Letters To The Pen

So back in the day my Man Keith Murray caught a case for some dumb shit that went down in tha' club. For those of you that know me, Def Squad was and remains as one of my major influences. I was a huge EPMD, Das EFX, Redman, K-Solo fan, and when Mr. Murray came down, I just knew that there would never be another crew harder than them and I wanted to be down. It hurt me when Keith caught that case, real talk.... so I had never written a fan letter a day in my life (who believes the actual people intended to read them ever sees them?) but I figured that my man being on lock was a guarantee that he would read it. I don't recall what I said exactly, I basically told him I was a fan, I enjoyed his work, and to take the time inside to work on his craft, he could only get better by doing that. I kept it 100, I ain't a groupie, I'm a fan. I guess he appreciated what I had to say, because he wrote me back. I kept this letter in my backpack as an inspiration to remind me that this game is always about just doing what you feel is right, speak strong, speak honest. Do you. I appreciated it and I keep it around so that when I do see him, I can remind him and say "Yo, I appreciate you writing me back, yo."

So everybody know T.I. just went away for his bid, it's supposed to be a year, and I know we think "Aw, it's just a year..." but we ain't the ones going in there. T.I. is doing FED time. It's kinda like this: Me, I've been to County. It's hard to come to Duval and stay your ass out the county. Trust me when I tell you, stay here long enough, you're going to jail. If it ain't some young dickhead making you do something to him, it's an asshat cop who's got a short dick and a bad attitude. Or a chick cop with something to prove... anyway, you'll go to County. Ice Cube said "The County, you know it's like a party... cuz in the County, you know everybody." You're guaranteed to see somebody you know from somewhere, or meet somebody new. You can still get your ass drug in there, but if you know a few hood cats you should be aiight. Next step is prison, state level.. we call that "Up Tha' Road", cuz they ship you somewhere way the hell away from where you are to make it hard on you... and it works. Prison is some shit I want no parts of. I've done jail... I can handle jail. I don't want to have to handle prison. I will end up with more time, I know it. Florida jails put you in the hands of some redneck ass correctional officers who call you "boy" and "nigger" to your face, and you betta not say shit. The next step up from that, is federal prison. This is a whole different world, because you dealing with cats from everywhere. At least in your state you can clique up. Fed don't offer that. Fed, is no joke. There's more crime going on in the Fed than some people see on the outside.

I'm going on and on, I know I've had two jail-themed blogs back-to-back, sorry about that. (Truthfully, when I have the occasional nightmare, I have nightmares about jail. You'd think those are bad... yeah a little, but not really. The dreams that you are free and when you wake up in jail? Those are worse). But the reason is I asked people to write to somebody you knew in jail. Well, now I'm going to ask you to write somebody specific. 

I have gained so much respect for T.I. since he's been going through everything... first, he lost his friend in what amounts to dumb shit. Had that been me and someone shot my best friend, y'all would see me come out with more guns than Neo & Trinity in the Lobby before they went to save Morpheus. Sorry, I'm Old Testament. But that don't make it right. So that means I probably would have ended up in a similar position as T.I. Actually, I wouldn't, because something I fought hard to keep was my right to vote, and bear arms, so I can legally own weapons (maybe not silencers... that's automatic federal for getting caught with them). But I can't blame him for getting caught up. And now he's come to the realization that he needs to change, and everything he's done has exhibited to me that he gets it. I loved his show "Road To Redemption", to me it was the realest shit on television and an example of how reality shows can actually be real. T.I. did a PSA that was a true reality check.

So now he's going to do his bid, and I plan to support him throughout. Just because. I might get a letter back out of the deal, maybe I won't, but I hope he continues to do what he did going in when he comes out, and maybe hearing from someone he doesn't know can help him do that. I just want to keep his spirits up. If anybody else wants to do it too, here's his address:

CLIFFORD J HARRIS
REGISTER NUMBER: 59458-019
FCI FORREST CITY LOW
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
P.O. BOX 9000
FORREST CITY, AR 72336

So that's what's up. And if you don't, don't worry, I will. So I want to get on to writing my man.  I'll get up with y'all later. And remember, the best way to get a blessing, is to be a blessing.

-ere'bodee's favorite mega, blogninja