We fly high, no lie, you know this…ballin (I mean bloggin) November 14, 2009

 

The truth will set you free!  It was shortly after I took this picture with Jim Jones late 2006 on the set of his “Ballin Remix” in Atlanta, that my life finally began to start having some real meaning.  It was my first BET Access Granted appearance since losing soooo much weight and I was flyin high…no lie… with a new hair cut, custom gear and more swag than Jim, Diddy, Tip and Baby put together.  Ohh my stories were endless and the youtube and myspace Access Granted montage of me in all my glory was posted for everyone to see.  WHAT A FOOL I WAS!

I was caught in the matrix, you see, of a world I love but now relate to a bit differently.  I wasn’t really “Ballin” however, Jim was, and Diddy and Baby and so on and so on.  But here is THE FIRST PART OF THE SECRET: DON’T LET THE HYPE OF OTHERS FOOL YOU INTO LYING TO YOURSELF.  What happened to me that day is; for some unknown reason I began to think I was ballin out of control too, I was no better than the hype man at a rap show.  My bank account was not truly BALLIN, and what did BALLIN really mean to me anyway!  Jim said it best that day “if you are still living in the projects but you’re driving a fly whip, you’re not ballin!”  I made $1500 for that days work as assistant director.  However, the Director, Rage (a guy I really do like) came in from New York and directed a video that any capable Director out of Atlanta could have directed with his or her eyes closed with a hangover, as we all had that day after the BET Hip Hop Awards (including Rage).  That was the beginning of Rage coming to Atlanta and scooping up alot of the hot videos because he had put in years of work, found a way to take things to the next level and was now executing his plan so that he too would be…that’s right…BALLIN!  So, ladies and gents the 2ND PART OF THE SECRET is crucial on this one.  See the average Black Joe or Jane is somewhere mad about the above fact when really the key is to just find a way to execute your OWN DAMN PLAN (sorry for the curse word).  Later, I will talk about how I did just that!!!!BALLIN

For everything there is a season September 17, 2009

I remember where I was when I heard “Cell Therapy”, it changed me.  It made me feel so proud to be an Atlien, so proud of this mainstream record company LaFace for actually having artists like the Goodie Mob and Outcast mixed with my favorite group TLC.  I was devested when the group broke up, but one day I decieded to stop being selfish for one minute and was able to realize the SECRET TO THIS ENTRY, ITS VERY SIMPLE – FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON.

Now I’m gonna take you back to a night I can recall at Club 112 some years back; it was an album release party for Ludacris, and all of Atlanta’s royalty came out to support. The VIP was an Atlien who’s who list. I was sitting down near Michael Vick and my friends were asking me if was I going to follow them back to his house. I declined and really I was barely listening to them because I was witnessing a dramatic moment that no one was even paying attention to. See, at that time Bigg Gipp had released “Stepping Out” and the Goodie Mob had just come out with an album titled “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” which of course was a diss to Ceelo; and here in the back of the VIP Bigg Gipp and Ceelo saw each other for what you could clearly tell was the first time in a very long time. I watched them at a comfortable distance from the first hug, to the awkward first dialog to the heart to heart that must have lasted 30min. These niggas were not fighting, there were no girls involved but the drama of that moment and the intensity I felt from them was soooo powerful. These were two black men having an “amicable coming to Jesus” right before my eyes. It was obvious their paths were supposed to cross that night. You see, it was TIME for that conversation to take place. Life DOES have it’s seasons.

I was there on the set of Ceelo’s teletubbie video in 2002 for the song “Getting Grown” as well as his collaboration with Timbaland in 2004 on “I’ll Be Around” and even his moment with Jazze Pha in 2006 for the “Happy Hour”. But who really knew that he was going to keep having his moments in TIME until he collaborated on one of the biggest songs OF ALL TIME, “Crazy”. Now, If he had stayed with the Goodie Mob, we might not have ever had that song.

So, I say as fans and as people, let us love our artists, family and friends no matter what TIME it is in their lives, because it is all a part of life’s necessary changing seasons. Right now, I’m celebrating the return of the Goodie Mob and I will enjoy this season in their lives for as long as it lasts.

Welcome to Atlanta May 4, 2008

The sobering and painful fact is to sometimes realize that Atlanta has really changed from the old days.  This is a picture of me and JD some months ago on the set of Johnta Austin’s video set.  Smiles everyone smiles…but actually JD did not want to take the photo and asked me “Why should I?” when I approached him for the quick snap.  Things that make you go hummm, sorry Arsenio.  I replied to JD with a smile and a quick hug “I AM YOU!”  Let’ rewind to see how in the heck I came up with such a bold statement even for me.

1993 I was an intern on Xscapes “Just Kickin It”, It was 100 degrees that day and they needed an extra makeup person, and being the resourceful one that I always have been I called a friend, Rochelle Howard in to help out the production.

1994 I helped block off traffic and led a crowd of hundreds down Peachtree Street for Kriss Kross’ song “Hold Tight” with Super Cat.

2002 I was one of the assistant directors on Welcome to Atlanta, a video where we were all so distraught because Lisa (Left Eye) had just died that past week, JD wore an airbrushed shirt as a tribute to her.

2005 JD produced Murphy Lee’s what the hook gonna be and we shot a video for the song at his new facility, Southside Studios. I was one of the assistant directors who protected his studio from getting trashed as well as I almost got killed when Benny Boom wanted to do a car shot in the middle of rush hour on MLK Jr. Dr.  (Side note, I gave Murphy Lee an airbrushed T-shirt that day; he wore my gift the next week on the BET awards).

2005 I was the assistant director on Jagged Edge’s “Walked out of Heaven”. (side note: at this video nobody for some reason told the stylist supposedly that we were shooting “green screen” and most of the color choices she had for the groups wardrobe were “green”.  Even you non-technical folks can probably figure out how that might have been a big problem)

2006 I was the assistant Director on Jermaine’s new song with 3LW “Feelin You”. (Side note I love Billie Woodruff who was the director for the video.)

2007 I was the casting Director for JD’s group Jagged Edge for the song “Put a Lil Umph In It”.  (I found the white guy for the corporate scene in a bar up the street when my other talent cancelled at the last minute.)

2007 I was the casting Director for JD’s artist Johnta Austin for the song “Video” (Nzingha you are the best!  SHe was the director).  THE SHOCKER, IT WAS ON THIS SET THAT THE ABOVE PICTURE WAS TAKEN. THAT’S RIGHT JD ALL OF THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS AND STELLAR TALENT ALL CAME FROM YOURS TRULY THAT DAY.

THE SECRET HERE IS: LET US NEVER FORGET THAT IT TAKES MANY PEOPLE TO HELP US BECOME MOGULS.