made me who I am and see that there were more good times than bad times.

I love music. All kinds of music.( except techo) When I think of certain times in my life there is a song that pops in my head and I can see the entire memory in song lyrics. I learned how to speak English when I was 8 years old by listening to country music. I would tell the kids at school that Kenny Rogers was my dad when they would make fun of me for not having one like everyone else did. Country music played a huge roll in my life until Bon Jovi came out with Slippery When Wet my fifth grade year. I loved every song on that album to the max. I ached for love like that. That album plus Dirty Dancing really made me want to find me a hot guy to marry so I could live happily ever after. That guy would have to look a lot like Donnie Walhberg because he was the hottest guy in Teen Bop magazine. Duh.

My prayers were answered when a boy who looked just like that started going to school at my Jr. High when I was in the 7th grade. I fell in love with him the second that I saw him walk down the hall his first day of school to Ms. Overby’s science class. I still remember that moment like it was yesterday. That boy is now my husband and there are moments when I catch a glimpse of him and feel the very same way that I did that day about him.

Stacey Adams was the most popular boy in school in no time. To this day he claims that he had no idea that he was or that girls were crazy over him, but I was one of those girls soooo I remember it pretty well. You should know that my husband wears a cowboy hat, wranglers and cowboy boots on a daily basis now, but that wasn’t always the case. When I met him at the age of 13 he was the one who introduced me to rap music. He introduced me to NWA, Eazy-E, Public Enemy, Slick Rick and Flava Flav. Some people may think that rap music is trash, that’s fine, everyone can have their own opinion, but for me it was a look into a world that I never knew existed. I didn’t know anything about black people or gangs or any of that. In our small town there were no race issues or gangs. You either sniffed white out, or you didn’t. You were either poor or you were rich. You either were the cool kids who got to hang out at Pizza hut or you were the nerds who hung out outside of Pizza hut. That’s it. That’s what divided us in Kenedy, Texas. Oh, and then you were a slut or you weren’t.

The thing is though, if Stacey had never introduced me to that music, I would never have survived my move to big town (big compared to where I came from) where I went to school in the ghetto. In Amarillo, there are 4 high schools and the one I went to was on the ghetto side of town with the most black and asian population. Amarillo was very segregated when I moved there in high school and it still kind of is. It was a rough school. My first year there, there was a shooting inside the school. That was before Columbine and it was in a school with drug dealers and gangs, so we only made the media for 5 seconds, unlike a shooting in a middle class suburb. When I started school at Palo Duro, I wanted nothing to do with being there. I wanted to go back home and I hated everything about this school. It was loud, it was huge and it was full of strangers who yelled at me if I was trying to figure out where I was going. One day, I just hid inside a phone booth and skipped class because I was so overwhelmed with everything. I was a small country girl who didn’t know the first thing about racial class and I was going to a school where the guy who had a locker next to me asked me if I wanted to buy some crack. It was too much.

A popular football player found me in that phone booth and became one of my closest friends. He taught me how to stand up for myself and he introduced me to people and they were nice to me because if TB said you were cool, then you were cool. Why he took me under his wing is beyond me but I do know that since I knew about and loved rap music, I had some common ground with people that I wouldn’t have had anything in common with. Rap music gave us a place to start from, a place in common where we could laugh, jam and get to know each other. I made some really great friends there, friends who are in my life to this day. I learned a lot about the inequality of this country. I learned that if you are with black friends at the mall, you will be followed by cops. I learned that bloods and crips have no idea what they are fighting for and I learned that no matter how low you get in life, there is always a way to make it back up. I learned that you can take your experiences and turn them into art for the world to see who you are. I learned that loyalty is worth more than anything. And I learned that there is no time or room for bullshit when you are on a mission to change the world, which we all should be on.

I can’t wait to see Straight Outta Compton because rap music is such a huge part of who I am and it has given me so many lessons that will help me in my mission in life which is to grow closer to God and help others do the same.

Straight Outta Compton

Previous Post

August 8, 2015

**Guest Post by Jacob** My, Non-Religious, Relationship With God

Next Post

August 13, 2015 Life: The Struggle is Real

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #PopeInUS 7 quick takes Abortion Bad Days Book Review Books Caitlyn Jenner Catholicsim Conversion Crosses Death Dignity of the Human Person Easter Ethics Evil Fall Family Fear Freedom Gay Marriage God Holy Week Homosexuality Jesus Laughter Lessons Love Marriage Mass Motherhood My Life New Evangelzation new year Parenting Peace Planned Parenthood Politics Pope Francis Pregnancy Race Rap Music Relationships Saints Sins Suffering Tempation The Catholic Church The Past Things about me Trust Truth Uncategorized Women's rights Writing

Select a Month December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 May 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 October 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Thomas doubted Jesus' resurrection until he saw and touched Jesus' wounds.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE