11/11/2023 0 Comments Jj doom![]() ![]() From cracking jokes with Big L to working at Rawkus Records and traveling the world with Talib Kweli, Slaughterhouse, Kelis, and MF DOOM. Khalid Muhammad and Bobby Brown, babysitting Ason Unique’s (ODB) seeds in Harlem, to meeting Monifah and Marquee there, who introduced Kelis and I to a new producer named Pharrell. From working at the Mart 125 on 125th Street at 14 years old doing nails for Dr. When my mother resurfaced seven years later, I moved to New York City, and could never fathom how far hip-hop would carry me. I even listened to everyone from Snow Informer to Lil Vicious Freaks against my older brother’s advice because I listened to it all. MC Lyte’s style and flow let me know it was OK to be different. For me, it was Queen Latifah who inserted a pride into me I never had before. I waited for the hottest releases and saved up money for what are now considered classics. Hip-Hop kept me busy and somewhat out of trouble. I would rap all the lyrics in school and church to my friends and indefinitely got into trouble after. But when I fixed my brother’s broken cassette tape and popped his NWA Niggaz4Life in my headphones-I couldn’t believe the nasty filth that came out of their mouths. I’d race home to adjust the hanger on the TV to watch Video Music Box on the in-between channel, and that was the highlight of my day. For the next few years, I soaked up every snare, R&B remix, and lyric hip hop had to offer. My big brother, who was way cooler than me, would tell me what was ‘real’ and who was biting- and I listened. I found my aunt Mildred’s electric can opener, which had a radio attached to it, and discovered DJ Red Alert, and it was over. I was sad to go home because none of that was cooking in my house, and I wanted more. My cousin Sharon ushered me to her grandma’s old wooden record player and played ‘La Di Da Di’ by Slick Rick and Doug E. One day in 1986, when I was just seven years old, I went to visit my father’s side of the family, which was a lot more colorful, to say the least. Hip-Hop wasn’t played in my home, and the first glimpse I received was from my older brother, who was seven years my senior. My grandma, her mother, and my aunt raised me in the church, hoping to keep me from falling to the streets and set a solid foundation that would one day come in handy. As a troubled child abandoned by my parents and raised by my granny, I always searched for something to love. Visit for more informationĪs a self-certified hip-hop head myself, I personally feel a sense of gratitude for the music that raised me. ![]()
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