Just another MC

It took me a long time
but I outgrew you finally
When you told me
that Talib Kweli
was just an MC

and not a poet

You love Hip Hop
but think poetry is lame
and I'm a poet
I love Hip Hop too
probably more than you
but our relationship is more complex

See I didn't fall in love with Hip Hop
at first sight
I didn't grow up in the Bronx
didn't feel the power of a culture
rising up around me
My ghetto is not brand name
but it is a ghetto

Hip Hop was the boy next door
and yes we kissed in my closet
and in forts we made of bed sheets
draped over kitchen chairs

but we never fell in love

Maybe its because I took it for granted
maybe because the music blasting
at the block party
wasn't KRS one or Public Enemy
but Sir Mix a Lot

... and yes I like big butts and
I cannot lie
But love is something else

In 1993 I listened to Salt n Pepa's
Very Necessary
until the tape would
not
play
anymore
I studied the lyrics to Crossroads
by Bone Thugz n Harmony
and the Score by the Fugees
and I wrote bad
middle school angsty girly poetry

And there were b-ball style
boys by the mile
smooth brown skin with a smile
but it took a snotty white boy
from Scarsdale
to make me fall in love

with Hip Hop

You clung to Ice Cube, Chuck D
and Blackstar like a phrophecy
never fully understanding the
humor
in your empathy
but you reintroduced me
to the boy next door

And with my own words ready to mature
I realized something
I hadn't before
Yes I was in love but something more
we had a
relationship
a give and take
want and need interplay
than no man has given me
to this day

Hip Hop believes in me
pushes me to be the best I can be
cares about the same things as me
and most importantly
lets me be me

You wear Hip Hop like a badge of honor
a "look how down I am"
symbol
of your street cred
You bling while I organize
and the more I step into
this role as a model for young people
preaching about 4 elements
and the struggle
the more you
nod your head to the next top 40 album
and talk about the hussle

So I want to thank you for
bringing me back to my
roots
which I now wear natural
I can tell you with all sincerity
that you were my first love
as much as those words have
stuck like peanut butter
to the roof of my mouth

Maybe it could have worked
between you and me
if you'd never made that remark
about Talib Kweli
But I've learned to align the Hip Hop head
and the poet in me

So fuck you if you think
all I am is an MC