02.10.2004

Your music came into my life in a staggering way. Summer 2003 I got a Roc-a-fella mixtape at my first concert which was a Jay show. It had kanye through the wire on it and I fell in love with the track. I did my research and was just intrigued by every aspect of his story surviving the car crash and living to tell the story by his lyrics. More and more of his music was being released within that summer to that February. Within the middle of that time I had to switch schools and I just listened to my headphones to alienate myself from talking to other kids at my new school. At the same time my mom was going through remission from her breast cancer. I just felt like I had myself, my family and music. The day college dropout came out I literally walked from my moms hospital to the target up the street and went to another world for 80 minutes. It was like escaping a distraught personal struggle and finding inspiration through music which I didn’t think was possible til I heard that album. His story was just uplifting and I felt I could connect to his problem of being an outcast and proving everybody wrong. When my friend took me to my first kanye show in 2008, she said I shed a tear. I dont think I did but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was caught up in the moment so much that I let my emotions go. Thats how the college dropout helped me through that period of my life.