Devastatingly Beautiful-- by Jenna Marie

Fingertip brushes against metal.
A whisper. A want
to be used, to be played.
Flesh presses into cool string.
Softly, gently, it draws.

Pluck.
It resonates.
A raindrop in a sea of water.
A ripple.
A hint of what it can be.
Tantalizing. Sweet. Beautiful.

More.
A brush of white hair.
A sweet caress: gliding, pulling.
A wave.
Everything it is and greater.
Infinite. Powerful. Music.

Fingers deftly move,
Breathing life into the silence
Flowers bloom from their tips.
Singing of birds trail in their wake.
Soft white clouds caress.
Devastatingly beautiful.

Prominent Rappers Behind Bars - Marguerite Bysshe

If you're a fan of hip hop and keep up with today's rappers, you'll know that February has been a busy month. It feels like a new artist is arrested everyday, charged with some felony related to gun violence or illegal gang activity. After awhile, it can be hard to keep up with who's behind bars and who's not. This is partially due to the fact that the media likes to blur and exaggerate circumstances and also the fact that every other rapper today is "Lil" something or "YBN" whatever. It can definitely get confusing. Hopefully, this post will help clear up who's in trouble and for what.

Let's start off with Tekashi 6ix9ine, aka 22 year old Daniel Hernandez. Long story short, Hernandez was apart of the Nine Trey Blood Gang and put himself in some unfortunate situations. You know, robbing people at gun point, trafficking drugs around NYC, attempting to kill other gang members, and oh yeah, putting a hit out on one of his rival rappers (*cough cough* Chief Keef). Unfortunately for him, the hit man he sent kind of sucked and missed the shot, so now Hernandez is being charged with nine federal crimes and his rival is still alive. Gun charges, drug trafficking, conspiracy, and racketeering are just a few of the felonies he pleaded guilty to on January 23. He could face 47 years in prison and so far, his cooperation hasn't lead to any sentence reduction. As of now, he's going to prison in January 2020, giving him time to either figure out a sentence reduction or do something else that's stupid to add to his time.



On a slightly lighter note, apparently 21 Savage is British?? How did we not know this? He was arrested by ICE on February 3 and detained for awhile. Apparently, he was "obviously targeted" and arrested after he was pulled over by local cops. Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph had told fans he was from the Atlanta area since the start of his career. However, he had actually visited the US when he was 13 and overstayed his visa. He was convicted on drug charges in 2014, but ICE was not aware of his citizenship status. 21 Savage has since been released, but the issue has definitely brought detainment conditions and the treatment of illegal immigrants to the public eye once again.



In slightly less important news, Lil Baby was arrested for reckless driving in the beginning of February. According to police, Dominique Jones had failed to use a turn signal and was speeding past cars and constantly switching lanes in a high pedestrian area of Atlanta. As horrible and stupid as this is, I think the only thing more atrocious is the fact that he owns an orange Corvette. Orange?? Really? You're a multimillionaire and you're spending your money on orange cars? That's the real crime here. Please, just buy black or red or something a little less obnoxious next time and maybe you won't get pulled over.




February finished out with some other small time arrests are well. Blueface, born Johnathon Porter, is facing charges on illegal gun possession after being released on bail not even a month prior. BlocBoy JB, otherwise known as James Baker currently has a warrant out for his arrest. He faces charges of possession of drugs, theft of property, and a felon in possession of a handgun. At only 22, he has already served time for possession of drugs with intentions to sell as well as evading arrest and theft. Why does every rapper under the sun have an obsession with their guns? I have no idea.




Now we've arrived at Taymor McIntyre, better known as Tay-K 47. He was arrested in 2016 at only 16 for capital murder charges on two different events. He has also been charged with robbery and openly admitted that he has used illegal substances. Remind you, this kid is barely 18. He's had a rather troubled childhood and being involved in multiple murder cases isn't doing him any good. Unfortunately, McIntyre has also recently stirred up some problems behind bars. Besides threatening other inmates and staff, as well as physically assaulting other prisoners, McIntyre has decided to start a gang. Yes. A teenager attempted to start a gang called the "Rug Rats" behind bars. Genius. He even drafted a "Laws of Power" list, outlining the rules and conditions required to become a Rug Rat. It was a really great idea, a wonderful way to assert your dominance on the other inmates except for the fact that he ended up getting caught. And unfortunately for Tay-K, this incident could definitely increase his jail time.







2019 has been a busy month for rappers and fans alike. Another popular case was YNW Melly, who was charged on premeditated murder after the release of his song "Murder on My Mind". Hundreds of other rappers are behind bars for stupid things done for the "culture" and I think that is ridiculous. Many of today's rappers grew up in broken homes and were apart of illegal activity from a young age, which is a shame because they could be such positive role models for so many kids. Unfortunately, a new artist is arrested everyday and it doesn't seem like that trend is going away anytime soon.

