In a small hospital in a quiet Texas town everything was peaceful. The on-all residents made their rounds in the dead of night and the only noise was the rhythmic beeping of life from the machines. Suddenly cries were echoing throughout the halls and a doctor took off running towards the source.

A few hours later two babies, a brother and a sister, twins, began their life journey. One, a girl who was given the name Stormi, would strive for greatness, and in youth she would achieve it. However, as an adult she would trip and fall in the darkness of her brother’s great shadow and always live in a pit of mediocrity. This is the story of that brother, my best friend; this is the story of Donovan Lee Bailey.

We all have our struggles. Donovan was no different. His greatest struggle was with authority. Even in adolescence-correction: especially in adolescence-Donovan struggled to get along with authority figures. Teachers, coaches, parents, and security guards, adults in general really, were fair game. Taunts, talking back, and ignoring their command would earn him trip after trip to the principal’s office.

As Donovan stumbled out of the starting blocks, Stormi was reaching her peak. In school she respecter her teachers and coaches, she had many friends, was well liked, and excelled in academics. However, each time his sister was referred to as the “golden child” the pressure inside Donovan built. Around sixteen these rumblings inside had grown and grown until there was no longer room to contain them inside. He had to find an outlet. Soccer, running, and everything else he tried could not serve as a sufficient vent. Eventually he erupted, pouring molten words from his mouth in a form of rap that would forever redefine the genre.

Donovan had grown up playing soccer. Ever since his feet could reach the floor he was kicking a soccer ball. In high school he joined the school team and the locker room served as a breeding ground for his raps. However, his ambitions were far too great and soon he left the team for a local recreational team where his free flowing personality, style of play, and way of rapping were accepted. Here he thrived, becoming one of the top goal scorers while only attending a handful of games. His lack of commitment to the team was not a reflection of irresponsibility, but actually quite the opposite.

Before he made it big in the music industry Donovan was just like anyone else trying to make it in this world. His wavering moral compass struggled to keep him on the path of employment and he was unable to stay at one job for too long. Each day of working for the man seemed to sap up a bit more of his soul. (Though without these years of hard work he would not have the anger necessary for the music he creates.) In the year of his employment at a local grocery store several lucky customers claim to have heard quick, rhythmic rhymes bouncing off the soup cans on the shelves and melting together into one warm breath that, they claimed, warmed their very soul.

That his words could warm a man’s soul is no surprise to those who know him best. A deeply religious man, Donovan has yearned to become a preacher in his adulthood. Perhaps another path has been lain out before him though. His gift can only be described as heaven sent. So let this sere as a warning to anyone who owns a radio. Prepare yourself, prepare your ears, and keep a close eye on your children because a storm is coming, God’s storm. It’s going to blow through your speakers and no umbrella will save you. The man who navigated the straight and narrow even as the devil’s hand held a magnet to his moral compass is coming, be ready.