Rihla 23

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Isaac Pastrana

I believe in music. I love the sounds that enter my brain and waken my body. Music brings me to my feet. It makes me move and think. I hear the bass come in and my heart begins to beat.

Being a young man in Chicago is hard because gangs are always trying to recruit. I was asked several times to join the Almighty Saints. I was told that they were my brothers and my only family. They told me that I could be something great. One cold night on the corner of 48th and western my best-friend waved to me as he walked away. I was walking down my block and suddenly heard what appeared to be gun shots. I turned around to see a car drive away. My friend was on the ground, my "boys" we're no where to be found. It finally hit me that I was alone and that I could end up like him. I went home and cried rivers, maybe even lakes. I took my pen and wrote. I didn't stop until three or four. Hip-hop had just entered my life. Hip-hop brought me and helped me get out.

I think back to those days and I realize that my mind was enlightened with just one single grunt from Rick Ross. It was that one simple beat that got my heart pumping again. Snoop Dogg made me feel alive, 2Pac Made me see past the lights, oh Eminem kept me from crying at night. These MC's put their lives out there for people to listen to them. Instead of letting out more bullets, I could send out words that affected other people. I could truly be somebody that could change the world. Hip-hop and music made me realized that I could forgive those people who took my best-friend from me. I would never forget, but I could move on. Hip-hop lives inside of me like another one of my limbs.

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