Recently my little brother made one of the biggest moves of his life by going out to live in Atlanta, Georgia. Three days ago he embarked on that journey to pursue his dream as rapper. Over the course of his life my brother was always been musically inclined. He has had the opportunity to be a part of Lyrical Express at Queen Bees in San Diego, for the past three months, prior to his departure to Atlanta.

Since he was my little brother, Mannie, has always had a talent for memorizing lyrics. When he was a boy he would listen to rap music all day and then later he would rap the songs to us. His favorite singers at the time were rappers such as Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Snoop Dogg and other various artists. His love for rap music continued to grow as he got older, always putting himself out there so everyone could see his talent. To be honest, he wasn’t that great growing up but he was still practicing. To see the passion that he had for music and his dedication really inspired me to pursue my passion of writing.

One of the things I admired about my brother was how much he had changed over the years. When we were kids my brother had a horrible anger issue and was even subjected to anger management classes. It was always tough growing up with him because he was always trying to compete with him me in everything I did. When his anger took over he became really abusive. There were times where I thought for sure he would have put in the hospital. Life changed soon after I turned 19. I went to be with the church and Mannie lived with Mike, then left to live in Phoenix. The day I finally saw him was right before he left to Arizona and it had been almost three years. The change that I had seen in him was so amazing; I knew he wasn’t the same as before. That was almost two years ago and now he is in Atlanta trying to make it big as a rapper.

My brother has become more compassionate and loving towards others but still retains some of his old character traits. No one is perfect and I don’t dare to claim he is but he has really grown over the past few years. Not only has he changed as a person but the type of music he listens to has grown more diverse. He has a love for reggae and weed music. Now I’m not trying to glorify marijuana, it’s just the type of music he loves to listen to. One of the things he did to show his love for reggae was he had a tattoo that says “One Love” on his chest. Before he left we had the pleasure of attending a Ziggy Marley concert, who was a legend in the reggae genre. I think by his being there, it really helps him to continue his musical career.

If you have a dream, don’t give up on it. Keep pushing and moving forward. It’s not going to be easy for Mannie and he knows it but he’s not going to stop till he reaches his goal. My brother will go far because he has determination and he’s focused, he knows where he wants to be one day. Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams, it’s time to start that New Journey of your life.

“Love the life you live. Live the life you love.”

― Bob Marley