Empire State of Mind

Normally, when I listen to hip hop it really does not move me. But for some reason this particular song by Jay-Z did just that..it moved me. It moved to to the point where I was almost..ALMOST in tears. The marriage between the lyrics, the production and the vocals were so in sync that it was able to stir up a lot of wonderful memories that I have of New York.

Just listening to Alicia Keys belt out "New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made off, there's nothin you can't do.." These street will make you feel brand new, These light will inspire you.."

New York was the first place I lived when my mother and I first came to America from Ghana, West Africa. After we moved to Atlanta some years later, New York was the place where I spent my summers and my holidays with my Grandmother and my father. It is in New York that I saw that people had a genuine acceptance for people of different cultural background and ethnicity's. It's in new York where I would ride the train all day long {and sometimes get lost :) } and people watch. New York..Brownsville, Brooklyn to be exact where I could walk down the street and always feel at home because I would either hear someone speaking my native language of Nzema or smell a dish that was very familiar to me. I would watch people on their way to work in their different types of uniforms and suits. I would see men and women who look like models, and say to my self.."I can't wait until the day I can go to a go see or a casting call just like her..'' I remember taking the #3 train from Rockaway to Fulton to go shopping at stores like Jimmy Jazz and S&D Underground in the mid nineties.. {so I could go back to school fresh :)}. It is in New York where I spent quality time with my grandmother and she would constantly feed my dreams and my soul, and my confidence with encouragement and wisdom. It's amazing how music can take you to a place of nostalgia