Words Connect Us

A local Young Mona captures her experiences and those of teens around her in her raps.

Dear Ma and Dad

When I was young never thought I would make it,

I was feeling stuck,

But I always told myself everything would be okay,

Spent years trying to understand what was life,

Then I found a way to open my eyes,

I was so close to hitting rock bottom,

Picked myself right back up.

Hey, Ma, please listen up, I know you’re sick but everything will be okay,

Dad where are you?

Can’t you see you’ve hurt us all?

No longer no happiness around,

Left alone in this lonely home,

I became more and more afraid,

How could you leave us?

Now I’m the man of the house,

It was you that made me think I could choose the drugs.

Asked myself questions like, would I make it?

You don’t even come home to us,

It was only us and I don’t want to see mum breaking down,

Yeah family is deep but they can cut you even deeper,

As deep as an ocean,

Thought your loved ones were for keeps, but nah,

Everyday all that would run through my head was: 'Take a sip take a sip',

I just wanted to dip.

Hey, Ma, please listen up, I know you’re sick but everything will be okay,

Dad where are you?

Can’t you see you’ve hurt us all?

No longer no happiness around,

Left alone in this lonely home,

I became more and more afraid,

How could you leave us?

Now I’m the man of the house,

It was you that made me think I could choose the drugs.

Something switched inside me,

It started to eat the inside of me,

Yeah looked back and never thought I would make it this far,

Had days of feeling like I was fighting a war,

Wanted to cry for help,

Many years before when it was just us five I remember mum always had a smile,

But now all I see is a scowl that could make me howl.

Hey, Ma, please listen up, I know you’re sick but everything will be okay,

Dad where are you?

Can’t you see you’ve hurt us all?

No longer no happiness around,

Left alone in this lonely home,

I became more and more afraid,

How could you leave us?

Now I’m the man of the house,

It was you that made me think I could choose the drugs.

Every son needs a father and damn we needed you,

You left us stranded,

I was ready to give up,

As I looked up seen myself in the mirror,

Picked myself up,

Dusted myself off,

Told myself not to run away from myself no more,

If I gave up it would make that black hole deeper,

That you created when you walked out the door.

Hey, Ma, please listen up, I know you’re sick but everything will be okay,

Dad where are you?

Can’t you see you’ve hurt us all?

No longer no happiness around,

Left alone in this lonely home,

I became more and more afraid,

How could you leave us?

Now I’m the man of the house,

It was you that made me think I could choose the drugs.

Ten years from now,

I’m doing much better now you know,

Too bad you aren’t around,

Could of watched your grandkids grow,

You taught me a lesson,

That was to never leave and to never promise shit that you can’t keep.

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We caught up with the lyricist, Katesha, to ask her about the inspiration and technical craft behind her songwriting.

How old were you when you started to write lyrics and poetry, and what prompted you to start writing?

I started writing songs around the age 13. When I was going through hard times and I would just have a few random words in my head, for example, freedom, hard, happiness. I would mix whatever words had popped into my head and turn them into raps. Writing down all the words in my head that I turned into a rap just made me feel like I could open up more in music than I could face to face to a person.

Do you have any artists or writers who have inspired you?

When I was younger my favourite music artist was Eminem, I really felt the connection with his music. His songs were like stories of parts of his life and he could really bring out his feelings about them in his music. Eminem was like my idol. He made me feel like I could express my feelings and made me really feel the music and what he was saying. Some of Eminem's songs really connected with me and my personal experiences in life.

So does your writing style resemble that of your idol, Eminem, in that you write about what you see, know and what you've experienced, or seen others experience?

This rap I've written here (Dear Ma and Dad) has some parts that connect with my life. It’s about their dad leaving their family with no explanation and their mother being not mentally well because of it. The person's perspective I tell the story through in the song is a 16 year old boy that is trying to be strong for his family, but he turns to drugs and alcohol to cope with everything going on. His dad leaving meant he had to step up for him. He ended up showing his dad that he was the one missing out, that he could have been there and watched them all grow up and watch his grandkids come into the world but he wasn’t there so it was his loss in the end. I want my songs to show kids and other teenagers that they are not alone in anything, that they can connect with the lyrics to their own experiences.

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