Above: The music video for Shabba by A$AP Ferg featuring A$AP Rocky since it's mentioned in the chapter.
QOTN: Can you guys picture Rocky as a drag queen? I had that random thought while I was writing this and I fell in love with it. From the make up to the costumes, EVERYTHING! And yes, Drake would still love him for who he was. 😂😂👏🏾👏🏾
Okay enjoy the chapter.😘😘
After Xavier's party, I got right back to working on my own shit. I've been working with Adidas, dropped my music video for Wild For The Night, and among other endeavors. Everyone else in the Mob has been working on their own thing and we've been offering each other nothing but support.
Far as I know the music scene is going good. Ferg had another single called Shabba that he wanted me to get on, and I could not pass up the offer. We finished that last month, dropped it and it became a success. Now we gotta shoot the video for it. Since the song pays tribute to Shabba Ranks, we got him to be in the video, the A$AP Mob is of course gonna be in it, other friends of ours, and girls running around as the guys would like. Even after wrapping up the video I got more events coming up like I got a show in Australia soon and I still gotta make it back in time to go to the BET Awards since I got nominated for best collaboration thanks to Fuckin' Problems.
My family is still good. Sam's birthday is coming up, but dad and Odette aren't gonna do another party. Instead they'll take him somewhere simple where him and Xavier can have fun, which is fine by me. Moms and Amber are still doing good too. Amber's about to graduate in a couple days and I told her I would be at the ceremony. Since I never graduated from high school, I would love to witness her in person walk across the stage. I really wish I could invite dad and my other siblings to the graduation, but moms and Amber don't even know that dad's out of jail. I don't know when's the right time to tell them, but the time will come.
In the meantime, I still wanna look for me a house in LA. At this point, I don't even have to have Drake come with me. I can take somebody from the Mob to help me out, preferably Ferg and Yams. But speaking of Drake, we still haven't spoken and personally, that's okay. I'm trying to focus on me right now with no distractions at all. But the thing is MTV VMA nominations are gonna be announced soon and the video for Fuckin' Problems is rumored to be nominated in some category. What I know for sure is when the nominations get released and it does get nominated, we're gonna be talking then.
Right now I'm looking on the internet for a mansion to shoot the video at and at the same time a nice house in LA. Chase called me earlier to get on Complex. It turns out I was named number 5 on their list of The 20 Best Rappers in Their 20s.
I feel good to be on this list because it shows that people like my music and what I do. Being that I'm number five, I'm behind Big Sean, J. Cole, Drake of course, and number one is my nigga Kendrick.
Still looking at houses, I hear my phone ring. Picking it up from the table I see it's dad.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Hey, son. How's it going?" he says as that nasty ass cough of his comes out again.
"Everything's going fine. How about you? That cough still sounds like something else."
"Yeah, son. Everything's okay. It's actually what I've been meaning to talk to you about. Are you busy?"
"I'm doing business, but it can hold on."
"I need you to meet at a restaurant close to my job. I'm on break right now and I figured if you weren't busy this would be a good time to talk to you."
"Yeah, I can meet you right quick. You know I just need an address and I'll be on my way." Once he gives me the address of where to meet him, we say goodbye, hang up the phone, and I get up to start throwing on shoes and a jacket. Once I'm ready, I grab my keys and head to meet dad.
~~~
It turns out dad works in Midtown, which is not too far from where I live. He told me to meet him at some soul food restaurant that's a block away from his job. When I get there I find parking and walk across the street to the restaurant.
Once I walk in, the smell of collard greens, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese hits my nose. I may be a vegetarian, but all this shit smells so fucking good right now. I look around and see dad sitting at a table in the back of the room. One of the waiters say hi to me as I'm walking towards dad. I take my seat in front of him while he's looking at the menu. When he sees me, he puts it down and we start a conversation.
"Hey, son," he says and starts coughing again.
"Hey, dad," I say picking up the menu and start looking at it. "It smells really good in here."
"It does. I come here all the time on break. I usually get the fried pork chops, but I might get something different today. You know what you're getting?"
I shake my head. "No, I don't know yet. But based on how good it smells in here, I may be a vegetarian, but I might have to break that just for today."
