Write From Where You’re Standing
Authenticity is the only flow that never goes out of style
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March 12, 2026
The other day Bam dropped 83. A historic performance. Like most people, I ended up watching the highlights going around online. But when I saw the clips, something else crossed my mind. I remembered a line from one of my songs, Drop Shit II. In the record I say, “we going Bam with the Heat.” The moment felt perfect, so I reposted the song alongside the highlight video just to celebrate it.
Later that day my dad called me.
He told me he had been watching the highlights too and heard the song playing behind the video. At first he didn’t even realize it was me. He said he was just listening like anybody else and thinking to himself, who the hell is that rapping like that? Then it clicked that it was my record. He told me the flow was going so crazy he had to call me right then and there.
That meant a lot to me. Not just because my dad was showing love, but because it confirmed something I’ve believed about writing music for a long time. You have to write from your real vantage point.
When I listen back to my own music, I can feel my convictions in the records. I remember exactly where I was mentally when certain lines came out of me. The songs hit different because I know that is really what I was on at the time. Nothing forced. Nothing manufactured
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And when people resonate with the music or when a record actually makes money, the satisfaction hits even deeper. I know it didn’t come from pretending to be somebody else or chasing whatever trend was hot that week. I rapped about what I wanted to rap about, said what I meant, and somehow the message still reached people. That is one of the most fulfilling feelings an artist can experience.
Moments like that remind me that I’m making the right choices creatively. Following your instincts matters. Trusting your own voice matters. That is what every emcee should do.
Write from where you actually stand.
If your life is glamorous, rap about that. If your life is complicated, rap about that. If your experiences involve struggle, darkness, or even violence, and that is the reality you came from, then speak on it honestly. People can feel the difference between lived experience and imitation. Authenticity carries weight.
But the opposite is also true. When somebody is just rapping nonsense with no connection to the words, we feel that immediately too. The energy exposes it every time. The craft demands honesty.
So the lesson is simple. Stay true. Follow your heart. Respect the craft, beloved.
Because when you write from your real vantage point, the music stops being just entertainment. It becomes documentation of a life. And those kinds of records will always find the people they were meant for.
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