My name is Fletcher Laico. I’m a suburban kid with a confession to make: I love rap. When I was eight years old, I discovered rap through happenstance – wandering through a record store, Lil Bow Wow’s Beware of Dog caught my eye. Lil Bow Wow just looked so cool. I now understand how ridiculous it is that Lil Bow Wow was the first rapper I ever listened to. Introduced to the world of rap, I became obsessed. I started tearing through Eminem, 50 Cent, G-Unit, and any other albums I could get my hands on. My parents only bought me the edited versions of albums, but I didn’t care. I just devoured rap. My parents were completely against it. But what could they do? Rap was something I clearly loved. My love for rap is something deeply ingrained in me, something inherent; in no way was rap promoted or supported in my home. I liked rap against all odds. For me to have gravitated toward the genre and the culture, I had to have had something in my blood, something instinctual. I have no connection with the lifestyle most raps music describes – for me to enjoy it so thoroughly is something I don’t quite understand and probably never will. Since age 8, I have loved rap. Now, I feel compelled to write about it.
My first album…
Since Age 8 