5th Letter- Where are you from?
blackrain- Born in DC. Spent my first few years living in Barry Farms in DC..then moved to Suitland, MD which is a suburb of DC in name only. Ain't nothing suburban about it at all.
5th Letter- How come you moved around so much early on?
blackrain- I've mentioned it in threads before over the years but my mom had a drug problem which led to my brother, my sister and I staying with my aunt and uncle off and on who lived in the Farms. I spent a good amount of time in Oxon Hill, MD too with our grandparents, my mom's parents, in order to escape alot of the bullshit going on. Pretty much I didn't live in a home full time with my parents for more than like 2 months at a time til I was like 9 when we moved to Suitland Rd. She kind of got her shit together around the time my little brother was born but it was still a battle she fought off and on til I was like 18. Til this day I don't know how my father dealt with it for as long as he did but it's something that definitely stuck with me.
5th Letter- How did it affect you?
blackrain- I'd say the biggest way it affected me is that I pretty much would cut people off after 1 fuck up. I've gotten better as I've gotten older, but I'm still not really good at giving people 2nd chances if they do something that bothers me. I can forgive, but I rarely if ever forget when someone does something that gets to me and I treat that person accordingly from then on. I'm the type of person where if you tell you're going to do something and you don't do it one time then from that point on I really don't consider you trustworthy. It's not a good thing and it's something I know I'll always have to work at.
5th Letter- If you don't mind answering what do you do for a living?
blackrain- Being a mod pays my bills lol. Nah for real I deal with property management for a company that is heavy into commercial real estate in DC. Got put on by the guy who gave me my scholarship for college. The CNN building in DC, I know the man who owns it and that is the guy who gave me a scholarship for school. If it wasn't for that scholarship getting me out of DC I don't know what the fuck I'd be doing right now. Started as a summer job that turned into a career. I know it's not what I want to do forever, I actually want to become a teacher, but as of now it's done me good enough and I've had a hell of an experience these past 12 years since I've been involved in it Met alot of people, learned alot, and have seen more than I could have imagined doing this.
5th Letter- What's that job like?
blackrain- The best part of it to me is the research part. I enjoy looking up any information really, but just having to research different areas, property values, comparing them to other similar information in other cities or past deals done in and around DC. My job nowadays is really just being really good at finding out random information to not only keep certain costs down but also to keep making the buildings and the spaces we rent to different companies as appealing as possible. I pretty much spend a good portion of my day using google and lexus nexis.
5th Letter- How did you get into hip hop?
blackrain- Through my dad. He plays guitar, bass guitar, and piano and he's always played music around me. Listening to the radio helped him get better at learning English when he moved to the US and it's an obsession he passed down to me and my brothers and my sister. My earliest memories with him always involved listening to and analyzing music. Til this day he will argue anyone down that Dr. Dre is one of the best producers of all time in any genre. He never really restricted what we could and couldn't listen to so from the time I was a little kid I was listening to Dre, Snoop, Ice Cube, Ice T, Geto Boys, Biggie, 2 Pac, etc...I grew up listening to all genres of music and still am a fan of alot of non hip-hop music but hip-hop is what stuck with me the most and spoke to me the most. Even now with him in his 60's we will sit and break down different melodies, cadence's etc that artist use in their songs.
5th Letter- What are your earliest memories of hip hop?
blackrain- Earliest memories are me, my older brother and my dad riding around listening to Snoop's first album. Til this day the first song I think of when I think of hip-hop is "Gin N Juice". If I had to put money on it that's probably the first rap song I learned. Not something I'd recommend for most kids clearly, but my dad did a great job of teaching us the difference between entertainment and reality so growing up even though I listened to all types of uncensored shit filled with language you should probably never let a kid hear, I never confused it for actual reality or how I was supposed to treat people or women. I listened to some of the most misogynistic rap you can imagine growing up, and it didn't really affect my view of the world because I always saw it as nothing but entertainment. I didn't take rap as a something to be used to seriously express yourself til I was a teenager.
5th Letter- Who are your favorite and least favorite rappers?
blackrain- Favorite? I'm an openly admitted Outkast stan. There's nothing negative anyone can tell me about Outkast that I won't debate about. It's going to be a losing argument with me trying to tell me anything bad about them and no I don't separate or pick Andre over Big Boi. They're equally dope to me. 2Pac, Jay Z, Nas, DMX (his first 3 albums should be analyzed and studied), Scarface, Devin the Dude, Eminem, Treach, Redman, Big K.R.I.T..those would probably be my all time favorites. Least favorite? It's hard to answer because generally if I don't like a rapper I simply don't listen to their music at all but if pressed I'd say my least favorites of all time would be any of those "rock star swag" niggas that came out in the mid to late 2000's. That whole movement/wave of songs was just terrible in general.
5th Letter- What are some of your favorite albums?
blackrain- ATLiens...that's the perfect album to me. I think it was Bomani Jones once I heard say on his podcast sometimes you hear certain albums at certain points in your life and they just hit you at that right moment. That's what ATLiens is for me. I'd heard the album plenty of times, but in my mid 20's for some reason the album just resonated so much more to me. The music, the lyrics, the theme of the album. It's just perfect. Outside of that album other favorite would be Me Against The World, The Blueprint 1, And Then There Was X, The Eminem Show (I don't care what anyone says the rhyme schemes on this album are some of the best of all time), Stankonia, Last of A Daying Bread by Scarface, and Just Tryna Live by Devin are my all time favorite I can do to at any time, any mood, any setting and be good.
blackrain- Born in DC. Spent my first few years living in Barry Farms in DC..then moved to Suitland, MD which is a suburb of DC in name only. Ain't nothing suburban about it at all.
