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By Kyle Pontes
September 21, 2021
2 min read
Only so much can be done to curtail a kid's interest in Hip Hop when he's being brought up in Queens. Although it may not stop a parent from trying, the rap oozing from the streets, throwing itself out of passing cars, and leaping off of corners can make it a futile effort. This is how the New York born rapper Sho Moore grew up, he described being barred from rap as a kid as something that allowed him to appreciate the value of his fathers music, “Artists like Bob Marley, and Isaac Hayes, the things they were speaking on were much deeper, much more poetic”. However his interest in the rap music surrounding him was undeterred. He'd find himself sitting in his room with friends, jotting down the words of the lyricists who caught his attention the most, those of Juelz Santana and Dipset, Nas and Jay-Z. While the inspiration to put his own words on paper had come from these artists, the intention behind those words was something he took from his fathers music, “At the end of the day when i'm writing I wanna get something across, words matter, they tell you whats going on.”. As a tool of self expression rap allows him to do just that, Sho Moore describes the perspective his music gives as internal. “It lets me see what was on my mind, what times were like when I was writing”. However the more you rely on your craft as a means for reflection, the more risk may be implied when it comes to sharing your work, as he described the vulnerability required to “let people into your mind”. Anything you create often serves as a representation of who you are, this is one of arts incidental achievements. Sho Moore took the time to describe how evident this tendency becomes when you look at the relationship listeners often feel they have with different musical artists. “We all feel like we know Drake a little bit, 10% or not that's still a lot of themselves”. The risk that comes with sharing a piece of yourself is something we've all likely experienced at one point. Sho Moore likened the feeling to the mix of anxiety and excitement we all felt while looking down at a pool as children, curled toes cold from the pavement, contemplating when to jump, simultaneously eager and apprehensive. That apprehension is a feeling that seemed to go hand and hand with the authenticity Sho Moore prescribes for his music too, as there is less at stake when what you are sharing is not a product of who you are. With that in mind go listen to Gluten Free streaming on Soundcloud, by Sho Moore, a rap artist from queens carrying with him a vintage cadence passed down by some of New York's very own.