Summary

The author recalls the times when he and his friends would rap (they called raps “ciphers”) together in the Oberlin College bathrooms, disallowing all women and people of other races to participate. He explains that at the time, they were just spectators to New York Hip Hop. Laymon states that he had rap credibility because he spent some time in New York with his father. He then elaborates that Southern rap was looked down upon at the time. However, years later, after the group OutKast became popular, Southern rap became popular and almost the norm. When this happened, he would think of ciphers, bringing him back to his childhood in Mississippi. Layman then began accepting the fact that he was a Black Southern artist, and that this was okay, as much of the country’s culture came from Black...