The Album I Can't Get Enough Of Right Now

Simply Just Faith

For the past couple of weeks this album has been a must listen for me everyday, including after work, after working out, or even before I got to bed. Faith Evans' debut album is just a epic. Her debut in my opinion is a the definition of a real R&B album. Faith was SANGING and you can feel the emotion in her vocals. Unlike R&B music today, vocals are not authentic anymore. To me, that's what is missing in R&B music real singing. It's coming back slowly with albums from Tamar Braxton, K. Michelle, Jaheim, Raheem DeVaughn. In addition, when I am on twitter my followers always ask me "why do you continue to listen to old R&B albums" and my answer is always "because these albums were REAL" Anyway back to Faye (Faith's nickname) debut.

Now giving a little bit of my introduction to Faith. I always knew Faith as "Biggie's wife" or the girl that sung background on Mary J. Blige's classic album My Life. Now Mary and Faith has always been compared because of the way Puffy marketed Faith. I feel that he tried to use the same marketing tool he did with Mary. But they were two completely different artist. That started a war because the Mary fans and Faith fans. (Yes I down with it because I am such a huge Mary fan) But to Mary fan, you have understand that Faith Evans is a big part of Mary's My Life album. Faith helped with the writing and sung background on songs like 

I Never Wanna Live Without You

Listen @ 4:32 you can hear Faith perfectly

Don't Go

You can hear Faith all over this song

Damn those songs sounded so good. Actually most of my favorite songs on this album Faith sing background on it, but I Never Wanna Live Without You is the best.

So when Faith's debut came out in 1995, my family was still on Mary's My Life, so nothing was talking us away from that album. As a result, the only songs I knew were You Used to Love Me, Soon As I Get Home, & Ain't Nobody. Obviously those were the hits from the album. Not knowing that even with those 3 songs, I haven't heard anything yet. 

You Used To Love Me

Soon As I Get Home

Ain't Nobody

Ahhh memories, that 90s hip-hop soul feels good...you gotta be jamming right now.

So, with my family being music lovers my mother and I found this record store near our house. They sell old records (including 45s and 33s), 8 tracks, and used CDs. Now while me and my mother was excited about all the records, I knew I wanted to get some CDs to listen to while I was riding back home to Maryland. So, as a result I got 3 used albums, Faith's Faith, En Vogue's Born To Sing, & Ralph Tresvant, Ralph Trevsant. I figured out of the 3 Faith's would be my least favorite, haha was I ever so wrong. I had a three hour drive and the album is a hour long, I listened to it 3 times. I never got a chance to listen to the other two because I fell so in love with this album. And I understood why people compare Faith & My Life, because each album had that same soul vibe. But Faith was SANGING, I said "damn I missed a lot", this album in my opinion deserves to be put on the same level as Mary J. Blige's My Life. From this album, I have some my favorite Faith songs of all time. Track 1, Faith Interlude pulls in you Faith's vibe because she is singing about the LORD. But from 7 to 15 makes this album a R&B classic. Track 7 is entitled, Come Over. Faith is SANGING the devil out of this song. Check it out

Come Over

  

Now you can't tell me Faye wasn't SANGING. 

One of my personal favorites from Faith is track 9 "All This Love" at about 3:10 Faith's vocals just takes me somewhere where I feel like I'm singing to that special someone and I singing "I just wanna give all this love back to you" Now vibe with Faith one this one

All This Love

Faye got you in her world yet??

Another banger is track 12, Give It To Me, this is a song that also classifies the term hip-hop soul perfectly. This beat is clearly for a rapper and the person that could do this beat justice would be Faith's slain ex-husband The Notorious B.I.G. But Faith is riding this beat with her soulful vocals and nobody else was needed on this. MC Faye on the mike LOL...

Give It To Me

Doesn't this song make you want to get into you car and roll the windows down and blast this on a nice day while you cruising the streets

Now to one all time favorite Faith song, is track 13, You Don't Understand. This song touches my soul. Question: Have you ever have someone you really like and you have a feeling they like you, and both of you don't know how to say it because you are both afraid. Basically if you are going through this experience, this is the song for you. SPEAK FOR ME FAITH!! "If you love me baby, just let your feelings show"

You Don't Understand

According to Chucky Thompson, the producer of this classic album as well as My Life, he said this song was about Biggie's and Faith's relationship. He said that while she was singing this in the studio she was crying. I guess the lyric "Give it One More Chance" Faith was giving us the hint. But nevertheless, this song speaks volumes! Most definitely a personal favorite.

Then track 14, Don't Be Afraid is another favorite of mine because I feel like it's part 2 of You Don't Understand. It's like these songs tell a story, with You Don't Understand, you and that special person is playing games and you have finally admitted to each other that you like it other. Then with Don't Be Afraid, you are in a relationship and you now realize that you love with each but you are scared to say it. In my opinion, these two songs describe the beginning of a serious relationship. 

Don't Be Afraid

In my opinion, You Don't Understand & Don't Be Afraid were Faith's feelings about her and Biggie's relationship. 

