REAL MUSIC. My dad would scoff at the notion that the sounds iexperienced tonight were real music. Its the difference in generations and perceptions. But i can say with assurity that tonight was like Christmas for me and about 3000+ more. Goodie Mob reunited onstage in a major way. In order to shed some light on how prolific it was for me to see them
we have to go back—-to 1995 at the very least.
My freshman year of college. I barely made it out of highschool. Its the truth I had stars in my eyes and music in ears. So busy being a disgruntled youth that math and science fell to the wayside and 2 summers in summerschool were the only recourse to graduating on time with the diploma (advanced academic) mom and dad had picked out for me.
My saving grace for 2 years was soccer. I wasn’t very good to begin with but Coach Mary Roach saw something in me.So she started to groomme and between my on field skills and a high SAT score college bound was still an option. Even better the notion of going sans money out of mom and dads checking account. Let the church say AMEN! So it was my first time in 3 years playing with girls I didnt know.Even worse I was a walk on try out… there were about 50 girls vying for 8 spots. It was a tumultous 2 weeks as I went thru the whole unnerving process of tryouts. But I made it.
I was on the team but i was having a hard time settling in. Enter Duane Banks. Of all the people I would most like to find on facebook Duane is in slots 1-3. He’s truely a nice guy. He went to Lakeside High( MY ALMA MATERS ARCH RIVAL) and has a wicked soccer game. We were sitting in practice and Coach Armstead was on me about my lack of aggression. I wasn’t mean enough. I wasn’t intimidating in my approach. I will admit my run is pretty funny I run like a beauty queen. Duane took me aside in a much nicer tone told me that he and Coach saw the potential for me to be an amazing defensive player and Coach was trying to get me riled up. I told him I didn’t have a lot to be angry about except riding MARTA.
Duane said not to worry we would figure it out. The next day I was listening to a Meeks tape. The Meeks tape was how I passed Advanced English my senior year. Mr Jim Meeks made us learn about a hundred different passages of prose from great works. I have a hard time retaining things so i read the passages over music and listened to the tapes day in and day out even in my sleep.
Anyway Duane felt like that tape was one of my problems and he handed me his GOODIE MOB tape. I was like whats this. He asked me if i liked Outkast. I was like yeah. I love outkast I couldn’t always relate to the things theY rapped about but it evoked a feeling in me so when he told me Goodie Mob was their kin I was immediately geeked.
Its serious that i tell you this in this way. SOUL FOOD changed my life.The flow, the wordspeak, the beats. I instantly was in love. I listened to that tape everyday hundreds of times. Soul Food would become my anthem, Cell theraphy put me into *kill* mode before a game. Every song although I had not lived it meant something to me. For me it was the begining of a beautiful thing. Music became more prevalent in my life. Soul food was the basis of many a *turn that noise down* from my dad. It would spark debates about samples. It would give the parents an avenue to remind me the things i was “rapping” about i had never in my suburban life experienced. It was a life changing piece od magnetic tape. Dungeon Family would woo me time and again Society of Soul where both my father and I would find a common ground thanks to Sleepy Brown and his father. Jamal Ahmad would play Migratenation on WCLK, while Mike Swift would play ”Changes” on WREK.
For me my music had finally met with my father- a record and I do mean record we bought it from Ear Wax ( r.i.p) we both could enjoy even Right Tonight. The cuts were infectious and consious from there my dad would often ask me if there was anything new from Organized Noise he began to appreciate my music. He still felt that sampling music did not give *my artists* the right to call themselves musicians but he was open to change
To stand at Masquerade tonight running into people i knew closely( Slyvester,Margaret, Shannon, Dominick) and some I only knew via word of mouth( Tara, Brandi ATLien). Standing there in the rain. hoodie pulled tight to protect my camera. Listening to DJ Jelly weave a musical tapestry of my teen and young adulthood. Hearing first hand the thunder and the swell of Georgia Me’s poetry. Throwing bows up for Pastor Troy … thinking about my heartbeat when YoungBloodz did 85( thats our song) and then to finally revel in Goodie Mob on stage. Hereing my song live with a band the growl of Khujo the tease of Ceelo blessing us with a Frankie Beverly cover way better than the original. To hear the crowd all lifted in song trying to reach those notes in “before i let go”. So many beautiful people dancing, singing, smoking swaying in unity over and under the groove of Dungeon FAMILY. FAMILY. Tomorrow they may go the way the roads take them but tonight. tonight. tonight.
I left early and people were lined at will call and hour plus into the show still getting tickets wanting to be apart of the experience. RAIN MUDD AND MUSIC. As I drove to work I considered the weight of what I’d witness. The leveity of it all. This was my WOODSTOCK people will ask if you were there. Not only can I say i was there in the trenches doing what I love. I realised something that was special I’m a Ga Girl born and raised. My mom went to Archer but graduated from Washington High. My cousins went to Mays, Banneker, Doug. I remember when Alonzo Crim wasnt Crim highschool so may things came rushing into me. Pride that GM could bring such a diverse crowd together unintimadated by the elements…. Ok my love letter is headed towards gushing and so I tie it off. If you were too cheap to pay for the 40ticket. Shame. Tonight Janet herself could have called me for a photoshoot and i woulda had to say NO!
we have to go back—-to 1995 at the very least.
