You’re wack! Wack I tell you! See that movie! See yourself!

I’m going to reveal something tough here, so stick with me: I have envy. I have a remote connection to some of those folks in the movie because of where I was in the 90s (Brooklyn Moon, Tea Party, Harlem, Fort Greene, some places I should’ve been, some places I shouldn’t have). I want my connection to be shorter. I would like to be the kind of artist who is doing what they want for a living on a day to day basis. I want a VIP pass to the next block party. I want to hang out in the Green Room. I want to stare at Erykah Badu after she comes off stage. I want to tell Jill Scott that she is the bomb and have her smile at me with that big beautiful fourth-grade teacher grin she has. I want to clown Mos Def and Kweli again (yes, I did it. Me and Jess talking about how much they really love Detroit deep down—long story joke). I want remind Black Thought how I ran into him at the first Source Hip Hop awards in that broke down theater next to the Appollo, right after his gun “situation” with the cops. I want to make Common remember that we stood next to each other at this dance concert outdoors at Lincoln Center. I want to tell Martin Luther that “Daily Bread” is STILL my shit and that the next time he sees Wood or Saul, he should tell them I said what’s up. I want to tell Cody Chestnutt that Yaze is now ready to tour with him unlike the last time they uh, communed in the uh “garden” together. I want to be around the cool kids. There. I said it. I name dropped. I validated myself. I let you know that I was part of that scene. And now I want magic to happen. I want to magically get my novel published. I want to be on panels. I want to be interviewed. I want to do a prison theater festival. I want be regarded. You know what all this means? Here it is:

Ready?

Okay.

That movie made me want to make my art matter.

That’s it.

That’s all.

It is in the spirit of the original meaning of MC: it Moved the Crowd.

See it. Now.