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Thursday

02Jul2009

Travelocity

Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 12:00AM

This 4th of July weekend I'm heading down to the DC Area for business and pleasure.

While this qualifies as a getaway, I realize I am well overdue for a full-fledged sight-seeing, foodsampling, sunbathing, jetskiiing, take-a-day-off-after-I get-home-because-I-barely-slept type of trip.

In thinking about where I would like to go, I also realize there has to be one of three things involved to make a destination worthwhile: significant black history, the food, and if there is a beach. If I can get two out of three, I'm good. Three out of three, whoooo hah!

I've been to many U.S.and Caribbean destinations already. Excluding Chicago, I'd like to spread my wings even farther.

THURSDAY TEN SPOT

THE TEN PLACES I'D LIKE TO VISIT

The Chi - Ever since I saw Love Jones, I've been dying to go. The city seems to reek of history and culture, the Queen of Everything is there and our President still has a home here that I must see.

AUSTRALIA Strategically, I'd like to make this trip when it is the DEAD of WINTER in NY! How cool is it to travel into another season?! Yes, the Caribbean is warm all year round, but another season. Where'd you go? To the Summer? Never been there! Exactly! I'll be sure to check out the Aboriginal history and visit all the tourist traps, but rest assured my friends, I'll be on the beach!

BRAZIL The excuse to be half nekkid on a beach, even moreso than usual, is so enticing! The language is sexy and from what I've had of Brazilian food here in NY, I know I will be in heaven.

JAMAICA Growing up in East Flatbush, I never felt the need to visit Jamaica. I was surrounded by its countrymen, the music and the food. I had my fill. But as I grew older I learned I had distant relatives from the island and most everyone who's gone has given it wonderful reviews. Having just read a Jamaican slave narrative, I am most certain I will visit there very soon.

EUROPE London, Spain, Italy, France and Greece. I want to eat, visit the Vatican,and buy see *sigh* buy the fashion in Italy; see the Louvre andthe Eiffel Tower, and sunbathe on the Riviera in France;visit Buckingham Palace and Wimbledon in London. In Greece, I want to visit the Parthenon, and again swim/sunbathe on the Mediterranean.

AFRICA

Angola, Soweto, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique. And Botswana, so let us speak about the motherland.... -Stetsasonic

Cairo, Egypt - In this lifetime, it is a must that I visit the pyramids. One of my Alumni Board Members just returned and was saying how amazing it was to see that the people who built the pyramids looked just like us. Aside from that, the pyramids are one of the greatest architectural feats in the world.

South Africa

The Gold Coast where the slaves were shipped to U.S. and Caribbean ports.

DUBAI We have no reason to be in the Middle East. None. At least, I don't. But this is the hotel at dusk.

Awesome.

THAILAND Food, culture and the beach. I've always wanted to visit, but backed off once the tsunami hit. It's highly unlikely that it will happen again(that's what I tell myself.) Phuket*, I'm gonna do it anyway. (pronounced poo-ket, not phuck-et like I originally thought)

TIFFANY'S Yep, that's right. That is a trip that needs scheduling. It doesn't fit into any of my vacation criteria, but that's okay. I've never been in there and I am sure it will be an adventure. Souvenirs? Yes, one for myself in a little blue bag! :o)

And since we're on the subject of ice...

ALASKA There's a cruise that goes to Alaska in July. Glaciers, moose, and a potential Palin sighting? Not exactly my idea of fun. But if I have to add cold to the mix at any point, this would be the way I'd want to do it.

That's my dime folks!

pearsonlee |

Book Worm

Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 03:45PM

I love books.

I don't get a chance to read as much as I'd like to anymore, but there are ten books I could read again and again.

Thursday Ten Spot

My Ten Most Favorite Books

Rabbit's Lucky Number Pearson Lee (surprise, surprise!)

Set in Brooklyn 1986, a young girl is raped by a family member and then forced to keep the ugly secret. 20 something years later, she learns he's raped another teenage girl and now she has to decide if the family breadwinner (who is now famous) should stay protected by her silence or if he should have to pay the piper. I love this book because it captures the essence of BK when hip hop was new and exciting, it shows Rabbit's transition from bubbly before the rape and sullen afterward; and how it affects all her relationships. Funny, sad, poignant, and fast-paced. Just like how I like my books.