Ending the album with track 15, a bonus track, Reasons. Even though, it's a bonus track I am happy it made the album because it fits perfectly. 

Reasons

Sounds soulful don't you agree???

To conclude, I know even after almost 20 years people will still continue to compare Faith's Faith & Mary's My Life. I understand that both albums have the same type of vibe but they are totally two different albums and they tell a different story. And I am a big Mary J. Blige fan, but I feel that Faith's Faith should be in the same CLASSIC category as Mary's My Life. To me this a classic R&B debut, if you love R&B this album must be in your collection. 

WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITES FROM THIS CLASSIC?

Happy Father's Day

Sam Cooke: The Soul Man That Brought A Strong Bond Between Me & My Grandfather

I dedicated to do a blog on father's day about my late grandfather and an artist that brought me and him closer together. I figured since it's father's day I owed him that. Perfect music blog entry about an awesome grandfather. GOD I miss him EVERYDAY!! 

Now every Friday on my Instagram, I have the hashtag #throwbackfridays when I go back into the crates and post old soul music songs. I just want my followers to feel good on Friday's and jam to that good REAL soul music. This past Friday I decided to listen to some of my favorite SOUL male artist that included Otis Redding, Bobby Womack, Teddy Pendergrass, Eddie Kendricks, and the great one, Sam Cooke.

Then the memories of my grandfather came to my mind and I started with the tears. Now before then I told my mother what I was listening to, she told me "be prepared for the tears". By the time I got to Bobby Womack I wanted to cry but I realized I was at work but when I got to Sam Cooke, I couldn't hold them anymore.

Come on this musical journey with me

Ahh didn't that sound good!!! My grandfather loved that man, I remember when he heard me sing for the first time and my family realized that I could sing, he said I reminded him of Sam Cooke. To me, that was an honor because he was my favorite male artist and for my grandfather to tell me that was great. 

Around 2007, my grandfather had a mild heart attack and became very sick. But a year later after rehab and healing he was able to come home permanently. And when I would come home from college, I would take him for a ride. This ride usually gave my grandma a break from him (LOL) but it also give me a chance to spend some time with him alone. With me, y'all could guess that music must be playing so my grandfather's request was always Sam Cooke. That was one CD I had to have in my car. So, when our rides would begin I wanted to start it on a upbeat so I normally started it with this..

  

Our first stop would be the liquor store, because liquor will get the flow going the right way (well at least in my family). Then the talks will begin. I felt during this time him and I got to really know each other. He would tell me about his childhood and I would explain my life experiences with him. One thing about my grandfather he was VERY honest, even though you might not like what he said but it was very truthful. Another thing about my grandfather was, he knew a lot of history that consisted of racism. It seemed that Sam Cooke had a song that paralleled our conversations. Sam Cooke had many songs that spoke on racism, one of them was the "Chain Gang"

 

"Chain Gang" was about prisoners that were chained together to perform physical work. My grandfather used to tell me that a lot of these black men that were on the chain gang was wrong accused. Of course back then racism was a normal. As a result, many black men was jailed because they were black. My grandfather used to tell me that world is evil, and me as a black man will have to deal with a lot it's evil. Sometimes it would hurt when he use to tell about the experience he faced dealing with racism. So, when Barack Obama started to run for the President of The United States, racism was always a major topic. Then when Obama won, my grandfather was the first person I called because I felt like with this win, his generation and my generation was brought closer together. Both generations were able to experience our first black President. Finally the change had come.

Now this one song I can't through, I have to turn it off because it's too emotional for me. Sam Cooke was ahead of his time. It's crazy that people call songs classics today but this song is a classic because it's still relevant today.

Back to the story.....LOL

As I stated during this time, my grandfather was battling cancer so it seem like the only things that made him happy were talking about Obama and our car rides. 

But one story from my grandfather that I will always remember is when he heard "(What A) Wonderful World". He used to call the song "Don't Know Much About History"  he never said the right title (LOL).

My grandfather said the first time he heard this song it was tragic experience. He was on the bus coming home from school, him and this girl used to get off the same stop. And he used to always get off first. But this day, he heard "What A Wonderful World" on the radio so he wanted to hear the rest of the song, he let the girl get off first. And when she got off first, she was hit by another bus and was killed. Normally, he would get off the bus first but because Sam Cooke had a new song, he had to listen to it. As a result, he felt that Sam Cooke "kinda" saved his life. That's why this song he will always remember, even though he loved this song it had an emotional connection with him. 

"(What A) Wonderful World" has such a emotional connection with me when I listen to it now, because I think this was the last song my grandfather heard before he left this world. I remember my mother putting her phone to his ear and she played this song while he was sleeping. It must be great to listen to your favorite song by your favorite artist while you are on your way to be with the LORD.

So, after the death of my grandfather it was really hard for me to listen to Sam, because I would cry but I finally realize that Sam's music is what brought him and I together. And I feel if I stop listening to Sam, a part of my life is gone. Today, it's still a little difficult after 3 years but I gotten better.

