Look at that handsome face!
Uhh! Okay. Just wanna check the mic first (?) get the sound right. This is not comedy hour, I promise.
The funny thing is: I used to go to this school. And my class used to sit like in this area, here. Yeah, O2, who’s an O2er?
Kendra, come here! Kendra, come on! Kendra (?) everybody! Come, give me a hug! I mean, how long has it been, two decades? Come up here! I was at all doing me. (?). How about that – reunion!
Okay. So, it’s just a little surreal, I haven’t been in this room since 1999, 2000 maybe. So, I’m 31, I just turned 31 on January 30th, how about that? Oh, thank you, thank you.
And, when I was approached to do this Ted Talk, I was immediately like: Why? And, then it was kinda like, put in perspective by me, in – I’m not really one to do speeches, I’m really weird, if you can imagine as I do the performing and I’m on stage, doing this is my job. It’s different to stand up in front of people like this when there’s this light and speak and, you know, express yourself in this way.
But, I told myself, okay, how am I gonna be able to do this, let me just talk about my life. That’s something I know, better than anyone else. And, I feel like coming from Cleveland, coming from Shaker, you know, such a diverse place, and just looking in the audience from the people I can’t see, it’s still … very diverse. But, I believe that my upbringing in this town, the school, district, is what made me the man I am today.
And when I moved away when I was 20 years old, my mom was extremely sad – where’s my mom at? Yeah. She was crying. Hey Mommy. My first big fan was my mom. And, it was really interesting, I remember leaving home, and she’s giving me a hug at the airport, and she leans and she goes: “You can always come back around, you can go right back home, you can change your mind, everything will be fine.” I’m like: “No, I’m going, this is happening.” And you know, walk into security and then looking back and just seeing her like: “Ohhh...” And me just being like: “Errr…”
However, as soon as I turned back around, I knew I was on a mission, on this very specific quest. You know? It was bigger than just wanting to be a musician, or do movies. It was аbout: Finally showing the world what Scott could do. I wasn’t the best student, I’mma be honest with you, Kendra knows this. If Kendra was in my class and she was sitting next to me I probably would have tried to cheat off her.
But that’s not the point. The point is, it’s like: When I think about it, you know, I wish I applied myself as much as I applied all the energy into music as I did, as in music as, you know, as in music, I wish I could have applied that same energy into my academics when I was in school. So a lot of people look at me now and they go: “Oh man, this must be dope to be a rapper.” And it is dope, it’s awesome. (?)
But, you know, I can’t say that I don’t wanna sometimes go back and relearn some things. I can’t say I don’t feel out of certain conversations that my friends have. You know, and these are things that I think about, you know, cause being at school is all about being cool and wearing the fresh – I was gonna curse but – wearing fresh clothing. And being popular. And, when you go out into the real world, you realize that that moment is just a little beep of your life. High school, you know. Now I remember Kendra (?), but everything else I don’t remember. No I’m just joking. But I’m just saying: At that moment in life you feel like that’s all that matters. High school, it’s like: Oh this girl doesn’t like me, this guy here and there’s all this drama, this drama, and you go into the real world and you know it’s about just trying to make your mark in the world. And I never got the chance to do that academically.
So I had this fire, I had this fire to pursue this musical career. I had no idea how to go about it. I was living with my uncle who was up in the age at the time. 80 years old. Older uncle. So when I moved to New York it’s not he could show me around, show me all the cool spots, you know, he was just kinda like: “There’s the train and you get a metro card, and you go.” And I was: “Yeah okay, we got the Rapid, I can do this. It’s all right.” I was immediately wrong for that, for assuming that it was gonna be the same. It is not the same.
Um, but, I embraced it. I embraced the fear, the danger. I enjoyed the fact that I was going in uncharted territory. It was like a sense of wonder for me. And, I can’t say I was one of those people that was into like having thrills and, you know, getting some type of stimulation from that, but it was nothing like saying, like: “Y’all I’m gonna out and pursue something and I know I’m gonna do it. And nobody’s gonna tell me I can’t. And everybody that doesn’t believe it I’mma prove it to ‘em sooner or later. And that’s just what it is.” Because I won’t point I didn’t feel like I was smart enough to pass that test. Or I didn’t feel like I was smart enough to go to this college.
