I went out for a photo shoot today with the goal of snapping shots of animals and to my surprise I caught two wild rappers. These two random guys, B-50 and Jonathan Rojas, stopped me to say hello and the next thing I know I was dropping a beat and the cypher was on.

Much of their conversation was focused on dealing with the law and the struggle to make it as an emcee. When they found out that I go to the University of Washington they were shocked and embarrassed. Then they congratulated me and thanked me before saying; “Not to many of us make it there.”

That was the second time in twenty minutes I heard that from a stranger. This is unsettling because I thought more of us, young intelligent, male minorities were making it, but it seems that I am beating the odds while most are not. And here in the midst of this random excursion I got to be a positive influence, by just doing me, and to be an example revealing that there are more options for a young black male than being an emcee and dealing with the legal system.

If you are open to it, you can find beauty everywhere.

I accomplished one of my goals though, I was able to catch living beings, who are also strangers to me, in the act of enjoying life and tell a bit of their stories.