Jacob Szymanski

It was just a really good little section.

But actually, I do have a question about hip hop, though, because you connect hip hop to black identity.

And my question is specifically about the rappers you mentioned in the essay, you know, Nas and Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z, Biggie, Dr. Dre.

And as a teenager, how did these artists influence you?

When you wanted to buy that album, your mom called it filth.

Yeah.

And that kind of speaks to this perception.

Nas and Biggie and Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, they talk about selling drugs and shooting people, which is not what you would tie to people who are role models.

But it's more complicated than that, right?

black masculinity could look like i think it's the same mentality that people have when they play gta grand theft auto right it's like just because you're acting like a crazy person and doing crimes doesn't mean you're actually going to go and do it in real life you know it's miming it's it's fun i don't know it's not that deep you know

There was one line I thought was really poignant from this conversation, hip-hop and what these artists meant to you.

You said, their lyrics allowed us to mime our way into manhood without maiming ourselves in the process.

I thought that was pretty telling.

And it has a lot to do with aesthetics, right?

Because you choose to represent the culture, right?

And this whole book has a lot to do with aesthetics, you know, fashion and hairstyles and earrings and chains and tattoos, your gait, the way you walk, you know, even the way you pose for photos.

Why do you feel that aesthetics specifically were so highly prioritized for you when you were younger?

There's a chapter where you go do a short little road trip down to Detroit.

And this chapter was fascinating to me because it kind of explored this...

This identity of not just being black, but being a black Canadian and how black Canadians compare to black Americans.