The years were between 2002-2003, I was in the Air Force and stationed overseas (Comayagua, Honduras [and yes my Spanglish game is authentic] to be exact). I hung with a crew of knuckleheads and there was one particular young buck who had a lot of music from the radio but there were no radio overseas, at least not for us. We partied, drank, and lots of other stuff that I’m not discussing but our barracks (better yet their barracks) was party central. Anything heard on the radio, this cat had. See, he had a girl and a cousin that would tape songs from the radio and mail it to him. Me being from the Big East, I mentioned why don’t get your peoples to just send you mixtapes...He was a cool cat from down south and this is only important because he didn’t quite know what mixtapes were. He asked his peoples anyway and they obliged him; however, they sent him really radio songs without the commercials. DJs were starting to just line up records and play them in a row, so really this was the extent of his mixtape collection. My young buol was a huge fan of Hip-Hop and I already established I was a 70‘s offspring in which Hip-Hop is in my blood; so I hooked him up with some of what I had: some DJ Cosmic Kev, DJ Cash Money, DJ Ron G, DJ Doo Wop, etc... . So fast forward and now my crew was the talk of Joint Task Force Bravo. We were called to not only do underground parties but we also did some official squadron (military talk) functions for parties for young Airman & Soldiers that weren’t old enough to drink (there was no drinking age off-base but on-base you still had to be 21yrs of age). So we started going to the capital of Honduras (Tegucigalpa) where there was a record store. This is where I saw her! A CD booklet of Jean Grae. I was first in shock. I couldn’t believe someone had a moniker with the name of an X-Man and I didn’t know of it (huge X-Men fan). I was saying things like, “She better be good...!” None of the knuckle heads knew her or of her songs and here I am thinking I knew some shit. I don’t remember the name of the CD but I remembered her name.
The name stuck with me until I got back to the United States and I instantly went into search mode. And to my surprise the culture I love was viral! More viral than previously remembered (I had been overseas at that point since 1999). My searched revealed that Jean Grae has been creating a crazy buzz on the underground circuit.
The first Jean Grae album I bought was “The Bootleg of the Bootleg” and all I remember was being blown away by the album cover. I looked at Jean like, WOW! First, I must confess that I’m not only a sucker for women with short hair but that shit is like ‘Kryptonite’ so needless to say that it was love at first sight for the kid. I’m talking short hair, Adidas track suit, sneaks and a look that says 100% B-girl...I was hooked and haven’t heard her rhyme yet. But there it was, the first Jean Grae song I have ever heard, “Hater’s Anthem!” All the tracks were thorough but “Hater’s Anthem” was the one that made me a believer! So while everybody was stuck on Lil Kim and Foxy, there I was pushing Jean Grae to anybody who would listen. It wasn’t until “This Week” came out where I made a lot of believers out of Jean. The “Intro,” “Don’t Rush Me,” and “P.S.” to this day are my favorite Jean Grae singles ever (until Cake or Death comes out because Cookies or Comas is real special)!
“This Week” changed everything for me. When the “Intro” opened up, I was mesmerized and when it was said “She’s back again for the first time” and “She’s the hottest thing in the streets since crack in ’85,” Wow! That was a profound statement and I knew I was in for a treat. Well 2004 was the year that I stopped listening to the radio completely. “I've heard rappers spit punchlines that make me say DAMN.. I've heard others rap about everyday life from a point of view that hits my soul” (CROOKED I, 2011, via Twitter). I’m from an era when thorough MCs rapped, we called it rhyming; there were and are a lot of rappers that have that fire when they rhyme but there are only a few that are fire-spitters....‘Dragons’ is what I call them. Jean Grae is a DRAGON!
I prided myself on being that cat that brought good underground music to the those that were around me. I was known as that guy who had all the underground ‘Hot Shit!’ I realized that if I was going to maintain my reputation as that military cat who had all those “Butta mixtapes” then I have to expand my boundaries, and the radio (especially in those rural, country little towns I have been stationed at) wasn’t cutting it; besides, the radio was watered down & making me physically nauseous.
I was already in love with Hip-Hop but Jean Grae’s “This Week” made me humble myself and recognize greatness in front of me. I’ve been on a journey to re-discover what I believe what is lost (hence the blog); if I can touch one person the way Jean has touched me then we are on our way to a stage where the underground will turn the tide and become mainstream. And some of my Hip-Hop HEROES will be at the forefront: KRS-ONE, Black Thought & the Roots, Talib Kweli, Mos Def to name a few but the one I will be looking for would be no doubt, the one & only Jean Grae!
I just want Jean Grae to know that I know for a fact that I’m not the only one that she has touched with her music. She’s brilliant, a leader (whether she knows it or not), and sexy as hell (hehehe *in my 4th grader crush giggle); she’s a true Hip-Hop head that has really been one of the forces keeping underground Hip-Hop alive. Well Jean, DON’T STOP! We need you, we love you, and we’re here for you. I promise (I don’t know when) that your fruits of your labor will be rewarded! And my promise to you is that I will do everything in my power, abilities, and resources to commit to that promise of helping those fruits get to their rightful owner...YOU!
...from the immortal words of Jean Grae, “SCRABBLEBEOTCH”
Salute
Philly aka Philly2AZ aka Mr. Who is That aka Mr. I don’t stalk Jean Grae, I just follow her (behind the tree, in the dark, with binoculars)
UNO
Jean Grae really is dope but more important than being dope she is true to hip hop and what hip hop is all about. Her rhymes and punchlines are powerful, theres a track "lovesong" it moves me everytime i rock it and fnr that Matshidiso I say thank you. Keep rocking and represanting South Africa... Oh thanx for killing one of the dopest MCs to ever walk the earth on the track "uh oh" lol Talib Kweli eat your humble pie, thanx jean SA LOVES YOU Jean Grae really is dope but more important than being dope she is true to hip hop and what hip hop is all about. Her rhymes and punchlines are powerful, theres a track "lovesong" it moves me everytime i rock it and fnr that Matshidiso I say thank you. Keep rocking and represanting South Africa... Oh thanx for killing one of the dopest MCs to ever walk the earth on the track "uh oh" lol Talib Kweli eat your humble pie, thanx jean SA LOVES YOU
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