Witness to some shit that you shouldn’t seeWhisper to yourself what you wouldn’t beVictim to the block where your mama moved, now your mind-state is I’mma do what I got to doIt’s really quite logical, if you was me you wouldn’t shoot at them if they just shot at you?No trust funds but my daughter…
Author: lacalaw2
I am a native Angeleno who has lived in 9 of the 36 countries to which I have traveled.
Disclaimer: The views expressed within this blog are solely mine and based upon my experiences.
Lyrics Analysis: Change Tomorrow
What’s your life like nigga mine’s greatI done made it out despite my city’s crime rateEvery single rule nigga that’s what I breakHit me like a omen seize the moment Hussle why waitOne thing I never do is exercise hateBut I’m the illest nigga doin’ this in my stateProbably my country, probably this worldAnywhere I…
Lyric Analysis: Bigger Than Life (Verse Two)
Look at where I started and look at where I’m standin’Y’all can say it’s luck but I know that it’s plannin’Shout out to the pain that gave me understandin’Shout out to my gang, it turned me to a savageSo niggas could say what they want to but I go through what you haven’tBut it’s not…
Lyric Analysis: Bigger Than Life (Verse One)
I don’t want your love, it’s not why I make musicI owe myself, I told myself back then that I would do thisAnd I always look so out of reach, it just seems so confusin’That I felt my place in life, a young black man, it’s seems so uselessBut I don’t want no help, just…
ALL COLORED CAST: Basquiat, Nipsey, and the Well They Shared
Preface: 11:09pm I don’t remember which night it was exactly. I know it was sometime after March 2019 — after the grief of that month had settled into something quieter and more persistent. I was back in Los Angeles. I reached for a DVD from my collection — a documentary about Jean-Michel Basquiat. I had…
Where Do I Go from Here?
On this day, May 15, 2026, I am at a crossroads. As of late my marathon is focused on drawing the world’s attention to a connection between Basquiat and Nipsey through the artwork entitled ALL COLORED CAST PART III. I want the world to see that there are elements in Basquiat’s artwork that precisely parallel…
On Nipsey
When I look at Nipsey Hussle’s life I see a man who was equally ambitious. He did not have the luxury of being raised with the advantages I had. His mother and father separated. He did not earn his high school diploma. He did not earn a college degree. Yet Nipsey was a reader. His…
I Asked AI for Perspective
I wasn’t deliberately attempting to train-wreck my career. When I was in high school I was being prepped to study English at best. However, when I went to college, I chose a math intensive major — Finance. I did so because I felt that becoming a teacher would be the best option for me with…
Coincidences Abound: Coyoacan
The Blue House Speaks I didn’t know she was watching me. As I exited the Uber somewhere in Coyoacán, I caught a glimpse of the radio station — 100.9 FM. A small thing. But, for me, it was monumental. I snapped a photo for posterity. To be certain, for anybody else, the radio station is…
Marathon Iconography: Imagery in the Rap Lyrics of Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle, born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, was among the most visually compelling lyricists of his generation. Where many rappers traffic in abstraction or hyperbole, Nipsey built his art on concrete, specific imagery drawn from the streets of Crenshaw and the interior landscape of a man determined to transcend them. His lyrics function less like boasts…
Paidaeia & Ermias
Dr. Cornel West often refers to Paidaeia – a Greek word meaning pedagogy. Ermias Asghedom referenced Greek marathons and the legend of Pheidippides when he named his brand the Marathon and his debut album Victory Lap, respectively. Was Ermias trying to draw connections the way Dr. West does? Or was Ermias highlighting the east African…
Artificial Intelligence Assisted
I wrote: “During that tragic month, I also experienced wildly peculiar events. First, I took a picture of a goat near my home. Second, I took a picture of myself wearing one sock on my right foot while I laid in a tent reading a book. Third, on the day that Nipsey was murdered, I…
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