The Book of Night Women Marlon James

A Jamaican Slave Narrative. The language and dialect is so engrossing that it was hard to not have an accent when I was done reading. The beauty of this book lies in the history, of course the language, and the complicated mindset of the characters: The cunning, the lies, the search for freedom, the cowardice, the self preservation, the survival, the strength, the cruelty of slavemasters, the confusion of being a slave, being made love to by your master or being your master's child, the obeah (black magic), and the acceptance and/or rejection of God.

Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Subtlety is an art well practiced by Marques. Words like angry, sad, ecstatic are not present here. However I always knew what each character was feeling, where they'd been, their uncertainties and vulnerabilities never stated outright, but prepared as a feast for me to feed upon and savor. <--- prose, baby! Fermina chooses stability in Juvenal (could be translated as juvenile? though he seems the more stable and mature of the two) over the love of Florentino at a young age. Florentino is somewhat of a stalker, but his love is so pure, it's kind of hard to be mad at him. She ultimately goes back to him in their old age. Whether for true love, or need for companionship, is not exactly clear to me...I need a re-read!

The Red Tent Anita Diamant

The biblical (though fictional) story of Dinah (Jacob's daughter with Leah) told from a woman's perspective. The Red Tent was a place for women to congregate during their monthly periods and to give birth,and support one another. I liked the color of this book and the way the way the regular lives of the women are portrayed.

Breath Eyes Memory Edwidge Danticat

Sophie, a new Haitian immigrant arrives in Brooklyn and has to figure out how to make this work. Struggling between her Haitian identity and American culture, she has to learn who her mother is, finds out she is the product of a rape, suffer through her mother's nightmares, and is also traumatized in the process. This book paints vivid pictures of the marketplace in Haiti, the apartment in Brooklyn, their relationships and the trauma of life when people have been dealt a bad hand.

Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

Okwonko is so proud and fearsome a warrior, however cursed with a son that is too much like his own father, who he believes to be lazy. he is then given an adopte son, but it turns out he must be killed (and it is Okwonko, who does it though he was instructed not to.) In the mean time, when exiled, he learns the whites teaching Christianity have permeated their villages. For all that he does and tries to control, trouble finds him and things do indeed fall apart at his feet. Masterful.

The Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah

This is the book that really let me know I could write a story in my time. I can't simplify it as a crack tale gone awry, as I would most of the other 'hood books' that followed. The characters were developed well, and I enjoyed the full circle of the story. Winter was headstrong in her convictions and paid for them dearly; Midnight was gallant, though flawed in his line of work; her mother was the quintessential crackhead, who used to have it going on. As much as Winter loved her mother, her shallowness would not allow her to ackknowledge her especially in public. Real. I also enjoyed how Sister Souljah put herself in the book and registered as a regular person doing extraordinary things. Not gloating or patting herself on the back. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

I love, of course, the setting in the Middle East during the fall of Afghanistan's government. But more than that, I love Amir's struggle to do the right thing, which he loses regularly; and Hassan's genuine and forgiving nature despite Amir's constant betrayals. A wonderful story of cruelty, class struggles, redemption and finding peace within oneself.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X Alex Haley

Again, the transition of a man from 'ordinary' Malcolm Little (though he never seemed to be) to greatness. Malcolm X's service to Blacks is exemplary. However his service to Allah superceded all he'd learned coming to Islam and produced an icon.

The Jester James Patterson

A Medieval love story, (paralleling the Crusades) that I could read one hundred times and not be bored. Hugh is clever in disguising himself as a court jester to avenge his wife Sophie's supposed death, though he finds out she hadn't been dead all the while. All in all, he eventually finds love in Emilie (his social superior) and they live happily ever after. I'm a sap for happily ever after...:o)

The ULTIMATE STORY BOOK...

The Bible

There is not a story that has ever been told that is not found here. Lies, treachery, robbery, sacrifice, honor, songs, advice, and love.

That's my dime plus a penny, good people! What are your faves?

pearsonlee |

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Thursday

28May2009

Things Done Changed...

Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 01:12PM

Last week, I presented a list of my favorite love songs and explained my obsession with them. But as much as I love love and hate to see it dissolve, I've been through and seen enough to know that sometimes a breakup is inevitable.

With this post, instead of listing my favorites, I figured I'd use this one as a guide to interpreting breakup songs. Let me explain.

As we all know, break ups are not created equally.

For instance, some are the kind where one party (or both) disappears into the cool of night. For obvious reasons, I'd call that the fadeaway breakup. Then there are the breaker-uppers who logically agree to be apart for the betterment of mankind. I'd call that the C&C breakup. Calm and collected. And some are an ugly and unsalvageable mess that involve restraining orders and grimy cousins with rap sheets. That one? the COPS breakup.

But some breakups are the kind that brew in the mind long before it actually erupts and settles as toxic ash on everyone in the surrounding area; maybe for the sake of the family and kids, for a fear of the unknown, for not wanting to have to give up half. I can't call it.

All I know, is if you're NOT the one thinking of sinking the battleship, and you are hearing these songs in heavy rotation, I'm going to help you figure out if the next move, better be your best move or if you should just move on.

THURSDAY TEN SPOT

TEN SONGS THAT LET YOU KNOW THE PARTY'S OVER (OR ABOUT TO BE)

1. I Wish - Carl Thomas

It was love at first sight/I know/From the way she looked at me/Her eyes said it all/Long days and nights/We spent/Until she dropped the bomb on me

From the first piano key, you can feel the sadness and anguish of this song. New love starts out so beautifully. There are the warm and fuzzies and the Siamese twin attachment stage and the 'hang up, no you hang up' phone calls. You can't believe that you are so damn lucky in life and finally it has paid off. And then the tides change, become riptides for that matter and pull you further out of your zone and down below the surface. If someone is playing this song for you, make like an escaped convict pal.

2. Free Yourself - Fantasia

If you don't want me then don't talk to me.

She's feeling neglected and is more than likely confused by mixed signals. She's giving you the option of deciding instead of deciding for you. She wants it to work, but you don't have much time. In the words of the wise: Sh*t or get off the pot...before you get hit with it. ;o)

3. The Beyonce 4 - Me, Myself and I, Irreplaceable, Freakum Dress and Single Ladies

Do I really need to quote these? I didn't think so.

Beyonce is pretty clear on a few things in her songs: She knows her worth, she loves her man and if her man doesn't act right, she's gone. Yes, she may cry. But once the tears have dried up, so has his welcome. If you're hearing any of these four, worse yet ALL FOUR, I'd more aim for getting boxes and storage space, than an overnight bag 'until she gets over it'. To be extra helpful, I'd suggest you hit the club looking for the chick in the freakum dress, she just might be mad enough at her dude to give you a little attention.

4. All n My Grill - Missy Elliott

Don't explain, you never change/Same old thing, same old games/ ay you want to be with me, show me my ring, baby let me think/I've been in the cold/Story untold, about to unfold/How do you/Expect me/To ever believe you wan' be with me

Third time, moved you in, took you back into my life/I was a fool/I don't know what's wrong with me

Your freeloading has worn thin and you've had so many chances to get it right, but you haven't. So why are you here? Make yourself useful or go. As a matter of fact, just go.

5. Song Cry - Jay Z

That's your boy, how many times you've forgiven me/How was I to know that you was plain sick of me? I know the way a nigga living was wack/but you don't get a nigga back like that. Sh*t, I'm a man with pride you don't do sh*t like that/You don't just pick up and leave and leave me sick like that. You don't throw away what we had, just like that. I was just f*ckin them girls I was gon' be right back...

Men: If your girl is playing this, start asking her whereabouts because there's some shadiness that's already gone down. You don't get a nigga back like that? To quote Senator Clay Davis at his finest, "Sheeeeeeeeit!"

Ladies: He's probably caught on to some dirt you've done and this is his way of letting you know he's hurting. For the most part, men don't forgive, no matter what they've done...so if you think you're coming back from this one, "Sheeeeeeeeit!"