5th Letter- How come you moved around so much early on?
blackrain- I've mentioned it in threads before over the years but my mom had a drug problem which led to my brother, my sister and I staying with my aunt and uncle off and on who lived in the Farms. I spent a good amount of time in Oxon Hill, MD too with our grandparents, my mom's parents, in order to escape alot of the bullshit going on. Pretty much I didn't live in a home full time with my parents for more than like 2 months at a time til I was like 9 when we moved to Suitland Rd. She kind of got her shit together around the time my little brother was born but it was still a battle she fought off and on til I was like 18. Til this day I don't know how my father dealt with it for as long as he did but it's something that definitely stuck with me.
5th Letter- How did it affect you?
blackrain- I'd say the biggest way it affected me is that I pretty much would cut people off after 1 fuck up. I've gotten better as I've gotten older, but I'm still not really good at giving people 2nd chances if they do something that bothers me. I can forgive, but I rarely if ever forget when someone does something that gets to me and I treat that person accordingly from then on. I'm the type of person where if you tell you're going to do something and you don't do it one time then from that point on I really don't consider you trustworthy. It's not a good thing and it's something I know I'll always have to work at.
5th Letter- If you don't mind answering what do you do for a living?
blackrain- Being a mod pays my bills lol. Nah for real I deal with property management for a company that is heavy into commercial real estate in DC. Got put on by the guy who gave me my scholarship for college. The CNN building in DC, I know the man who owns it and that is the guy who gave me a scholarship for school. If it wasn't for that scholarship getting me out of DC I don't know what the fuck I'd be doing right now. Started as a summer job that turned into a career. I know it's not what I want to do forever, I actually want to become a teacher, but as of now it's done me good enough and I've had a hell of an experience these past 12 years since I've been involved in it Met alot of people, learned alot, and have seen more than I could have imagined doing this.
5th Letter- What's that job like?
blackrain- The best part of it to me is the research part. I enjoy looking up any information really, but just having to research different areas, property values, comparing them to other similar information in other cities or past deals done in and around DC. My job nowadays is really just being really good at finding out random information to not only keep certain costs down but also to keep making the buildings and the spaces we rent to different companies as appealing as possible. I pretty much spend a good portion of my day using google and lexus nexis.
5th Letter- How did you get into hip hop?
blackrain- Through my dad. He plays guitar, bass guitar, and piano and he's always played music around me. Listening to the radio helped him get better at learning English when he moved to the US and it's an obsession he passed down to me and my brothers and my sister. My earliest memories with him always involved listening to and analyzing music. Til this day he will argue anyone down that Dr. Dre is one of the best producers of all time in any genre. He never really restricted what we could and couldn't listen to so from the time I was a little kid I was listening to Dre, Snoop, Ice Cube, Ice T, Geto Boys, Biggie, 2 Pac, etc...I grew up listening to all genres of music and still am a fan of alot of non hip-hop music but hip-hop is what stuck with me the most and spoke to me the most. Even now with him in his 60's we will sit and break down different melodies, cadence's etc that artist use in their songs.
5th Letter- What are your earliest memories of hip hop?
blackrain- Earliest memories are me, my older brother and my dad riding around listening to Snoop's first album. Til this day the first song I think of when I think of hip-hop is "Gin N Juice". If I had to put money on it that's probably the first rap song I learned. Not something I'd recommend for most kids clearly, but my dad did a great job of teaching us the difference between entertainment and reality so growing up even though I listened to all types of uncensored shit filled with language you should probably never let a kid hear, I never confused it for actual reality or how I was supposed to treat people or women. I listened to some of the most misogynistic rap you can imagine growing up, and it didn't really affect my view of the world because I always saw it as nothing but entertainment. I didn't take rap as a something to be used to seriously express yourself til I was a teenager.
5th Letter- Who are your favorite and least favorite rappers?
blackrain- Favorite? I'm an openly admitted Outkast stan. There's nothing negative anyone can tell me about Outkast that I won't debate about. It's going to be a losing argument with me trying to tell me anything bad about them and no I don't separate or pick Andre over Big Boi. They're equally dope to me. 2Pac, Jay Z, Nas, DMX (his first 3 albums should be analyzed and studied), Scarface, Devin the Dude, Eminem, Treach, Redman, Big K.R.I.T..those would probably be my all time favorites. Least favorite? It's hard to answer because generally if I don't like a rapper I simply don't listen to their music at all but if pressed I'd say my least favorites of all time would be any of those "rock star swag" niggas that came out in the mid to late 2000's. That whole movement/wave of songs was just terrible in general.
5th Letter- What are some of your favorite albums?
blackrain- ATLiens...that's the perfect album to me. I think it was Bomani Jones once I heard say on his podcast sometimes you hear certain albums at certain points in your life and they just hit you at that right moment. That's what ATLiens is for me. I'd heard the album plenty of times, but in my mid 20's for some reason the album just resonated so much more to me. The music, the lyrics, the theme of the album. It's just perfect. Outside of that album other favorite would be Me Against The World, The Blueprint 1, And Then There Was X, The Eminem Show (I don't care what anyone says the rhyme schemes on this album are some of the best of all time), Stankonia, Last of A Daying Bread by Scarface, and Just Tryna Live by Devin are my all time favorite I can do to at any time, any mood, any setting and be good.