Hustle Hard.

I had it too hard coming up.
From being "mom" at 9 to a sister
that curses at me now..
From not having any food and having to
"borrow" some veggies from the vegetable stand.
From having to wash my own clothes and teaching
an OLDER stepbrother his times tables so
he wouldn't get an ass whooping.

It was hard.
And I couldn't do anything but live that life.
Mom worked to keep us with lights.
Step-father squandered the earnings on bets
and beers and we still survived.

I guess that's where "Kimi The Hustler"
came into the picture.
Allow me to explain.
You see.. my mom used to make us snacks
for the school week and package it and seal
it in these little plastic baggies.

I think it was a Sunday and we'd cleaned up
the house and I'd ironed uniforms and shirts
for the week and I was sitting outside in the
gallery [what Americans call a porch]
and having one of the snacks and someone
asked me, "Kimi, where'd you get that?"
My response, "Mommy made it, wanna buy one?"
And that was that.. I sold the snacks and that was
our groceries for the week.

See.. it's always been... get money..
Always.. get money.
From hustling candy.. to CDs..
to t-shirts.. to airbrushed stuff..
to iPods and mobile phones..
My ambition is to never be broke.
I guess I failed at that since I'm broke right now..
But whatever.

When I got to the States in '98..
I was scared.
I mean, not like.. if I get lost, what to do scared.
I mean scared of other kids [You can laugh].
But it wasn't because I was a punk or anything..
It was more how they spoke.. accents were different.
Words I used drew laughs and odd cocked head stares.

I tried to fit in and be "Yankee-fied"[So not a word].
I started emulating the "popular kids"
and I was accepted into that social group
from a young age and I felt good.
I was finally accepted and if anyone said otherwise,
I was backed up.
Pretty dope.. I know.

But I'm odd.
I'm a person that'll rather read than
party and that's not the norm.
I was "too cool" to be a nerd.
[LOL!]
That was my dopeness showing.
Just like your epidermis is showing right now.