6. If You Think You're Lonely Now - Bobby Womack

When its cold outside/Girl, who are you holding/You'll be holding me

She's always complaining about the things she aint got/And the things her girlfriends got
But lady I will let you know/I cant be in two places at one time

If you think you're lonely now/Wait until tonight, girl

This guy works to get her what she wants and keep her warm at night, but this ungrateful heifer wants more time and more Gucci and more frostbitten-ness. I can't imagine they make a man who is going to be down with this foolishness for too long sooo, if my best assessment skills are on point, I'd say it sounds like the sheets are gonna be cold honey, but your neck and wrist won't be! Holla!

7. Maybe I Deserve - Tank

Maybe I deserve/For you to go out and find some other guy/Maybe I deserve/For you to stay out all night/Maybe I deserve for you to do all the things I do to you/Maybe I deserve

Maybe you deserve to be treated the way you've treated her? Whut-everrrr! Of course, you'd deserve it! Turnabout is fairplay! But if she's playing this, she really loves you and is giving you a warning of what's to come if you don't get right...which is probably more than you deserve.

8. When A Woman's Fed Up - The R-uh

Standing here lookin in the mirror/Sayin damn to myself/I should have known the day would come/That she would find somebody else/And all the things I took her through/I shouldnt have lasted this long/Now I'm at the telephone booth/Callin Tyrone

Pay close attention here, it may be a warning that she's on the brink. But if there's more eye rolling and sucking of teeth and the words, 'ooh, I can't wait' or 'can't stand yo ass' keeps popping up...I'd say, she's done with you.

9. Diamond in the Ruff - Jaheim

I shoulda came with a ring/Set a date for next May/But I thought that you'd wait/Now I hate that I took so long/Played around with her/Now she's gone

Bottom line: Don't end up sitting in your recliner, Al Bundy style wishing you had done things differently. If you love her, Godspeed fella! Zales, Diamond District, swap meet, make it out of tinfoil, doesn't matter. Go get that ring or you're going to miss a good thing!

10. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

Oh now go, walk out the door. Don't turn around now, you're not welcome anymore. Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye, did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?

I can't really see anyone in my age group playing this, but this song was like the women's anthem when I was a little girl. It's not that we don't all need time to think and clear our heads, but he thought he'd leave, just to show her what she'd be missing. And came back to find the new and improved. Joke's on him, huh?! I've got no advice for you this time. If this song is playing you've got a cougar on hand (Rooowrrrr!) and she's going to give you all the advice you need going forward. LOL.

And that my good people, is my dime.

*This has been a Public Service Announcement. ;o)

pearsonlee |

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Thursday

21May2009

Love Jones

Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 01:31AM

I’ve been in love with hip hop from 1979 to Wu Tang’s arrival; From 9-5 muthaf*cka to JayZ’s heyday, retirement and Jordanesque return. Throw in a few (just a few!) ignant tracks we won’t discuss in mixed company and I will shout that love from the mountaintops.

But in this game of love, there is always a little secret stashed away. My secret? Promise you won't judge me? (you say: I promise.) Okay. *sigh* My secret is...I’m a two-timer, a floozie, a cheat.

Beneath the sarcasm and what would definitely appear to be indifference, there is one other musical genre that adds the ooh to my ahh and the fuel to my plane – love songs.

Love songs ooze of the passion, the promise and the need that love inspires and sometimes requires. They are a witness to the natural urge to seek love, chase it or hold on to it. And if by chance love is taking leave, it is a testament to the pain of loss. When Smokey Robinson croons Ooh Baby Baby, I AM the intensity of him trying to right his wrongs. When Musiq coos So Beautiful, I AM that same beauty. When Prince is sopranoed out on Adore, I AM NOT EVEN comparable to imported Egyptian lace, but better. When MJ wails She’s Out of My Life, I AM crying.

Love songs make me feel. Not feel good or feel bad, just make me feel. Sure I enjoy some of the R&B lite songs on the radio like "U Da Best" but do I feel anything? Yes. I feel my head nodding up and down with the beat. I also feel like letting the explaination cease and letting you in on...

This week's THURSDAY TEN SPOT

My Favorite Love Songs of All Time

1. Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson

Baby let's cruise/Away from here/Don't be confused/The way is clear And if you want it/you've got it forever/This is not a one night stand/So let the music take your mind/Just release and you will find

You're gonna fly away/Glad you're going my way/I love it when we're cruising together

In my younger days (read: yesterday!), I naively thought he meant they were just spending quality time in the car...lol. But no! Cruisin' is a metaphor for moving to the next level both emotionally and physically, while Smokey McSmoothy sings in her ear. My original reason for loving this song is now also compounded by the subtlety I've come to love about songs from this era.

2. Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding

She may be weary/Young girls they do get weary/Wearing that same old shaggy dress/But when she gets weary/try a little tenderness

You know she's waiting/Just anticipating/The thing she'll never never never never never never possess. But while she's there waiting/try a little tenderness

The bible verse about love being gentle and kind springs to mind whenever I hear this song. Soft (and sincere) words to a woman (or man) can lessen the sting of some of the worst situations. They can also disarm the many superwomen and independent women who have just been through it and back. It's such a small thing that gets supremely overlooked. And as you can tell by the date on this song, it's a story older than time.

3. Adore - Prince

Until the end of time, I'll be there for you/You own my heart and mind/I truly adore you/If God one day struck me blind/Your beauty I'd still see/Love's too weak to define/Just what you mean to me

To be a fly on the wall at Lake Minnetonka! Everything about this song is intense, gripping and climactic. He wears his heart on his purply sleeve and quite frankly, I don't know who's better off here: Prince or his Lady Love. Unless his love is unrequited, it sounds like a win-win to me.

4. Secret Garden - Quincy Jones (feat. Barry White, James Ingram, El Debarge and Al B Sure!)

Tell me a Secret. And I don't want to know about just any secret...

Four grown men, one objective: The Capital O. (Don't front, you know that's always the objective!) But get this, the objective is not just for him...but for her too! That's LOVE! LOL! Seriously, this is what separates the men from the boys. They aim to make love to their respective women (properly, I might add), as opposed to just f*cking or hooking up as it's now called. Is there a difference? In my book, yes. But we'll discuss that on an FB status update, okay?

5. Stay - Jodeci

Tonight is yours/yours and mine/Let's try again to put our love on the line. Tonight/Let's start outr love again/Tonight/We can be more than just friends/The sun/is going down/So baby won't you stay/For a little while

We've all seen/starred in this movie: He said something dumb that made her cry. Now he's lonely, reminiscing, crying and wants her to stay. So he convinces her to come over and now that it's getting late (as planned) he's gonna razzle dazzle her and she's more than likely going to...stay? Oooh yeah! LOL. Love requires apologies.

6. I Gotta Be - Jagged Edge

I gotta be the one you touch/Baby, I gotta be the one you love/I gotta be the one you feel/I gotta be the one, to fill your life with sunshine.

The intensity of loving someone so much that you want HAVE GOT to be their every thing is absolutely mind blowing to me. This song feeds the hopeless romantic in me, yet I still think it's gotta be tiring.

7. Diamond in the Ruff - Jaheim

We started out like Bobby and Whitney/Justin and Britney/Then it all got ugly/If it weren't for the money/You said I start actin funny/But what's wrong with you honey?/Then the good turns to bad/Forgot what we had/I think about it every once in awhile

I shoulda came with a ring/Set a date for next may/But I thought that you'd wait/Now I hate that I took so long/Played around with her/Now she's gone

Initially this was slated for my Break Up post for next Thursday but it is a love song. And I love Jaheim's voice. This man found a woman who brought him joy, but he let money change him AND he took too long to let her know how much he loved her. Not to be? Eh. If you liked it then you shoulda put a...you know how it ends. Still it's such a gritty pretty ode to lost love and missed opportunity.

8. Lifetime - Maxwell

I was reborn/When I was broken/I wouldn't believe (I wouldn't believe)/Been through a storm/No use in hoping/That you would come rescue me/Somehow your love set me free

There was a time/when love was unchosen/Now I'm just open for more/For something better than I had before

I can let my life pass me by/Or I can get down and try/Work it on out this life time

Love Therapy spoon fed to the broken-hearted, the jaded, and those wounded by love. Here we have Maxwell encountering another chance at love when it seemed it would never ever be marked present again. Was he out looking for it? I don't think so. But when the opportunity (a better one) presented itself, he left the darkness behind and jumped on it.

