Published on Jan. 20, 2009

The buzzer sounded in the district championship of my senior year in high school. As I walked off the court in defeat, I took a glance up at the scoreboard, and the clock read all zeroes. It was really over. The pain began to set in, for it would be the last basketball game I would ever play. A few weeks went by, and I was feeling a void in my life that desperately needed to be filled. I knew it was now time to face the difficult task of finding a replacement for what I loved most, so I began my search. Eventually, I found what I was looking for: rap music. Like basketball, rap involves the combination of natural talent and acquired skill, but also a unique expression of identity and reality that allows me to explore the seemingly limitless capacity of my mind. Read the entire PDF version of Scott’s essay.