Do you remember the songs you were listening to when you were growing up? I do.

Back then, I didn't have enough money to buy cassette tapes and honestly, I really didn't know what I would buy if I ever had the money for it. My older sister, who, of course, had a bigger allowance, was the one who would always buy them so basically, she has the control on what music would be playing inside the house. Needless to say, it was she who introduced to me the genre that would eventually dominate my iPod: Hip-Hop.

I clearly remember singing Weak by SWV at the top of my lungs with my sister, while cleaning our room. I remember the first day I laid eyes on a Nas album. I remember not being able to sleep without 112's Cupid playing on the radio. I remember seeing my sister hold on to a piece of paper with BTNH lyrics printed on them while trying very hard to rap as fast as Bizzy. I remember a specific album called MTV Soul'd Out which became our life pseudo-soundtrack. I remember buying my first CD, which was Fanmail. I remember hearing the voice of 2Pac just as the sunlight touched me.

Right now, the genre that defined my childhood still prevails. The proof of which can be see in my charts and in the contents of my iPod. Listening to it gives me a different feeling, the feeling you get when you reread old letters, see 10-year old photographs of yourself and eat your mommy's famous sandwich: the feeling of Home. It never fades, that feeling.

Do you still remember the songs during your childhood? I do. I still listen to them. :)