It's a miracle I didn't become a rapper

I've always sat on the sidelines as a fan/commentator but all of the following are true:

- My dad told me a story about hanging with a crew as a teenager. One dude in the crew had a younger brother that used to tag along with them, said younger brother became Rakim.

- My aunts and uncles (on my mother's side) went to school with EPMD as kids, my grandmother calls (Parrish) "Smith" a bum to this day.

- One of my uncles was tight with Craig Mack and proud as hell when he got on.

(if you havent gathered so much yet, my people are based out of Long Island)

- My parents met in college and somehow know Olu Dara (aka Nas' father). Summer 1998 me and my mom ran into him on 125th street. I told him I was about to go to FAMU, he said "You gonna have a lot of fun, but you gotta be in them books too" - I should have listened

- It's been told to me that at age 3 my dad took me to a Hip-Hop/jazz celebration and I knew who Fab 5 Freddy was.

- Me and my mom were in the "911 Is A Joke" video. You can see me for 5 seconds if you look close. I got paid $25 and thought I was rich.