Icon

I grew up when people paid for HBO just to watch Moonwalker or any Michael Jackson concert. I remember that the first 20 minutes were a bunch of people crying and Mike just standing there. I remember a lot of pyrotechnics and flashing lights. The same flashing lights that Kanye wrote about. The same flashing lights people hope will save Kanye from the sunken place even though most of us recognize its probably too late. Fame does something to people. Michael was an icon to my generation, just as Kanye is an icon to another generation. Both have tragic stories of loss, and in many ways, they both ultimately lost themselves. Mike died an unrecognizable drug addict and pedophile and Kanye has not been right since his mother died. Kanye is no longer the College Dropout who spit rhymes with his mouth wired shut. Instead, he spits on TMZ about slavery being a choice without giving clout to the systemic mental slavery that still occurs. For someone, who grew up watching the Cosby Show, dancing to MJ tracks and rapping Kanye lyrics... it's a sad day for Icons. Maybe being iconic shouldn't be idolized because it's costing our Black men their legacies and their minds. Free thought ain't free!

Yearning

I'm an 80's baby. I played with my mother's records and thought an 8 track was a hybrid of a Nintendo video and a cassette. I listened to L.T.D and the Commodores like I was a P-funk all-star with a hot buttered soul. Isaac Hayes, George Clinton, Lionel Richie, and Jeffrey Osborne were household names like Madonna and Michael Jackson. I loved music. One of my favorite Saturday morning tunes was "Yearning for your Love," by the Gap Band. I would sing that chorus like I was truly a heartbroken, lovesick eight year old. I can't help, but to think that most of us are yearning for something too. Some are yearning for love. Some are yearning for attention. Some are yearning for success. Some are yearning for help. What are you yearning for?

For your enjoyment: https://youtu.be/X1eiAPKfAVY