Free

Sophomore year of college I experienced this song.  I was taken off guard by it, because my initial exposure to Goodie Mob as a full collective was Cell Therapy.  The latter spoke to the kid raised on Public Enemy, N.W.A., KRS - One, X-Clan, who entered manhood with Masta Ace, Souls of Mischief and Outkast blazing a new trail.  I don't return to it like I did then, partially because the reality of death has firmly cemented itself as a part of my reality, whereas at that time each loss was a soul jarring trauma I had no experience digesting.  The shell shock of international terrorism hadn't hit home, figuratively and literally.  I was just a young idealist with zeal and no direction.  Now, I'm grown, and aging, and the world has rushed into our insular worlds demanding our attention while we ignore it like a child who demands attention but has tested our patience to its limits.  Freedom isn't free.