Welcome To My Hood Flow

Been Gone

Hey, Everyone. I know I've been gone for a while, but I had hit a snag in my life and I was without a laptop. But now I'm back and during my stint I learned that God is good and looks out for you. With great sacrifice comes great rewards, and though my faith has been tested so many times, it has never faltered and here I stand. Thank you for the great support and I'm ready to give all of you what you've been missing. Again, Thank you and God bless

Harder

Harder

By. Devin Owens

With no helping hand in sight, is it right

To want to get up after your legs bent backward

When its simpler to lie there and do nothing

Darkness comes so easily, from measly

Little problems, that treats me like food

But there’s nothing eating me

Ah! A scream would be nice but what would it do

To deaf ears and what would tears do for a blind person?

Would it give them less fear? …beats me

Everyday ask yourself what are you doing

Because you can lay there feeling sorry for your self

But the world keeps on moving

So you might want to catch the train before it leaves

What is it that keeps us down, unmotivated?

Uncertainty, leaving each choice hesitated

Well damn, if it’s easier to stay down,

Then why don’t we all do it, until it’s as fluid as water

Uh uh, I rather be a white water rapid

Despite its dangerous actions, you gain a lot more

It’s harder to get up, let me tell you

Almost like you left yourself glued

And you have to apply the effort to get up

If you want to stay down, go ahead, be my guest

I won’t harass you

Guess it must be a nice view to see life pass you

This is dedicated to the depressed who stress

What life hands them, this an anthem

To get back what you loss for a price like a ransom

So get up, make noise, and get loud

Or lay on your back, with the only thing moving, the clouds

A Family

A Family
By. Devin Owens

Is a family someone who has your back?

No, scratch that is a family something?

Yes, something that fills in the cracks

In fact, is a family really a mom and dad?

Is a family just a word that you heard?

When you were growing up that your mom,

Dad, aunt, and uncle confirmed?

Is family something we learn? To make

Our chest warm, slowly turning to heart burn

Hold on, maybe a family is a safety net

That we can always fall into

Is it that simple? See some might argue that point

And say it’s a mother’s warmth and a father’s strength

Or a fathers warmth and a mothers strength

Either way, there are no missing pieces to this puzzle

Does family keep you out of trouble?

Or is it better when you’re in trouble with them

Oh, I know, family is a secret people won’t understand

And there is no woman or man who ever will

Is family water that stays still because it’s a constant?

But if that were the case then so would day and night

They’re brother and sister, no…that isn’t right

Wait, they’re husband and wife

Everything synchronized, everyone does their part

A whole bunch of strings like they were attached to a harp

Playing a beautiful melody, calming every heart

A family is love, no matter who’s there or where you go

A family is arguing, leading to making up

A family jumps into danger when one member is stuck

A family says you’re right, even when you’re wrong

Whenever you’re weak, they make you feel strong

They’re everything I just said they were

They’re everything that you won’t even admit

Probably out of the fear that they’ll get up and quit

But family is more than mom and dad, brother and sister

They’re aunts and uncles, cousins and friends

Cats and dogs, cradled in the hands of God

Whether you’re angry, sad, happy or mad

In the end, family is all that we have

It's Hard Being Black

It’s Hard Being Black

By. Devin Owens

Oppression, Racism, the KKK

Nowadays that’s all my race has to say

Forgive don’t forget, because once it slips our minds

Then our climb would’ve been for nothing

But even today we’re still suffering

And no one ever stopped to think: It’s hard to be black

Matter of fact, did you know we’re three races in one

Light, medium, and dark, like you trying to adjust

The picture on a TV. Once my own race sees me

I’m not black; I’m yellow…since when was I a banana

But I try to stay mellow to the blissful ignorance.

In the work place I’ll get the last laugh

Though my skin color is the only thing they don’t look past

They don’t care if I can read or that I’m good at math

But that I’m light skinned and the closest they’ll get to a

Diverse white man, if you’re medium your chances

Are as slim as a push pin, and if you’re dark,

You can’t even get your foot in

We’re still looked down upon like everyone’s a giant

And we’re placed under the microscope in hopes

That we pass the test that’s omitted to the rest

Cool, cool, cool, guess MLK’s speech doest mean much

Because we’re still complaining on how much life sucks

And we’re stuck hoping someone will give a fuck

And extend their hands, looking past the years of

Stereotypes that are so ground in that bleach can’t remove it

Only hope that some day we’ll stop being stupid

And find outlets other than music, it’s not useless

I know it’s hard but we can still prove it

And at least on this we can agree

There is no bigger threat than a black person with a degree

Making real money, crossing out the minimum fee’s

Damn, sounds pretty good doesn’t it?

All that’s left is for us to start seeing it

Success, its hard being black, but I enjoy being it

Is Dreaming Crazy

Is Dreaming Crazy

Is dreaming still considered crazy?

