Today marks the 9th year of the fatal airplane crash that lead to Aaliyah and 8 others death in the Bahamas after they filmed the music video for “Rock The Boat.” I decided to do a special “Before They Were Stars” in her honor. She truly was a talented individual with a big voice at a young age. Below is a home video that showcases Aaliyah when she was younger.

It was really hard for me to choose a favorite song of Aaliyah’s that I like, because I love them all. So I chose the song when I was first introduced to Aaliyah. Enjoy.

But this dude can do no wrong to me.

Some people feel like he’s an immature, confused, hurt, misguided, loud-mouth….. but i just find him to be… himself.  Human.  What some people don’t get is that Budden isn’t a “regular” rapper that likes to make catchy songs about ice, money, and hoes.  He’s what I call an emotionally driven rapper.  He speaks about what he knows–and what matters to him.  So if he’s been hurt, abused, misused, in love, outta love, depressed, drugged, done wrong, or been wrong to someone else— most likely, you’re gonna know about it.. regardless if you know what or who he’s talking about.

Some people don’t like that.  I don’t have a problem with Joey rapping about Joey, because its 100%.  And 100% of the time, the same thing he feels, is similar to or damn-near identical to something that someone else is, or have.  This is what you call “painting pictures,” not only “rhyming words” (do your homework).

From Tahiry (the 5-yr relationship) to Somaya (the pick-me-up), his life has been playing out online like a soap opera/reality show.  Tahiry’s modeling career and Somaya’s so-called singing career (no comment) are more than I could ever care to know.  But due to Joe’s personality, and style of rap, you’re bound to know about ‘em.  And as they both turned for the worst, there’s no way to escape that drama either–especially if u follow them all via twitter.

I think now’s a good time to just lay low.  Keep a lil sum’n sum’n on the side – nothing serious.  (And I mean really, after coming from a 5 yr relationship, did u honestly think he’d be ready for another?)  Joey, Focus on your next album and *cough* MM4 *cough*.  The fans are waiting.

Let’s leave 2009 behind.  It’s time to move on to bigger and better things.  I haven’t been tuning into Joe Budden TV as much as I did in the past, so maybe that’s why I’m not so hip as to who R.I.P is directed to– but it really doesnt matter.  It’s another classic song by classic Joey.  And I love it.

DOWNLOAD “R.I.P” HERE. PRODUCED BY J. CARDIM

(PS. this song is one of the best mixed songs by Budden recently. so shouts to the mastering team!)

     It’s definitely NO understatement… when people speak of the King of Pop, it’s without a doubt our very own Michael Jackson they’re speaking of… It’s a sad day for not only the music world, but for the humanitarian world, for a world full of people who was not only influenced by Michael, but who and what Michael was influenced by…
     With all of the hardships he lived through, I think that it’s only fair that we focus on his great contributions to this world, because they are ten-times-fold more than we can speak of any accusations that may have been said against him in past years…
     As we memorialize the life of Michael Jackson, it’s important that we pay homage to what he has given us all. As a songwriter myself, his work, along with the late legend James Brown who was his inspiration, have inspired me to write beyond boundaries and beyond the norm…  He wrote songs about love, heartbreak, the economy, the Earth, self-discovery, self-improvement, and those unforgettable songs that you could turn on when you were ready to take on the world and anyone who may THINK of denying you ANYTHING (aka BAD!)  He’ll forever live on in memory and iPods around the world… We may never find another great entertainer who LITERALLY has dedicated their life to healing the world with their music.  May any pain he has ever experienced be of the past…
Thank You Michael Jackson… Thoughts and Prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time…for an MJ celebration!

RIP MICHAEL JACKSON

YOU WILL ALWAYS BE BUBBLING ON THIS SITE

R.I.P B.I.G

I truly do wonder why this video is JUST now surfacing… i wouldn’t know for sure, but it does seem that there could be a POSSIBILITY that some incriminating evidence could be found within this video… that is if the FEDS gave a Flying-F-50 to put the pieces together…  It’s a small taste of the last moments of Brooklyn’s Finest, the Notorious B.I.G… (recorded by a fan)… no obscene footage, but heart-jerking to know the aftermath… POP THAT BUBBLE FOR THE VID

 [Whoever did it is not the Wackness of the Week... but of ETERNITY... that goes for who shot Pac too...SMH]
[And please don't get me started on my conspiracy theories... I have a few!]

In His Memory…

Your Bubble Has Been Popped!

And somebody oughta pop you!

