FinaL OutlaW - They Conditioned Us This Way 2011 (Official Audio)

I shall never forget the year 2011. That year was probably one of the most significant years of my life. Some may remember it for deaths such as that of people like Steve Jobs and Amy Winehouse. However, in the background, the year seemed underlined by the fallout from the catastrophic earthquake-tsunami in Japan that continued with the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Later that year, even New York City felt a significant tremble that was triggered by an earthquake in Virginia which I experienced firsthand. I was later told that an old acquaintance of mine from Washington Heights had some kind of episode after the earthquake and somehow managed to stab several people to death all while naked - true story. It was also the year that we lost our brother, Edwin. The last time I saw him I spent almost an entire day with him. He hit me up someday and asked if I'd be willing to hangout sometime. I was busy at the time but I invited him to come along with me for meetings I had throughout the city. He came. He showed up with his skateboard and we chatted all day in between meetings about everything. He even gave input on what the album cover for Unstoppable Love should be as we sat with a photographer at Whole Foods on Houston Street. I never saw him again.
It was during that year that I became a two-time Amateur Night champion at the world-famous Apollo theater in Harlem. It was an odd experience having to perform before a large audience that began booing as soon as I set foot on stage. Nevertheless, I was able to win over the crowd each night all the way to the semi-finals. Only lately have I started understanding the true significance of this achievement. At the time, it was bittersweet. Every night I emerged victorious with a whimper as many of my peers in NYC’s Hip Hop scene were absent. You would have thought that every Hip Hop publication in the city would have been on top of something like that. The culmination of countless experiences like these eventually forced me to reconsider exactly what words like “culture” and “community” truly meant in the grand scheme of things. I remember staff explaining to me backstage just how rare it was for any Hip Hop act to get as far as I did at the Apollo. I could only find about two other rappers who went as far as I did but always remained curious if there were others.
My attention would soon shift toward the rapid growth of the social movement known as Occupy Wall Street. One day, I saw a flyer with the date September 17th on it describing that a protest directed at Wall Street would occur at Zuccotti park. When I told somebody about it, they replied “don’t go.” Later that year, I spent countless nights at Zuccotti park trying to volunteer myself alongside thousands gathering for Occupy Wall Street. Occupy reshaped my thinking around leadership. I had previously harbored this romantic idea that if the time had ever come that I’d somehow stand at the forefront of “change.” It doesn’t work that way. I learned that I was quite happy to help wherever I could even if that simply meant distributing meals among protestors or helping with sanitation. Occupy taught me that I wasn’t alone. For the majority of my life until that point I strongly felt that individuals of society were not willing to come together for singular goals. Sometimes, the place you’re from can feel complacent and inert. I often felt that I was the only champion against the violence, abuses, and injustices incurred during my childhood. I was wrong. I remember Santigold being kind enough to entertain my efforts to throw an Occupy fundraiser. It fell through but she’ll always be the shit for even hearing me out on that. One night, a large group of us stood together at the park eagerly awaiting any news about Troy Davis’ impending execution. At one point, a false announcement was made that he was granted clemency only for us to later learn that he was indeed executed that night. I remember the remarkable courage of his sister, Martina Davis-Correia and the heaviness of learning that she had died only months later. To this day, I still think about little Lashaun Armstrong. I wonder about what kind of man he’s become and I regret feeling like there was nothing I could do to help at the time. That was the year following the disaster in Haiti and preceding the death of Trayvon Martin. Times were beginning to change and maybe becoming a rap star was too limiting a goal for somebody like me. This song was written and recorded that year but never released until now. 🏴 FO
Updated Jan 9th 2023
Produced by Levenkhan
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[@midnightgrahmmer]

Happy to see ya dropping music again 💪

[@deleted5351]

dope af

[@elitegt23]

Aye final, do you got any more stuff dropping?