Summer

**************Born in the 80's, Summer grew up in the beginning of the Hip Hop era. Listening to artist such as Run DMC and LL Cool J since birth, rapping became just as natural to Summer as speaking is for any two year old. Given the nick name Toma {indian= meaning "Little Mother"} as new born, she started her life off as unique as her name sounded. Singing and Rapping at the age of 4, her then teenaged brother bragged of her skills and bostly took her upon the street corners of Cleveland to perform for the guys on the block. Always impressed by this "little girl who could rap" people soon began to request a song and dance from the child everytime she was seen. Growing older, and getting into school aged years, Toma was known throughout elementry as "The Walking Radio." There was not a song she did not know, or would not easily recite the words to. It was always a dream of hers to become a rapper, but there was always the negative feedback from peers and others stating that "Girls can't do that!" Back then Toma took those words for what they were, but now she recgonizes those people as HATERS! Even though they pushed her dream a little further away for a while, Toma kept the hope alive in the back of her mind. Seeing artist like Salt & Pepper, MC Lyte, and Queen Latifah, Toma begin to belive in the dream again. Unfortanly, even though she was motivated, terrible and unexpected events unfolded in her personal life. Already dealing with a rough childhood of abuse, neglect, and abandonment by drug addictted parents, the reality of being molested at age 12 brought Toma into a deep depression mind state. Not knowing how to deal with her emotions she let them out through peotry, books, and songs that she secretly wrote. Although she did not have the drive to perform or let it be known she was talented she hung on to the dream through the struggles she wrote about in her notebooks. She felt that it was all she needed at the time, that is until the day arrived that her mother, annoyyed by the fact Toma watched BET all day, went through her personal belongings and destroyed all her writings, posters and c.d's, while shouting "No more BET, I'm tired of all this Rap SHIT! I Don't wanna see any of this shit in this house anymore. That shit ain't real, you ain't gon be a motha fuckin star! Sitting round here all day watchin other niggas on T.V.  They already rich. You need to be trying to get a fucking job! Worry bout school!" Eventhough this may not have been a big deal to the average person, this was a dramatic event in Toma's life. Noone understood what music meant to her, it was all she knew or cared about. It was then that she became a heavy listener to not only the music, but the lyrical content of the songs she heard. While doing this she became attached to the rapper she believed expressed the struggles of his life in the way that she would given the circumstances she was dealt. That rapper was TUPAC. Tupac in many ways changed her life. He taught her that life is rough but you have to "keep yo head up." She listened to his music and developed a new outlook on life. His music helped to bring Toma back into the habit of lyrically expressing her thoughts. She realized that all the pain and sufferring she had been through would be worth it if she could rap about it and help someone else in the same situation. She began writing again, but it seems that just as soon as the ink could dry, she recieved news that her favorite rapper, her hero, had been killed. This was a major set back in her life. Her main source of motivation had been taking away from her, so suddenly, so violently. Since that horrible day in 1996, Toma half hearted kept her foot in the door to the world of hip hop as she began to focus on other avenues of her life, such as acting and dancing. Now, in College, and more often refferred to as Summer, she blossemed on stage in plays and dance performances. But, all that changed when the movie titled "Tupac Resurection" premerred, and for the first time in a long time Tupac himself was able to reach out to her again. As if seeing his story was not moving enough, the message that Tupac delivered at the end of the movie felt as though he was speaking directly to Summer, and she took the new burst of motivation he transpired to her and hit the studio. She began writing again, only this time she didn't need a pen. The songs she created meant so much, that reciting these words were like breathing in and out. A pen would only slow her down or make her think too much about what she was writing, which would make her lyrics less likely to convey realness. Summer vowed to herself that she would put 110% in every line she spoke. Currently, Summer is using all the lessons she learned in the past to help her live out her dream in the future. As for the present, she hustles as hard as she flows and she keeps her dream alive by putting all her effort into making sure whatever Toma does, is HOT LIKE SUMMER!!!!!!!!
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