How I Became A Published Author

I remember the day I told my mother I wanted to become a writer like it was yesterday. To be honest with you, I had no idea what I was talking about. It was during the rebellious phase of my life and saying that was simply my way of rejecting the path my parents and teachers had seemingly carved out for my life. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed writing, but not enough to make it a career or so I thought.

Since my early teens, when I started rapping I have taken the craft of rapping or rhyming as we used to call it very seriously. Serious enough to type them out and turn them into little booklets I'd carry around to read. It was my way of learning them. This is something I did strictly for myself with no intention of ever publishing them. I don't know why I did it but I just felt like it was the respectful thing to do. It always amazed me how I had to take time to learn and memorize what I had written. I mean if I wrote it, shouldn't I already know it? "Perhaps there's another me inside myself sending me these words" I would muse. But that's another conversation.

Over the years I amassed quite a collection. But because I am a rapper whose job is to perform the words and not have people read them, I never showed anyone the books. Only the friends and associates with whom I rapped and my family knew I was doing this.

Naturally, this exercise helped me hone a style that was uniquely mine. People would hear me rap and say things like, "Man, you're deep", "what's up with the big words?" and "You're not a rapper you're a poet". At first, it bothered me when people would say such things. It made me feel like I wasn't a real rapper; like my craft was being dismissed. Showing them the book would only make it worse. As I grew more comfortable with myself and my craft, I stopped caring how people labeled my work.

Then one day, the idea hit me to make a songbook or a book of rhymes to supplement the music. I figured it would be a great way to get my listeners into the lyrics and not just get lost in the beat. I tested the idea by sharing the lyrics to some songs as written poetry. I would later reveal after they read the words that they were lyrics to a rap song. This always caught people off guard, not expecting a rap song to express such ideas. Eager to now hear the said song, I would then share it, often getting the reaction "I never thought rap music could be like this, I like it". Hearing the song and reading the lyrics I was told made it all make sense.

Armed with this knowledge, I decided to publish a carefully curated collection of song lyrics or lyric poetry for those of my listeners who love and appreciate what I do. This in a nutshell is how I added the title of published author to my name.

Enjoy!

Logan