9. For Real - Amel Larrieux

I can run/I can race for hours and hours/And don't stop/I can fall/I can fly us to the highest/mountaintops

I can breathe you/I can drink in your love/I can, I can live on your smile/I can trip but if I could fall into your arms/I could stay there my whole life

This song is almost the antithesis to Lifetime. It feels so pure and angelic that I wonder if she's ever had to ask him to pick up his socks or slammed the bedroom door in anger. I'm sure she has, but the trust and love in her voice and lyrics is so clearly evident that it always restores my faith in love.

10. He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat) - Jill Scott

You love me-especially-different-every time/You keep me-On my feet-happily-excited by/Your cologne/Your hand/Your smile/Your intelligence

You woo me/You caught me/You tease me/You please me/You school me/Give me some things to think about/Ignite me/you invite me/You co-write me/You love me/You like me/You incite me to chorus

Understand this. Lyzel New HoneyBun does not incite her to sing. He incites her to chorus. That's really powerful if you ask me. Personally, I think all women should be with someone that incites them to chorus. It may not sound as pretty as Jilly's version, but still I say, let's get it.

BONUS. Method Man and Mary J. Blige - All I Need

Like sweet morning dew/I took one look at you/And it was clear to see/You are my Destiny

Shorty I'm here for you anytime you need me/For real girl, it's me and your world/Believe me/ Nothing make a man feel better than a woman/Queen with a crown that be down for whatever

Back when I was nothing/You made a brother feel like he was something/That's why I'm with you to this day Boo/no frontin

I made it very clear in the beginning that I loved hip hop and then laid my case out regarding love songs. But if you thought for one minute I wouldn't find a hiphop love song, you misjudged me!

Even when things are bad, they're going to be in each other's corner. If that's not love, then I need someone to tell me what it is.

But my ALL TIME FAVORITE SONG of ALL TIME EVER EVER EVER? It doesn't even need a number.

Don't You Know That - Luther Vandross

I've got your love/you need to look no further/don't you know that/don't you know that/ after my love/you'll never need another/don't you know that/don't you know that

I don't make no promises that I cant keep/and I promised myself that i'd love you forever/how many times must i say that/for you to understand all that/yeah

Don't you know that i love you so

He doesn't promise her, he promises himself that he's going to love her forever. And he's going to keep on saying it until she understands that he's there for good. Real love is steadfast and consistent.

HONORABLE MENTION

Faith Evans - Soon As I Get Home There's so much love in working all day, standing on the stinky subway in stilettos and coming home to take care of your boo.

Anthony Hamilton - Since I Seent You Bad grammar aside, this is love at first sight. He says she's the flyest thing that life could ever bring - like fresh air he breathes and the blood he bleeds. That's pretty damn fly and life-threatening should she leave, no?! Oh my. Jesus be his oxygen mask!

I'm sorry. I know I was supposed to do ten, but in actuality this list initially had thirty songs on it! Besides, it's a recession. It's nice to give folks a little something extra from time to time, don't you agree? :o)

That's your dime and four pennies folks! Have a great day...filled with love!

*This post has been brought to you by the letter L*

pearsonlee |

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Thursday

07Aug2008

You Know What This Is!

Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 12:00AM

It's time for a Thursday Ten Spot!!! Yaaaay!

Now you know, (or maybe you don't if you're new here) that I loooves me some Old School hip-hop. I don't always get to talk about it or rehash my memories the way I'd like to, so Today's Ten Spot is the top 'ten' hip hop songs that take me chronologicallee down memory lane.

courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Stroll with me.

1. Rapper's Delight - Sugarhill Gang (1979). My introduction to it all - and arguablee the longest rap record ever recorded by one solitary group. I had never heard anything like it. At this point I was raised on Smokey Robinson (my mom's secret hubby) and my father's arsenal of R&B and Salsa. Out of nowhere came these dirty gritty hard knock poems over syncopated kicks and snares and bass. I died and went to heaven. I can still see the light blue label with the rainbow letters spinning at 33 1/2 rpm (dated myself big time!) on the record player at my aunt's house as we started it over again.

well i was comin home late one dark afternoon
a reporter stopped me for a interview
she said she's heard stories and she's heard fables
that i'm vicious on the mike and the turntables
this young reporter i did adore
so i rocked a vicious rhyme like i never did before
she said damn fly guy im in love with you
the casanova legend must have been true
i said by the way baby what's your name
said i go by the name of lois lane
and you could be my boyfiend you surely can
just let me quit my boyfriend called superman
i said he's a fairy i do suppoose
flyin through the air in pantyhose
he may be very sexy or even cute
but he looks like a sucker in a blue and red suit
i said you need a man who's got finesse
and his whole name across his chest
he may be able to fly all through the night
but can he rock a party til the early light
he cant satisfy you with his little worm
but i can bust you out with my super sperm
i go do it, i go do it, i go do it, do it , do it

Perfection.

