“All his peoples moved on in life, he’s on the corners at night
with young dudes it’s them he wanna be like
It’s sad but it’s fun to him, right? He never grew up
31 and can’t give his youth, he’s in his second childhood”
-NaS
on “2nd Childhood”
Listen and listen good, you stinkin’ bum.
I don’t know what is going to take, but let me be the proverbial cold, icy water that wakes you out of your walking dead-like slumber.
My friend, you are either pushing 30 years old, 40 years old or knocking on both landmark ages.
Here is the problem; your mind state is that of an 16-year-old-child.
I just cannot take this anymore. I am disgusted with the state of my generation. When I say “my generation,” I mean the people that are between the ages of 28-42. I know that’s a wide range, but it is significantly broad.
In the so-called Hip-Hop Nation, we are seeing the 28 and 42 year olds acting about the same. The 28 year old is still trying to get his struggling rap/producer/video game/gigolo/stripper career off the ground and so is that 40-year-old fool.
When you are approaching 30 or surpassing 40, your priorities should begin to adjust a bit – no they should shift a lot. The issue I have with you is you are still trying to live your 2nd, 3rd and 4th childhood and all I can see is a mental midget of an adult. A 28 year old is obviously at liberty to be more free-spirited that somebody that is 42, but something has to click. It is apart of the process of living. When you are 42, there is no way you should have the same mentality as a 28 year old or an 18 year old, but that is what’s happening time and time over.
I see you every day.
You still watch BET and MTV. You get your cues about what’s “in” from watching “106 & Park.” You buy a lot of clothes and a fresh car to present the outward impression that you are “somebody” that has “something.” You “jive talk” to be “down” with the very kids you should be mentoring. You never, ever want to give a woman/man a shot for a committed relationship – even the good ones. You are only looks for a baller-type of man or woman that looks (or is) like she’s a “tip-drill” from a bad rap video.
Sadly, a lot of these people are real rappers that entertain the masses and they often set the tone for you sheepish morons that I am write these words for. The rappers are the ones that beef needlessly even though they are safe behind their security detail. They are the ones that write b***h-hoe songs even though they are happily married with kids. They are the ones that live and breath for money and self-interests. You are a different story, my friend. You typically don’t happiness, a family or any success to speak of. You have a bottle of some expensive liquor you cannot afford or a weed habit that has suppressed mature ambitions. You barely get by…you are stressed…and you are committed to the vicious cycle.
You are WACK.
I see you almost every day and you are the norm, it seems. Honestly, I can’t take it much more. I don’t have very many friends, because I have just been utterly disgusted at what has become of some very promising people. People with talent. People will what I thought was a good “head on his/her shoulder.” People have seen their possibilities dissipate into a puff of smoke until there was nothing left.
In my dreams, I envision the best for you. I envision that you wake up, catch up and we all go hang out. I envision that you will be a positive influence on that 18 year old that has already started to emulate you and your ways. I don’t want you to be me or even let go of the dreams you hold onto so steadfastly. I just want you to wake up. When my alarm clock goes off, I awaken to the reality that I will walk through the day and gaze on an apparent worthless waste of flesh that won’t even leave as much of a footprint upon expiration.
Now, that’s depressing.
