A Tribute to My Teens

So I’m 20 now and I don’t feel any different. I can’t say I feel older. I mean, not much has changed physically since I turned 18. I haven’t cut my hair since then. Sunshine, Mom and Granny Sainvil want me to cut it, but that’s not happening anytime soon. I tried rocking a mustache for a while but that was a disaster. I thought I looked smooth. Like Billy Dee Williams or Eddie Murphy in Boomerang. Instead I ended up looking like a creepy uncle stuck in the 70s. My friend Eddie told me I looked like Richard Pryor, so that was a plus.

Anyway, turning 20 is cool I guess. In the words of my dear friend, Franco “It’s like turning 19 twice.” It’s funny how birthdays aren’t the same as anniversaries. If that were the case, we’d be celebrating the 21st anniversary of mass media releases and historical events instead of the 20th. When I was 12 the only things I thought of when I heard the word “teenager” were high school, hormones and mood swings. I had high expectations for those years. I often raved about how I was gonna take high school by storm. I was gonna be The Man. I was gonna be a D1 bound basketball player who dated the head cheerleader (or whoever the finest girl in school was) and we were going to be named Prom King and Queen. I accomplished none of those things. That’s not to say that I haven’t achieved much. (I’d be a bitter, bitter man if that were so). In my teenage years, I won accolades for writing, started this blog, travelled, went to college and met the love of my life. And that’s barely scratching the surface. I also launched a successful rap career—that “Watch Out Freestyle” had the streets on smash in Norway—but that’s a story for another post.

Yesterday Mom asked me what my favorite age as a teenager was. I’d have to say it was when I was 16. My junior year of high school was definitely one for the books. Everything from the All-Star game, College Tour and my AP U.S. History class was a blast. 19 is a close second because last summer and this school year were legendary. Despite all that I’ve done, there are still a few things I’ll never get to experience as a teen. Here are some things I wish I did as a teenager but didn’t do and wouldn’t do even if I had the chance:

1.       Take my parent's car out without them knowing.

2.       Throw a house party when my parents are out of town.

3.       Take a date to a drive-in movie and not watch the movie (keep it PG-13, people).

4.       Get wasted.

5.       Go to a new school, fight the head jock and dethrone him, take his girl then teach the whole school a lesson about self-acceptance before breaking out into a big musical dance number in the cafeteria.

I guess I did #4, but not really. The closest thing I got to being wasted was drinking two tall boys of “Redd’s Strawberry Ale” way too fast while playing NBA 2K15. It wasn’t necessarily a bad time, but I ended up vomiting and singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” with my head in my neighbor’s toilet. Sorry, Mom.

There’s a lyric Andre 3000 rapped that stuck with me all year “I’m 19 with a Cadillac.” That line was said in the song “A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre.” It tells the story of OutKast’s beginnings, 3000’s life change during the making of ATLiens, and his relationship with Erykah Badu. That lyric put things in perspective. It showed me that there are people my age and younger who are making moves. Right now there are guys younger than me entering the NBA draft. “I’m 19 with a Corolla” I thought to myself. “What moves am I going to make?” Tyler, the Creator bought a house at 22. Am I on track to do that? Here I go again, worrying myself before anything actually happens. I’m looking forward to seeing what my twenties will bring. The “Dirty Thirties” don’t seem too fun. Thank you all for the love and support you’ve given me through the years. There’s still more Mix to come and plenty of stories to tell.

This picture has nothing to do with the post. I just love this picture. I've been had the Dirty Sprite before Future. Been sipping on some sizzurp before Three 6 Mafia. Been had the drink in my cup before Kirko Bangz. All jokes, people. Just jokes..