2. The Message - Grandmaster Flash (1982). This song spawned the best hook to ever capture the mentality and frustration of the Black man trying to make his way in life.

This was the first of the hard edged, life-ain't-sweet songs that took me out of my picket-fenced mind and put me on to what was reallee going on in the streets - all from the safety of my bedroom.

Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the ehhhdge. I'm try-in not to lose my head. (Uh-huh-huh-huh-huh). It’s like a jungle sometimes. It makes me wonder how I keep from going under.

3. The Show - Slick Rick and Dougie Fresh & The Showstoppers - Salt n Pepa (1985). My older cousins used to tape rap songs off the radio late at night and I would rewind and play it over and over. I'd roll thru Dana Dane and Biz Markie and one day I stumbled onto The Show. It was a full-fledged story about this guy checking for a girl who isn't feeling him. Classic. What was important about The Show was again, the storytelling, the beatbox AND it sparked the comeback record by Salt n Pepa that was from the girl's point of view of being hit on by a lame ass dude. Again, classic. LOL. Was there back story? I don't know. But my girl Sharon and I ran out and bought Hot, Cool and Vicious on vinyl the first day it came out.

4. I Need Love - LL Cool J (1985) Sitting right up on the TV, watching Video Music Box, I remember that chick in the video was gonna catch it!

When I'm alone in my room, sometimes I stare at the wall...And in the back of my mind, I hear my conscience call. Telling me I need a girl who's as sweet as a dove. For the first time in my life, I see I need love.

*sigh* The first rap love song that I can remember. I just knew he wrote it about me! Ladies Love Cool J. We always have. And we always will. Even though he's from Queens! LOL

5. My Adidas - Run DMC (1986) - Now, I loved, loved, loved King of Rock and Peter Piper. But when I was in sixth grade Samuel Jones (yes, I used his government!), took the words and flipped it around to make his own version. The name of his song was....wait for it...My Big Penis. LMAO. But even better was his next line: busts through vagina walls...*blink, blink*. I don't think we ever heard the rest of his rendition because we got in trouble with Sr. Lynn for laughing. I can't ever remember the real second line to My Adidas, nor can I hear that song without thinking of that crazy boy!

6. Poetry/The Bridge is Over - Boogie Down Production (1987) - One of my all time favorites. BDP was my go-to. You wanna tell me about your favorite? Whatever. They can't touch mine. Juice Crew? Get outta here with that! I had the Criminal Minded cassette tape playing back, back, forth and forth and there wasn't a word of that entire tape that I didn't memorize. This is where I used to hear the line my mother made famous, "I hope you know your damn school work just as well!" Sadly, I also remember writing in my diary that Scott La Rock had been shot and killed. This was the biggest celebrity drama I had ever witnessed and cried over since the time MJ's hair caught fire on the set of the Pepsi commercial. Don't laugh. I was traumatized!

7. Eric B is President - Eric B & Rakim (1986). The first time I heard it, I went down to my father's stereo system (that was off limits) and sat in front of it with a blank tape that I bought at the Wiz. I trolled the radio stations dying to hear it again. I waited and I waited and I waited and finallee it came on. Except when I was done, the tape unraveled in the tape player. Shortly after I got off punishment, my father bought us (me) our (my) own radio so I could make my own pause tapes without getting into his stuff. Did I mention I'd previouslee broken the door on the tape player, too? And blamed it on my sister? LOL.

7.1.1 Yo! Bum Rush The Show! - Public Enemy (1987) Long before Flav was looking for love on cable television, he was gracing the stage with Chuck D delivering loud, unapologetic, militantly charged music that was designed to wake us up out of our daze. I'd like to say it did, but at fourteen, I can't say that once I turned it off I was any more awake than the next man. But it was good to have the information just in case I decided boys and friends and clothes were going to be put on the back burner.

