“I was raised in the projects in Nashville, mostly by my mom. My dad was never really present. He was a car mechanic and he left before the sun came up and didn’t come back until after 7 every night. He passed recently and I didn’t think much of it because we weren’t very close. Although, I sometimes regret not feeling more during this chapter of my life. He never really showed affection or told me he loved me, although I know that he probably did in his own way. Even though I didn’t know him that well, I knew he was big in the streets. One time I saw him get shot in the legs with a shotgun right on the street. You know how shotgun pellets spread out? He was lucky because they spread out and he was far enough away that it only hit his legs. They almost had to amputate them. Now that I’m telling you this I’m realizing that this event probably affected me…I hadn’t really thought about it affecting me till just now.”