We told Rasheed ourselves that for a long time we didn't know he was Black. He laughed. It wasn't the first time he's heard it. His huge following in Mexico probably doesn't know either, and they keep requesting him to go to Monterrey, Mexico to do a show.

A bit of cultural insight: Many native Mexicans don't know how to react to seeing a black man, if they didn't grow up around them. Even within our borders in homogeneous South Texas, which looks like Mexico to the naked eye; our uncle who lives there once asked us if we had any black friends and wondered what it would be like to have black friends.

It was an innocent question, but a telling statement of the still pronounced segregation that exists today. So Rasheed, when you finally go to Mexico, promise to take us, because we want to witness that shit.

But Rasheed's a WetBlack. He's one of us. No, we didn't spell it wrong. It's WetBlack, not wetback, a term he and Low-G came up with to describe the work they do together, this fusion of Spanish-language hip-hop and black chainsaw flow.

Hailing from the streets of Philadelphia, the reason Rasheed came to Houston is the same reason the Fresh Prince left Philly for Bel Air: He needed to get out of trouble.

Only Rasheed didn't act like a damn fool, wear those stupid rainbow colors or move into a mansion. He went from one hood in Philly to a Houston hood in South Park. He went from falling in love with hip-hop after seeing his now deceased cousin's two turntables and a mike in Virginia to battle rapping with South Park Mexican (SPM) in a trailer home.

He went from rapping on the block in Philadelphia to becoming a Dope House Records jewel and someone who'll be written into the Texas Latin rap history book, though he's not Latino at all - at least not on the outside. But he became so on the inside.

He did it for two reasons. The first was a Kid Frost track called "Los Katrachos," featuring SPM, Low-G and Mad One. It was in a California studio those rappers and Rasheed wrote lyrics for the track. Rasheed wanted to be on it, but the crew decided it would be an all-Spanish track. Game over. The black guy in the room didn't speak Spanish, but never again would that be a reason he wouldn't be on a track.

"At that point I knew I had to switch my game up," Rasheed told Rocks Off. "That motivated me to [rap in Spanish]. "I wanted to communicate more with my people. I didn't make 'Los Katrachos' and it broke my heart."

Yeah, he said it. "My people." It's how he saw it.