While I grew up in fairly diverse areas, my pivotal high school years were spent in a primarily white town, and my high school, at the time of my graduation did not have one African-American student. However, the town was very close to the diverse populations of the South Side of Chicago, and even my first job, which was less than three miles from said school was extremely diverse, so growing up, I was no stranger to different types of people and cultures.

Now, my first exposure to rap music came in 5th grade as I discovered LL Cool J, and from there I was hooked (you’ll see the connection in a second). I’ll spare you my hip-hop history, but if you ever want to chat about it, I’m more than willing. Long story short, we fast-forward to junior year Eric wearing a shirt with a very large Snoop Dog…