Uhh! Okay. Just wanna check the mic first (?) get the sound right. This is not comedy hour, I promise.
The funny thing is: I used to go to this school. And my class used to sit like in this area, here. Yeah, O2, who’s an O2er?
Kendra, come here! Kendra, come on! Kendra (?) everybody! Come, give me a hug! I mean, how long has it been, two decades? Come up here! I was at all doing me. (?). How about that – reunion!
Okay. So, it’s just a little surreal, I haven’t been in this room since 1999, 2000 maybe. So, I’m 31, I just turned 31 on January 30th, how about that? Oh, thank you, thank you.
And, when I was approached to do this Ted Talk, I was immediately like: Why? And, then it was kinda like, put in perspective by me, in – I’m not really one to do speeches, I’m really weird, if you can imagine as I do the performing and I’m on stage, doing this is my job. It’s different to stand up in front of people like this when there’s this light and speak and, you know, express yourself in this way.
But, I told myself, okay, how am I gonna be able to do this, let me just talk about my life. That’s something I know, better than anyone else. And, I feel like coming from Cleveland, coming from Shaker, you know, such a diverse place, and just looking in the audience from the people I can’t see, it’s still … very diverse. But, I believe that my upbringing in this town, the school, district, is what made me the man I am today.
And when I moved away when I was 20 years old, my mom was extremely sad – where’s my mom at? Yeah. She was crying. Hey Mommy. My first big fan was my mom. And, it was really interesting, I remember leaving home, and she’s giving me a hug at the airport, and she leans and she goes: “You can always come back around, you can go right back home, you can change your mind, everything will be fine.” I’m like: “No, I’m going, this is happening.” And you know, walk into security and then looking back and just seeing her like: “Ohhh...” And me just being like: “Errr…”
However, as soon as I turned back around, I knew I was on a mission, on this very specific quest. You know? It was bigger than just wanting to be a musician, or do movies. It was аbout: Finally showing the world what Scott could do. I wasn’t the best student, I’mma be honest with you, Kendra knows this. If Kendra was in my class and she was sitting next to me I probably would have tried to cheat off her.
But that’s not the point. The point is, it’s like: When I think about it, you know, I wish I applied myself as much as I applied all the energy into music as I did, as in music as, you know, as in music, I wish I could have applied that same energy into my academics when I was in school. So a lot of people look at me now and they go: “Oh man, this must be dope to be a rapper.” And it is dope, it’s awesome. (?)
But, you know, I can’t say that I don’t wanna sometimes go back and relearn some things. I can’t say I don’t feel out of certain conversations that my friends have. You know, and these are things that I think about, you know, cause being at school is all about being cool and wearing the fresh – I was gonna curse but – wearing fresh clothing. And being popular. And, when you go out into the real world, you realize that that moment is just a little beep of your life. High school, you know. Now I remember Kendra (?), but everything else I don’t remember. No I’m just joking. But I’m just saying: At that moment in life you feel like that’s all that matters. High school, it’s like: Oh this girl doesn’t like me, this guy here and there’s all this drama, this drama, and you go into the real world and you know it’s about just trying to make your mark in the world. And I never got the chance to do that academically.
So I had this fire, I had this fire to pursue this musical career. I had no idea how to go about it. I was living with my uncle who was up in the age at the time. 80 years old. Older uncle. So when I moved to New York it’s not he could show me around, show me all the cool spots, you know, he was just kinda like: “There’s the train and you get a metro card, and you go.” And I was: “Yeah okay, we got the Rapid, I can do this. It’s all right.” I was immediately wrong for that, for assuming that it was gonna be the same. It is not the same.
Um, but, I embraced it. I embraced the fear, the danger. I enjoyed the fact that I was going in uncharted territory. It was like a sense of wonder for me. And, I can’t say I was one of those people that was into like having thrills and, you know, getting some type of stimulation from that, but it was nothing like saying, like: “Y’all I’m gonna out and pursue something and I know I’m gonna do it. And nobody’s gonna tell me I can’t. And everybody that doesn’t believe it I’mma prove it to ‘em sooner or later. And that’s just what it is.” Because I won’t point I didn’t feel like I was smart enough to pass that test. Or I didn’t feel like I was smart enough to go to this college.
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