Member-only story
How I Aged Gracefully in Hip-Hop
Going from being fixated on good green and syrup to obsessed with rooting for my granddaughter at her cheerleading competitions
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
“All! Star! Revolution!”
I hear these words at least twice a week. It’s the name of the cheerleading organization that my granddaughter Taylor cheers for, and something my wife and I support to the fullest. She’s been cheering for three years now and loves it to death. So I find myself there almost every Wednesday for practice and at a competition on most Saturdays. This isn’t how I saw myself spending my weekends at 46 — but it’s my new normal.
For the past 27 years, I’ve been a professional recording artist. Rapper, to be exact. But as I’ve gotten older, my life is no longer dominated by recording studios and nightclubs. Even though I still perform 60 to 75 times a year, my downtime doesn’t revolve around all things rap. As a father of two and now grandfather of a five-year-old granddaughter, I find myself in places I never thought I’d be in. And that’s okay.
I started my rap career in 1992. It was a great year in hip-hop: Dr. Dre released The Chronic, Gang Starr’s…