"Hey, I see nothing wrong with it. Go ahead I won't tell anybody." I chuckle and give him some dap.
When we're done looking over the menu, that's when our waiter comes to take our order. I can tell he's trying to keep his cool around me because he tries to put on a professional face, but his smile keeps coming back. And I mind it not one time because I actually find it pretty funny.
He tell us our order will be ready in about fifteen minutes before he takes our menus and walks away to fix the Pepsi I ordered and bringing it to me before leaving again to leave dad and I alone to talk.
"Okay, dad. So now do you want to tell me what's going on? But before you do, I'm just asking this, but have you lost some weight since the last time I saw you?"
Before he answers he coughs again, this time having to get a napkin to cover himself and I think I even heard some phlegm come out. Now I know for sure there is something seriously wrong with this man and he needs to go ahead and tell me what it is.
Dad throws his napkin on the table near him before answering. "Yes, I have lost a little bit of weight."
I sit back in my chair giving him a 'really nigga?' look. "Really, dad? A little bit."
"Don't push it, Rakim," he says before he starts coughing again.
"Alright, alright," I say sitting up again waiting on him to tell what's going on.
"But I don't want to talk about that this early. It can wait until after we eat. Let me hear about you and what plans you got coming up."
I know dad is trying to hold off telling me as long as possible, and it might be a good thing. But I don't want to wait until it's too late and I'm sure neither does he.
"Well, I gotta head to Australia later on this month for a show I got coming up. The Mob is coming with me, it's gonna be live streamed through Moshcam, and I'm just looking forward to having a good time down there."
"That's good, son. Anything else?"
I shrug my shoulders. "After that I gotta head to LA for the BET Awards since Fuckin' Problems got nominated for best collaboration. And then there's a rumor that it also got nominated for something else at the VMAs, but I'm not sure yet."
"What the hell is the VMAs?"
"MTV Video Music Awards, dad."
"Oh, okay. You know I'm not hip," he says making us both laugh a bit. "but congratulations on your nomination. And I'm sure you got nominated for something at the VMAs too. I hope you win both of them."
"Thanks, dad."
"You're welcome." Before we can say anything else, that's when our waiter comes back with our food. Dad ends up getting the five piece fried chicken with sides of mashed potatoes and green beans while I order the fried catfish with sides of collard greens and sweet potatoes.
Soon as we're done saying grace, the first thing I try is the fish and it was hot, crunchy, and delicious.
"Man, dad, this shit is good," I say taking another bite. "I see why you come here all the time."
"See? I told you," he says as he takes another bite of one of his pieces of chicken.
The rest of the meal doesn't involve anymore talking unless it's me talking about how bomb the food is. My food was probably gone within three minutes because I didn't stop eating not one time unless it was to take a sip of my drink.
By the time both of us were finished with our meals, dad said that he had a least ten more minutes before he has to get up and get back to work. Our waiter comes back to get our empty plates and glasses as he asks us did we want any dessert. The both of us said no as he goes back to get the check.
"Okay, so you got ten more minutes," I start. "what news do you have to tell me?"
It takes him a minute before he can look me in my eyes and say what he has to say. "You know you got your mother's eyes, and she got some fine ones too."
"Dad just tell me what's going on." Now he really got me scared if he's avoiding the subject.
He sighs. Before he starts the waiter comes back with our check and walks away. "Well, uh, I don't know how else to say this," he starts in a low voice. "but Rakim, I'm sick."
He's sick? I figured that, but Xavier's party was two months ago and he's still coughing like a wild animal. I know for damn sure it's not the flu because that shit could've been cleared up long time ago.
"Dad, I'm confused. What kind of sick are you talking about?"
"Son," he pauses. "I have lung cancer." When I heard those two words at the end, it's like the world around me just stopped moving. I feel like I lost feeling in my body and my heart dropped in my stomach. I can't believe what I'm hearing right now.
Dad has lung cancer. Despite the fact that that's why he's been coughing like crazy and losing weight, this has got to be some sick joke.
"Come on, dad. Don't play with me now."