My freshman year of college. I barely made it out of highschool. Its the truth I had stars in my eyes and music in ears. So busy being a disgruntled youth that math and science fell to the wayside and 2 summers in summerschool were the only recourse to graduating on time with the diploma (advanced academic) mom and dad had picked out for me.
My saving grace for 2 years was soccer. I wasn’t very good to begin with but Coach Mary Roach saw something in me.So she started to groomme and between my on field skills and a high SAT score college bound was still an option. Even better the notion of going sans money out of mom and dads checking account. Let the church say AMEN! So it was my first time in 3 years playing with girls I didnt know.Even worse I was a walk on try out… there were about 50 girls vying for 8 spots. It was a tumultous 2 weeks as I went thru the whole unnerving process of tryouts. But I made it.
I was on the team but i was having a hard time settling in. Enter Duane Banks. Of all the people I would most like to find on facebook Duane is in slots 1-3. He’s truely a nice guy. He went to Lakeside High( MY ALMA MATERS ARCH RIVAL) and has a wicked soccer game. We were sitting in practice and Coach Armstead was on me about my lack of aggression. I wasn’t mean enough. I wasn’t intimidating in my approach. I will admit my run is pretty funny I run like a beauty queen. Duane took me aside in a much nicer tone told me that he and Coach saw the potential for me to be an amazing defensive player and Coach was trying to get me riled up. I told him I didn’t have a lot to be angry about except riding MARTA.
Duane said not to worry we would figure it out. The next day I was listening to a Meeks tape. The Meeks tape was how I passed Advanced English my senior year. Mr Jim Meeks made us learn about a hundred different passages of prose from great works. I have a hard time retaining things so i read the passages over music and listened to the tapes day in and day out even in my sleep.
Anyway Duane felt like that tape was one of my problems and he handed me his GOODIE MOB tape. I was like whats this. He asked me if i liked Outkast. I was like yeah. I love outkast I couldn’t always relate to the things theY rapped about but it evoked a feeling in me so when he told me Goodie Mob was their kin I was immediately geeked.
Its serious that i tell you this in this way. SOUL FOOD changed my life.The flow, the wordspeak, the beats. I instantly was in love. I listened to that tape everyday hundreds of times. Soul Food would become my anthem, Cell theraphy put me into *kill* mode before a game. Every song although I had not lived it meant something to me. For me it was the begining of a beautiful thing. Music became more prevalent in my life. Soul food was the basis of many a *turn that noise down* from my dad. It would spark debates about samples. It would give the parents an avenue to remind me the things i was “rapping” about i had never in my suburban life experienced. It was a life changing piece od magnetic tape. Dungeon Family would woo me time and again Society of Soul where both my father and I would find a common ground thanks to Sleepy Brown and his father. Jamal Ahmad would play Migratenation on WCLK, while Mike Swift would play ”Changes” on WREK.
For me my music had finally met with my father- a record and I do mean record we bought it from Ear Wax ( r.i.p) we both could enjoy even Right Tonight. The cuts were infectious and consious from there my dad would often ask me if there was anything new from Organized Noise he began to appreciate my music. He still felt that sampling music did not give *my artists* the right to call themselves musicians but he was open to change
To stand at Masquerade tonight running into people i knew closely( Slyvester,Margaret, Shannon, Dominick) and some I only knew via word of mouth( Tara, Brandi ATLien). Standing there in the rain. hoodie pulled tight to protect my camera. Listening to DJ Jelly weave a musical tapestry of my teen and young adulthood. Hearing first hand the thunder and the swell of Georgia Me’s poetry. Throwing bows up for Pastor Troy … thinking about my heartbeat when YoungBloodz did 85( thats our song) and then to finally revel in Goodie Mob on stage. Hereing my song live with a band the growl of Khujo the tease of Ceelo blessing us with a Frankie Beverly cover way better than the original. To hear the crowd all lifted in song trying to reach those notes in “before i let go”. So many beautiful people dancing, singing, smoking swaying in unity over and under the groove of Dungeon FAMILY. FAMILY. Tomorrow they may go the way the roads take them but tonight. tonight. tonight.
I left early and people were lined at will call and hour plus into the show still getting tickets wanting to be apart of the experience. RAIN MUDD AND MUSIC. As I drove to work I considered the weight of what I’d witness. The leveity of it all. This was my WOODSTOCK people will ask if you were there. Not only can I say i was there in the trenches doing what I love. I realised something that was special I’m a Ga Girl born and raised. My mom went to Archer but graduated from Washington High. My cousins went to Mays, Banneker, Doug. I remember when Alonzo Crim wasnt Crim highschool so may things came rushing into me. Pride that GM could bring such a diverse crowd together unintimadated by the elements…. Ok my love letter is headed towards gushing and so I tie it off. If you were too cheap to pay for the 40ticket. Shame. Tonight Janet herself could have called me for a photoshoot and i woulda had to say NO!
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