Monday, April 25, 2011

What is So Sexy About GROWN Men?

Last week I went to a book signing for Prodigy's (Mobb Deep) new biography "My Infamous Life". I was glad to go. I was always a Mobb Deep fan and it was a nice Spring evening so why not right?

I wasn't sure I was necessarily as excited about the book as I was just to go to the signing/discussion on a Spring evening in DUMBO with my bf. But after Prodigy answered a few questions about the book and about his life I realized that I was genuinely interested in what I would learn about him reading his autobiography. I was no longer simply riding the momentum of my own 90's hip-hop, nostalgic hype. I was interested in the man he was today. He said a few things that made me nod and smile and urge my bf to hurry up and read it so I can dive in. (God forbid I buy my own copy).
  • He talked about the importance of eating right to maintain proper health to manage Sickle Cell Anemia (that basically works for any health condition folks)
  • He talked about the absurdity of wearing and rapping about iced-down medallions when the majority of his fans are struggling
  • He talked about identifying the things in his life that made him angry, hurt and confused as a teenager
  • He talked about his relationship with his father
  • He touched on the difficulty of being married while navigating the hip hop industry and living with friends who were not in committed relationships
  • He touched on how he explained to his children why he was going to jail
To put it short. He was grown up. Still tiny in stature, but grown. And grown is sexy. That's not to say Prodigy is sexy to me but witnessing growth and maturity is sexy in any man. It's good to know it's there. It's reassuring to me as a woman. It's a refreshing contradiction to the image the general public conjures when they here "black man", "rapper" or "ex-con". I'm attracted to people with dimensions and layers. People who inevitably offer you more than what you can see or infer from the outside. (FYI, on the outside Prodigy had on a fitted button-up pale blue shirt, dark colored jeans, black hard bottom shoes and a black leather Kangol style hat). I'm attracted to what he has to say in this autobiograpy. I'll let y'all know how it is.
Ain't no such things as half-way crooks.. or half-way men. 

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