Doing something you love and maybe

Getting paid in the process, to be happy

Instead of only settling, expanding your wings

And taking to new heights since the sky is the limit

But now everyone sets limits on creativity

From written and visually, pictures taken digitally

Who’s to say a waterfall can’t flow upwards

Or that you can’t make up words

Why set boundaries, when you had to think

Out of them to make them, why not break them

Or take them and remake them, or come up

With your own rules and replace them

Is it crazy to dream, even in negativity?

Hostility that’s expressed so modestly

Keeping idea’s locked up in fear of rejection

But we’re only hurting ourselves with our own protection

Kind of funny, like there’s been a label switch

Poison mixed with dream bottles, and you don’t

Know which is which, or what to go with

But if the sky’s the limit, then why aren’t we outside

Playing like kids, the freest of thinkers

Who think it only takes a little magic dust to fly

So don’t sleep in a box, but dream of the sky

Only through that will creativity survive

Is it so crazy to want to live a dream?

Things so serene, a picture perfect scene

So my question is

Is dreaming crazy, or is it crazy not to dream?

Hip Hop Paper

This is a paper I wrote for someone, for a contest that she entered. And it happened to reach the top ten. So tell me what you all think of it. Because you really don't want to see the one she initially wrote, horrible



I believe the hip hop culture has a negative influence on children today. Hip hop/ rap tend to have a negative effect on inner city youth, along with suburban children. The music itself glorifies gang violence, disrespect towards women, and disrespect towards the race. Though music has come a long way, hip hop has only made and developed the idea that a certain type of lifestyle that is accustomed to violence, sex, and drugs is okay. And unfortunately, with the way hip hop is continuing, only darker days are ahead.
It is no secret that gang related issues coincides with the rap culture. From artist such as Lil’ Wayne shouting out the Blood call “soowoo” and wearing a red bandana constantly throughout his videos, to Snoop Dogg repeatedly saying what side his blue flag hangs out of, which is the symbol for Crips. As children see this they begin to feel they can relate to the artist, or feel that the entire lifestyle of a gang member is fun. On the contrary, when a gang member is initiated in to a gang, they go through a “jump-in” process, which involves other gang members beating up the potential member, possibly to the point of death. As the glorified gang culture is spread, more children become influenced, buying firearms, selling drugs, and fighting. This also breeds killers and continues to increase the idea of stereotypes among black men.
In most hip hop songs, there are lyrics that are degrading to women. In Soulja Boy’s hit single “Crank Dat Soulja Boy” he is heard referring to women as “hoes”. Now, when the song came out the rapper was still in his teens, the youth. This is a prime example because this is a kid, no older than 16 or 17, rapping about women in a derogatory manner. How was this influenced? Well, veteran rappers like to refer to women as “bitches”, which is the start of it all. Not to mention, in hip hop videos that are prone to insult women, different women are dancing and receive the title of “Video Vixens” or “Video Hoes”. This is what the hip hop culture has done to women. It has created women such as Karrine Steffans (Superhead), and Andrea Herrera (Kat Stacks). Both of these women are known in the hip hop world for sleeping with different rappers and being disrespected by them, and as a result, they have become the poster children for hip hop prostitutes, and the models of ridicule among social networks. This isn’t good for teens because if their favorite rapper is seen treating a woman badly, what is stopping them from mimicking their idol, and doing what they do?
Hip hop is not only offensive to women, but to the primary race that embraces the culture – African American. In the song “Real Nigga Roll Call” the artist known as Lil’ Jon is heard screaming out the word “nigga” profusely throughout the entire song. The word “nigga”, though truly only meaning ignorant, has been the permanent stamp among the African American culture since slave times. And as a race who wants to get away from racism, and blaming white people for their misfortune, why do that? Why give so much power and influence to a word that the race is trying to escape from? Most rappers continue to use this word throughout all their song, serious or not, normally referring to their friends or someone they don’t like. This is considered racism within a race, the hate of your own race, and that’s what hip hop is influencing. This gives teenagers the wrong idea about how to treat their fellow man. The songs give the illusion that it is fine to refer to an African American as a “nigga” or white children might feel that it is fine to recite the lyrics from one of their favorite hip hop songs, using that word. This is the wrong message to send out, and it will continue to breed more racism within a race. And the mentality of racism will never disappear because of it.
In conclusion, hip hop is negatively influencing the youth as a whole. The idea of glorified gang violence to emulate their favorite hip hop icon and being drawn into a world that could possibly kill them isn’t the way the youth should be raised. Treating women in such a way that starts a chain reaction, this could lead to more serious charges such as children born out of wedlock or domestic abuse. And, finally, racism within the race, it needs to stop. The lifestyle that is portrayed in the videos doesn’t begin to cover the full spectrum of what the life truly entails. Hip hop has basically said, “It’s okay to be nothing as long as you can rhyme.” No, that is not what is needed. Children need to graduate and become accustomed to a life that is more suitable for them, something to be proud of.