It’s been many seemingly endless months since 21-year-old Sacramento emcee and spoken word artist Luke Tailor first shared his financial woes with us in the form of the raw, heart-stirring track “Sallie Mae Blues.”

After a couple of setbacks and much preparation, Tailor has finally unveiled and released his first ‘baby’ to share with the world.

TextBook Money serves as a soundtrack for those college students who weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth and can relate to the struggle of not having two quarters to rub together or having to go hungry because you had to spend your grocery money to cover the cost of your textbooks.

What if I dropped out of college and dealed coke? How would I face my niece and tell her what her uncle did? I can’t imagine that, or tell my daughter Dad was bagging crack, he raps on “C.R.E.A.M.,” which samples Wu-Tang Clan’s ’94 single of the same name.

Not too feature-heavy, the 13-track tape includes features from his fellow Sacramento artists Soosh*E, Jasmine Nichol and Dre-T. And, although the tape is available for download free of charge, in no way is Tailor discouraging anyone from donating funds to a starving college student’s pockets.

Download TextBook Money here.

The post New Mixtape: Luke Tailor – “TextBook Money” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Honestly, I’m confused because our relationship is less than blatant. / By observation, people think we dating. Until they ask us and they make it / awkward. Make it more stressed than I’ve been used to taking. / But our texting conversations is a little more than flirtatious, / but I’m not used to being patient. / But I find myself waiting, hanging…

Take a listen to “That Awkward Moment” below.

The post New Music: Luke Tailor – “That Awkward Moment” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.