after having grown up on a midwestern farm, I had never really listened to black music until my friends exposed me to it at ₁₅. I like to say that I didn’t know what music was for until I first heard black music.

my Freshman year, my friend lent me a half dozen CDs of “the classics.” Illmatic, 36 Chambers, MM… Food (RIP,) Reflection Eternal, Ridin' Dirty, and something else, I think. https://twitter.com/neoyokel/status/1344770625236303874

I had literally only listened to classic rock/top 40 stuff until then, so I definitely found it bewildering and abrasive, but knew it was important to listen and listen closely.

I don't want to imagine what I would be like had my friends not done this for me.