8. Raw - Big Daddy Kane (1988) - Brooklyn Stand Up!

Here I am. R-A-W. The terrorist here to bring trouble to phony emcees, I move on and sieze I just conquer, and stomp another rapper with ease.

Bravado and Brooklyn. He was the dopest at rapid-fire emceeing (even tho he hooked up with the Juice Crew - Booo!). Anytime I was at Fulton Mall, I would venture through Albee Square Mall hoping to catch a glimpse of him. The most I ever got was a peek at Scoob (or maybe it was Scrap) rocking the razor sharp high-top fade! LOL.

8.1.1. Paper Thin - MC Lyte (the dopest emcee that I've heard thus far.) (1988)

When you say you love me, It doesn't matter. It goes through my head as just chit-chatter. You may think it's egotistical and just worry free/But what you say, I take none of it seriously.

I never miss a chance to quote that verse. Some way some how, at least once a year, I'm gonna find a way to stick that somewhere! Dude, take your weak lines and bounce. That's what Lyte hit us with way back in '88 when it was fly to be sassy and fully clothed and smart and not looking for a man to trick off. Her voice was hard and her verses were tight and she was not having it. I wanted to be just like her!

9. Ladies First - Queen Latifah (1989). Lah (if I may be so forward) brought the melody with the girl power! Me love it. I remember she had this song called the Princess of the Posse and I had my walkman, rewinding and memorizing. I don't know how we got on the subject, but this dude was outside my school talking all this junk like you don't know 'bout no hiphop. So I'm telling him he doesn't know about hiphop. I didn't want to play Ladies First, because everyone knew it, so I rewound my lil' cassette and gave it to him, like "This is me. What do you think?" So he listened to it and he smiled. He said, "That's Queen Latifah! What you know about that?" He gave me a pound. I don't remember his name or anything about him except that he was short and light skinned, but I remember feeling vindicated and hyped because my Trump Card was a dope female emcee.

10. Fuck Tha Police - NWA (1990).

I'm expressin' to my full capabilities. Now I'm living in correctional facilities.

I hated NWA! I gave that Efil4zaggin shit away because it was so harsh and I didn't really come from that. Plus they weren't from the NYC area and had a jheri curl and they talked funny! But when I heard Express Yourself on a video show I had to open my eyes. I went back to the Wiz and got another one. What they were talking about was sooo on point with what was going on with Police Brutality and Corruption and in the Black Community and they weren't afraid to say it.

Gotta love it.

If I had to give pioneer awards out it would go to each of these rappers for putting a stamp on the diversity that was hip-hop and a making a contribution to the memories I still hold dear.

Yeah, I know I cheated by making more than ten on my ten spot. Then again, I usuallee do! Besides twelve spot just doesn't sound as good. And then I have the nerve to have honorable mentions. LOL. Love me or leave me!

* Honorable Mention

Paul Revere - Beastie Boys (1986) - I was resistant because hiphop had just begun and the grownups were saying it was a fad. I was sad because I liked it so much and here were these white boys trying to infringe. I remember thinking hiphop was about to be like rock and roll and they were going to come in and do an Elvis on us.

But Rick Rubin played the drums backward or scratched it (or something) to make the beat and put down one of my favorite tracks to ever come out of Def Jam besides Meth and Red's Da Rockwilda. The Beastie Boys solidified their place in my tape collection because above all things they didn't try to be something they weren't and they had a love for the artform in much the same way that Eminem did years later and was even more successful.

I'll House You - Jungle Brothers (1988) - My grandfather used to work at a furniture store on Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn. One day he brought home this record. He said, "They like these boys' record over there. They sound good." I'll House You put me on to rap over House music. But that wasn't it. Shortlee after, they came out with JimBrowSki introducing the Native Tongues for our eclectic Black Medallion listening pleasure. You couldn't tell me I wasn't gonna meet Afrika and have his lil' light skinned-ded babies!

Yeah, I'm a fool! LOL

What's in your memory playlist?

Happy Thursday!

pearsonlee |

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