Links: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article226974284.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ybn-cordae-the-new-rapper-bridging-hip-hops-generation-gap-11551718800

https://www.wafb.com/2019/02/28/rapper-blocboy-jb-taken-into-custody/

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/04/691210275/atlanta-rapper-21-savage-arrested-by-ice-for-allegedly-overstaying-visa

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rapper-21-savage-describes-arrest-ice-we-got-savage-n971951

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tekashi-6ix9ine-pleads-guilty-to-federal-charges-will-help-gang-investigation-2019-02-02/

https://pagesix.com/2019/02/20/rising-rapper-blueface-faces-felony-gun-possession-charge/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/02/07/reports-rapper-lil-baby-arrested-reckless-driving-eluding-police/2808164002/

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/2019/02/20/ynw-melly-murder-my-mind-shooting-ynw-juvy-ynw-sakchaser/2928320002/

One Day, One Day by Liv Przydzial

And sometimes I venture to a special place in my mind, a special place that takes me to where I want to be more than anything. 

* * * 

I'm in a Volkswagen camper van, one covered in tie-dye peace sign stickers and painted in colorful shades of the happy colors. Although the van might be blue, we were anything but that. All the windows were down and the pleasantly warm summer breeze drifted by as we wound our way around the Pacific coast. Music blared from the radio, replaying old songs from our childhoods. Everyone knew all the words, and we all laughed as we attempted to reach a high note. Everyone wore a smile on their face, and the slowly setting sun cast golden glows upon our sunkissed faces. The ocean just a hop, skip, and a jump away reflected the rainbow of colors infecting the sky. 

As we climbed our way to the beach, songs by the Beetles blared. Our hands in the air, our wrists crowded from all of the friendship bracelets from old and new friends, we danced our way down local streets. A blur of people milled up and down the boardwalk. The ocean's salty aroma wafted to us, mixing with the chatter of the people and the seemingly distant crashing of the waves. 

Perhaps the stereotype of the recklessness of teenagers was true, but maybe a part of the story was forgotten. Why didn't anyone talk about how liberating it felt to ditch the heavy burden of material things behind and live for the moment? Why didn't anyone talk about how much more meaningful each day was when you lived in and for every second of it? Why didn't anyone ever talk about life as the new, colorful, make-it-what-you-want-it entity that it was, rather than the monotonous, day-after-day blandness that society made it out to be? 

Regardless, as soon as the van rumbled to a stop, I flung open the door and essentially spilled out. My legs like that of a newborn fawn, I stretched from the long ride down here. Even the pavement was covered in sand carried here by a million people, the thought of which made me happy, because I was now a part of this too. I was already in my bathing suit, as where the rest of my friends. We would race to the end of this world and the next together, all of our steps in synch, our feet creating a dust storm behind us, each footstep resonating within the earth. The sand between my toes was so fresh, so raw. I understood what it now felt like to be in touch with nature, myself, and the people around me - all at once, and it was simply exhilarating. We plunged into the warm water, emerging with salty hair and laughs. 


It was liberating, to be swept off your feet and into the sea. The ocean was such an unimaginably huge entity of unknowns, a seemingly endless expanse of secrets that would never be fully understood. Perhaps some would find this terrifying, but I was actually rather entranced. To me, the ocean was full of contradictions. The waves crashed with vigor and anger, while all the life dependant on it hung in a gentle balance that something as simple as a minor breeze could sway out of control. As unknown and scary the depths of the water below us seemed, I felt nothing less than free, with nothing dragging me down but gravity, which didn't even feel as heavy as it normally did. 

* * * 

With our salty lips and soaked hair, we sat side by side on the beach, watching the sun rest atop the horizon. How big was this earth? What was beyond that line? Perhaps I would never know, but the beauty was not in knowing, but in speculating what wonders one could find in such a mysterious thing such as this. 

It was easy to feel satisfied. Feeling exhilarated, wild, and free, and ultimately falling asleep happy all at the same time was a challenge so simple in nature yet so unattainable and out of reach for those afraid to break the chains of the weights on their shoulders. 

As the sun dipped below the cloudless sky and the first stars unmasked themselves, my fingers strummed the ancient strings of my mother's guitar, the vibrations flowing through each of my veins and into everyone else's. We sang whatever songs came to mind and laughed when we all forgot the lyrics and came up with our own. 


* * *

Although I dream of such a mental, physical, and soul-quenching liberation, I know that the value in such a phenomenon is only understood with a background in the opposite. To be free, you need to be in bondage, an unfortunate cycle that nobody has strayed far enough from to break out of. I hope that maybe one day, maybe just one day, I'll be the one to go far enough into the darkness to find the light switch to happiness in everything I do, but for now, the most I can do is at least attempt to be happy in as much as possible, until I reach far enough into the dark to light up this world.