He shakes his head. "I wish I was, Rakim, but I'm not. I finally decided to go to the doctor's. She found a tumor in my lungs and called it what it was."
"But can't that shit be treated?" I ask. I can hear my voice cracking.
"In my case, no. We caught it too late. The tumor has already affected other parts of my body. The best thing I can do now is let God do his job." I feel something wet fall on my cheek. As much as I would like to say the building has leaking problems it doesn't. It's me with tears coming out my eyes.
I wipe them with the back sleeve of my jacket and try not to cause a scene in here.
"Rakim, it's going to be okay."
"Dad, how can you sit here and act like everything is okay?"
"Son, I know everything's not good right now. Trust me when I first found out I was upset too. I was wondering why was this happening to me, what did I do to deserve this. I thought about it and it turns out, the lifestyle I was living back then finally caught up to me. And now I can't do anything about it so I figured there's no point in me getting upset. God knows what he has in store for all of us."
"But dad, what about Xavier and Sam? They're so young they need you right now. And what about me? We just started talking again after so long. And you never got to find moms and Amber-"
"I know, but son, God has other plans for us we don't know about yet. And I know he's not gonna put anymore on us than what we can handle. It's unfortunate I never got to see your mom and Amber again, but I still love them, God knows, and you know too." At this point I'm in full blown tears. Dad gets up from the other side to come over to me and comfort me. "I know, son, I know."
After a few minutes, I wipe my tears clear off my face as best as I can after dad pulls away from me. "Son, it may not seem like now, but just know I'm going to be okay." I can't even give him a response right now. All I know is I'm ready to get the hell up out here.
Dad ends up paying the check. I offered to do it, but he declined. Before we left out the restaurant the waiter asked if he could get a photo with me. I put my feelings to the side right quick and say yes, snapping a quick photo with him. I also gave him a tip before heading out the place.
"Well, I gotta go, son. Have a good rest of your day."
"Yeah, you too, dad," I say before he gives me another hug and we both go our separate ways.
I can't even fathom the fact that eventually I'll be losing my dad. It feels so sudden that he's dying at time where we got to know each other again. And the sad part is he doesn't even know that I got in touch with mom and Amber again. I'll learn to cope with his illness and eventually his death soon, but one things for sure is before dad leaves here, I gotta tell him about moms and Amber and vice versa.
And I know just how to do that.
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Hello people of Wattpad! Here is chapter 43 of Hip Hop Affairs. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did you know what to do and if not then
I am going to admit while writing this chapter I did get a bit emotional and I was wondering to myself 'why the heck am I about to cry? I'm the author!'😂😂 But I mean can you imagine losing one of your parents like this? Whether you've been close to them for most of your life or not? You don't have to answer, I'm just saying. But again, I hope you all enjoyed it. By the way y'all this is one of my shorter chapters, less than 3000 words.
Alright so to my topic of the day, it's about the Shabba video wayyyy above in the media. So first, the video looked lit with all of them dancing around and having a good time. But what I really want to discuss is this: 🗣📢 WHERE THE HECK ARE MY BLACK WOMEN AT?! There were only two black women in the video, but if I'm talking just really feminine like then one because Snoop is more masculine even though at the end of the day she's still a female. But the other one, they basically saved her until the very end when she's talking to Ferg. But back on topic, Rocky, I know he (and possibly them) love them some white women, but they could've but some beautiful dark chocolate women, or even black women in general in the video. The song pays ode to Shabba Ranks, a dancehall artist who's from JAMAICA! Why not have Jamaican or even at least Caribbean women in the video? How much do I want to bet that those women they had in the video didn't even know who Shabba Ranks is. I know this video came out four years ago, but still I just want to see more women that look like me (and POCs) in videos, and not only there but everywhere else. We need to take over the planet y'all! 😂😂
Okay that was my rant for the day. I'm so glad I updated again within a week. Much love to y'all💞💖 Oh! If you have a pet cat🐱, shout out to you! Thank you so much for the support and I love you all 😘💕It is 1:02 a.m. here in La La Land. So as I always say:
Vote, comment, spread this around, where is mrs. right? i gotta see her travel all across the world just to meet her, and DEUCES!