{NOT IN REFERENCE TO THE READER… LOL}

My Cousin Malik

UnPromised Time

I used to make jokes about situations like this…

Walking down the empty streets of my city, I’d run on the paved roads
Laugh off how much money I’d get if a car would bump into my flesh- leaving me with Benjamin Franklins by the load

But my thoughts never had any logic, never went deeper
Never wondered about the pain that was suddenly ingrained in the lives of the victims kin who didn’t make it to see another day
Families that sit by the telephone waiting to receive that one voice on the other end,
Praying that they’ll be more than static and more than noise, more than hope and more than a note with a pen
Longing to see their face, wishing that whatever happened didn’t claim their destiny to an end
Pacing and tracing and waiting for facing the reality that waits for them once the ring tone is finally heard

And now it only makes me sink into my seat with more jealousy than the heartbroken women on Cheaters because you’re where I used to long to be

Before I realized the strength that was inside of me, you guided me to a better being
And sometimes I’d act awkward in front of you because the words wouldn’t spit out when I needed it
And you may not have always been there because of time and space, but you were always reliable

And its undeniable the pain our family feels when we think about that February morning
I admit sometimes i feel guilty because two weeks prior I boasted that I had never been in mourning
And ive never been the superstitious type but sometimes you just gotta ask  “what if” “what might…” but they scream all the time…..

I tried to ignore the details about the way your body was dragged
Sketch out the imprint of your rich blood on the dark road where many before you had their souls grasped
Kill the imagery of your once clothed body being naked from the magnitude of the impact-
now in an advanced, aged, tranformed presentation you were brought into this world with on a hospital bed
you returned to your original form as a child that was new to this world, leaving your skin to descend into a body bag
But it soothed me to know that you fought and you were surrounded by friends, if they’re rumors so let it be tagged
The whispers of your angels as you prayed your last before Heaven lifts me up even with shoulder pads
I didn’t want to know about the time the ambulance had allowed to lapse
I didn’t want the visual of you walking off the curb just be struck by a Acura Legend
that poisoned your life as if you were a Winehouse, drugged up like Heath Ledger
But the only overdose that occurred that day was my hate, my anguish and my tears in my pillow throughout-
legendary as the first flight, legendary in its own right because now you fly higher than imaginations bound at night

I drowned out the cries of your sister and your mother because I was sick of shedding tears, it was still the first day of the news
But this news was different from the ones Im used to yelling about to the screen
This news I don’t have the chance to flip the channel, turn down the volume, or pretend it ever happened
Because without you here, there’s a pain in my chest everlasting
There’s dinner tables that are gonna have more leftovers than ever before- hold the plastic, and less teeth from the smiles you cheeked
Granted, less arguments about a man running late at night on the streets
But never doubt that even in my sleep I can feel the anger build up so much, I break loose from the REM and move my arms, my limbs, grasping for you to return to Earth because it’s unbareable how everyone is suffering within…

3AM on Saturday before the sun had began its daily routine
You were taken from us by a drunken man who was too fukin selfish to stop on the scene
He was too fukin selfish to realize that the ”thing” he hit may had been a King
He was too fukin selfish and too fukin intoxicated
Too fukin blind and too fukin trapped in cages
Too fukin ignorant and too fukin in a skurry to fuk in the girl in his passenger seat; he was in a hurry
He was too fukin stupid and too fukin narcissistic that he didnt worry about the treasured son he had destroyed…

But he kept the engine running, and ran himself into the hospital to make sure the lil bump he endured would be insured… 

And now im so fukin tired of being so fukin silent
So fukin sick, I wanna be as fukin violent as a tyrant
So fukin through wit alcohol and stupid motherfuckers
Im so fukin done with being the nice girl, i might not mind being called a fukin bitch-not-to-fuk-wit-at-night girl
cuz im so fukin exhausted, I feel Im fukin lost And i rarely say fuck, but fuck it and fuck you if u dont like it- youre tossed

I feel so drained that lately its been hard to see past the rain cause there’s clouds in my psyche
Still I’ve accepted your departure and I know youre not too far so…
I say fuck your death, because you’ll forever live on in me….

_________________________________________________________________________

For those of you who are interested,
this poem was created in loving memory of my cousin Malik Jenkins. His life was taken away from us February 21, 2009 at 3am due to a drunk driving incident in Elizabeth, NJ. As his family, friends and I continue to move on from our grieve, it does get easier everyday… but the pain may never go away. I’m always glad to write anything for him, or regarding him because he was a fan of my writing, and it fulfills me in an indescribable way to comfort myself with his death by doing so.  He was also an artist and I highly recommend his myspace page >> http://www.myspace.com/prolifikone >> [[[My favorite song is "The Garden".  He was supposed to make it downloadable for me but never got to it, i guess.]]]  This past Wednesday would’ve marked his 27th birthday. So in celebration, this was a new piece I recently made for him…

Always Remembered
Never Forgotten
Eternally Cherished

—Jazzi

Very Young Malik... good looks runs in the fam

Goofy-ness Too ... (Malik & my sister Shalese)

Cousin Malik with my sister Sherhea

Cousin Malik & Cousin Waheed

Malik Jenkins Rest In Peace