Music makes me lose my mind

I love rap music. Always have. When I was a teenager, my friends used to think I was crazy. "Rap is not music". Most of my friends liked traditional rock 'n roll like Led Zeppelin, The Doobie Brothers, The Beatles, and Bruce Springsteen.

I like it all. There's something about the bass in a good dance tune, the story told in a old country song, the thrashing of a Metallica riff and the raw language of a rap song.

Rap has always been my favourite. The struggles with police, drugs, gangs and sex that urban musicians sung about has no relation to my own teenage struggles. For me it was the absolute opposite. It was my bizarro world.

Now that I think about it, it was my way of being different from everyone else.

It was my way of travelling the road less travelled.

But I didn't tell my friends because I was trying to conform. I didn't want to be singled out. It was a secret I didn't share until I started university.

When I bought my first car, I was one of those guys that spent too much money on subwoofers, amplifiers and stereo equipment. Driving down the street with my windows rolled down, my Honda Civic was a rolling DJ booth as it blasted out Gin and Juice by Snoop Dogg.

It wasn't until Eminem started rapping about Losing Control that rap music emerged as mainstream for white folks. The radio stations started playing his music with appropriate dubs to make it radio friendly. They even changed the name of the music genre to "Hip Hop" to make it sound more friendly.

As a dad, I don't play a lot of hip hop music out loud any more. My kids were taught that swearing is bad. I can't be a bad example with all the profanity.

My iPhone has some secret tunes that I listen to while I run.

My kids don't need to know.  My secret continues but for a different reason.

Give me a beat...