My Brother & Me

It's been a LONG, LONG time. I'll spare you any excuses or explanations...I'm back though. Missed PPT but needed to get my mind right. Still not sure if my mind is "right" but I know that blogging helps me and my spirit in more ways than one and posting here is no longer a luxury.

So much has happened since my last post. One major event of course was the death of Michael Jackson. By now you're probably MJ'd out. Let the man Rest In Peace for goodness sake, right? I feel ya. But before I can begin to post on new boutique finds, hot designers, fledging trends and such, I had to share how the King of Pop's death (and life) relates to little ole me and my family.

Since my full-time gig is in the media, I learned of Jackson's passing before most of the world. The very first thing I did when my boss confirmed to my coworkers and I that it was true? I called my big bro. There was no long, drawn out convo -- I had work to do. But he was the person that I immediately thought off.

See, my brother was a mere toddler when "A-B-C" hit the airwaves; all of two years old. I wasn't even thought of yet. But my mother loves to tell the story about how my brother blasted that record (by himself) on his Fisher Price record player. All. The. Time. It was one of those legendary stories in our household growing up. My mother said she, as a new mother, was a tad bit concerned at first, but quickly rationalized that it couldn't have been too bad since at least her baby boy was learning his alphabet and numbers (kinda, sorta).

Well, I am convinced that this helped spark my brother's love affair with music. It's crazy because even though I wasn't even born when the song was popular, hearing "A-B-C" causes a big Kool-Aid smile to appear on my face. I instantly think about my big bro.


My brother and me, circa 1980. (We're both Bsquared, by the way!)

What I love most about music is it's power to transform us to another place and time. Sure, I can get a mean little two-step in on a classic Jackson 5 cut, but the memories of my brother and I walking to the store growing up (and hearing my father instruct as my brother got to the front door "Take your sister with you!"), the letters my bro and I wrote each other when he first went away to college, recalling how he helped me as I struggled with statistics in high school...Those are the things I fondly recollect when I hear a vintage J5 or MJ record. When Janet so elquently informed us all on this year's BET Awards, "To us, he was just family," I felt her pain.


The Younger Years: Janet and Michael

They say "it takes one to know one" and from one doting, younger sister to another, my heart still feels for Janet. However the world saw Michael Jackson -- good, bad or indifferent -- he was her big brother. And he always will be.

Fin.

My All-Time Favorite Hip Hop Moments

This really has nothing to do with style or fashion. Sue me. I was inspired by the VH1 Hip Hop Honors that aired tonight. I couldn’t watch it but a couple of my peeps went to the taping last week and said it was pretty good. I’m sure I’ll catch it later. Hip hop has been with me for most of my life and although I rarely listen to new stuff lately, I have some very fond memories of the genre. Every generation has a golden era and loves to harp on the good ‘ole days, right? I recognize there are some dope artists on the come up - most of whom I’m not up on, but right now I just want to reminisce.

(in no particular order)



2004, Nas and Olu Dara at VH1 Hip Hop Honors, NYC - Since I mentioned VH1 already, I figured I should start with this one. Nasir and Olu Dara crushed stereotypes about Black father/son bonds when they did Bridging the Gap live for what I believe was the first time ever. I darn near cried watching this performance. The love and mutual respect between the two of them was palpable. Nas told us about the complicated relationship with his dad on Poppa Was a Playa so to witness their chemistry as two musicians on stage was incredible.

~1985, Jamaica, Queens - I scored my very first autograph from DMC of Run-DMC while walking with my mother to the store. Living in southeast Queens, I would go on to see the trio countless times later on. (Jay, R.I.P., apparently dated to a girl who lived in my neighborhood.) I was over autographs shortly after that but I will always cherish that first one. D wrote: Go to school don’t be a fool. I know that is beyond corny now but I was a freakin’ kid and that autograph stayed on my bedroom wall for months.

1997 or 1998, Philly - One of my best friends went to the University of Pennsylvania so Penn Relays was a must-do every spring during my college days. I saw the best concert (and I’ve been to some pretty good ones) of my life for all of ten dollars , at most twelve. Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, The Lost Boyz, Redman, The Fugees - there was even a couple of dancehall artists thrown in the mix. The line-up might not seem that hot but the energy each act brought to the stage was the best part. (Tress, help me out on the year. It’s all a blur now, lol.)

Spring 2002, Guinea, West Africa - During my first trip to the motherland, I got into a pretty intense convo with some local dudes about the then Jay-Z and Nas beef. This was such an eye-opening experience for me. Sure, I’d heard/read rappers describe the love they got overseas. But to witness in person the passion these cats in Guinea (a very small, underdeveloped country by American standards) had for the artform was priceless.

Summer 2008, Central Park, NYC - The 25th Anniversary of Video Music Box Concert was without a doubt one of my highlights this summer. And it was free! Anyone who grew up in the NY tri-state area in the ‘80s and/or ‘90s understands the sincere love and admiration I have for VMB. Ralph McDaniels was honored for his contribution to hip-hop and NYC and there were performances from Nice and Smooth, Special Ed, The Lost Boyz (Hey, I’m from Queens.), Naughty by Nature, Chubb Rock (He murdered the stage!), and a bunch of old-school acts my brother would have loved to see. By the way, in the early days of VMB, Uncle Ralph played videos from Madonna (yes, Madonna) to Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. It wasn’t solely hip-hop.

I have many, many more but I gotta go. What are your fave hip hop moments folks?

P.S. - Why does this post feel so Brown Sugar-ish?