I just all of a sudden had this desire to express myself in the hip hop forum.

I was a huge fan of Nas and I bought a cassette tape. It ain't hard to tell which was one of Nause's first singles and I bought it and I hit it from my parents and they found it two days later, which in hindsight I was almost mad that I was found out right and it turned into a huge argument and I threw my clothes out the window.

We lived in a one-story home. I put all my clothes in a plastic bag, threw them out the window,

and jumped onto my clothes, ran to Grandma's house because I just felt there was no privacy and I was making a stand on what I wanted for me. And it turned out to be one of At the End of the Tunnel.

I'm Light Watkins, your host, and if this is your first time listening to At the

End of the Tunnel. Thank you for

tuning in. This is a podcast about Hope and I bring on people who have been using

their art or their platform in the name of service or they've started a nonprofit or they've initiated a

movement for social good or they produce something that makes the world a

better place and so this week I'm bringing on one of my personal inspirations. He's not somebody who started a traditional nonprofit, but he lives his life in such a way that he's inspired many people who follow him to follow their heart to do what they love to take

leaps of faith and you know I'm all about a good leap of faith. His name is Chris Classic.

And I've been following Chris Classic on Instagram for a while,

and I was just really inspired by his openness

and transparency and the stuff that he shares

about his life as a father and a husband and an entrepreneur,

and I noticed that I would often feel uplifted after coming across his feet.

So fortunately I have this podcast where if I feel called to reach out to someone who I admire, I can always invite them on to the show and get to know them better and share their story with my audience. And so my conversation with Chris Classic did not disappoint.

As you'll hear, Chris grew up in New York as a Jehovah's Witness and after his parents discovered a Naus tape that he had hidden in his bedroom. Nas by the way is a famous rapper, for those of you who don't know.

Well that turned into an argument because of his religion. You're not supposed to listen to rap music as a Jehovah's Witness.

And so of course he was obsessed with rap music and he took a stand and it became a whole thing and

he ended up running away to live with his aunt who happened to be married to a man named Reverend Run, who was probably the most famous rapper of my generation because he was a part of this group called Run DMC.

And that turned into a mentorship where Chris and Reverend Run ended up co-writing songs together.

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