Here is two more songs that I can remember my grandfather and I vibing to in the car on our rides together....

Hopefully you enjoy this short musical journey  while I discuss my favorite MALE artist of all time and how his music made me and my late grandfather have a bound that can't ever be broken. I just want to tell my grandfather I love him and this world isn't as wonderful with him not here. I love you and miss you....HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! *cries* 

Starting 2013 Soulful

Simply Tweet (EP)

Tweet just released her EP, Simply Tweet and it's already my favorite album to start 2013. One thing about Tweet she is soulful with a voice like an angel. And since her 2002 debut album the classic, Southern Hummingbird she has been bringing the soul. And with this EP, she has done it again. But before I talk about this EP, I have to give a little background of how Tweet and her music entered my life.

Now we all remember Tweet for this:

Brings back memories huh but I remember Tweet for this:

This beat is sick, that's why Timbaland is one of the best. But back to Tweet (LOL)

I remember when I first heard this on HOT97 for the first time. I remember Angie Martinez played this during her 4pm countdown and I waited for her to say who the artist was. Now I knew it was Timbaland and Magoo but I wanted to know the girl singing the hook. It was something about her voice that caught my attention other than the beat. But Angie Martinez, never said who was singing. So, I remember going to Circuit City, (don't judge me) to look at the back of the CD to find out who this girl was. Finally, I found out her name and it was Tweet. Right after I went to the bootleg to see if he had a mix with this song on it, and he did. I brought the mix and played the song out. This is how Tweet entered into my life, but I didn't hear anything from her again until.....

I am bring yall back to those 00's huh, but I think this to me showed Tweet's voice in the right way. From the "All Y'all" she was singing but "Take Away" was right introduction for Tweet. It really showed her voice then I remembered in a interview when Missy said this is my new artist Tweet and she has a new album coming out entitled, Southern Hummingbird. I said, "Oh yeah I have to get this, to see what she is bringing because she is can sing" then this song dropped...

During this time, Power 105 was transitioning from a Oldies SOUL station to a HipHop/R&B station and they were commercial free. "Oops Oh My" was getting played every hour because it was the new hot song, so it was getting played so much that you were getting sick of it. But I said "I know Tweet's album is not full of songs like this". So, I was planning to go buy this album, but it was a week where my family was going to a family party. So I wasn't able to get the album but my brother Desmond (RIP), had it. I remember the intro had me.....listen to those harmonies 

Tweet told her story from that intro then it goes into this....

Sounds good don't it...her voice is so smooth and soulful... Southern Hummingbird became my favorite album of 2002. With this album she crossed all ages in my house. So, when it was time for family vacation, Southern Hummingbird was a must. This was an album that my whole family could enjoy. With songs like "Smoking Cigarettes", "Always Will", "Boogie 2nite", "Make Ur Move", "Motel", and "Beautiful" this album became a classic. But this one song that some of my family members hated because me and my mom would sing it to each other was "Best Friend" with Bilal this was our "current" Marvin & Tammi duet...she was Tweet and I was Bilal...

Soulful right?? OMG this album was extraordinary, then Tweet didn't release another album until 2005 which started my college years entitled, It's Me Again. And this was the first single....

I said "Tweet must have heard that me and my mother singing her song "Best Friend" with Bilal like we were Marvin and Tammi because she then decided to used the sample "If This World Were Mine" for "Turn The Lights Off". I was pleased with this single because it was soulful and Tweet's vocals were on point as usual. I was so ready for the album. Tweet brought it again with songs like "Iceberg", "Sports, Sex, Food", and "Small Change". But two songs really stood out "Cab Ride" & "Two of Us" with Tweet's daughter Tashawna. I dedicated "Two of Us" to my mother it became her ringtone for about 2 years, its a song that describes our relationship "The two of us just you and me"  My friends got sick of it, but they knew when that ringtone came on it was her. 

Listen to "Cab Ride" it's so smooth just vibe with Tweet

This is the song that describes me and my mothers relationship and the close bond NOBODY can break. "Two Of Us"

Then in 2007, Tweet was suppose to release another album but it never happened. But in 2012, Tweet started this #TweetTuesday with releasing songs like "Trouble" and "Daydreaming" every Tuesday. So I remember asking her on Twitter @ Ms_Hummingbird, "Tweet when are we going to get another classic like "Southern Hummingbird". She responded "It's coming". Then about 2 week ago she released "Enough" when I heard this song it instantly became my 2nd favorite song of the year. I couldn't stop playing it. 

DAMN that sounds so good. But I remember going to twitter again and asking Tweet "Enough of this good songs when are we getting an album" she said "Feb 26" I am releasing a  EP". That day is here and Tweet didn't disappoint she didn't lose her angelic voice and her soul. She is not following the trend she is staying true and I am so happy. I wish this EP was longer but it an EP so it's suppose to be short. Nevertheless, I know it will hold me over until the new album comes out. This album is my favorite "album" of 2013 so far. Thank you for this EP Tweet, I needed this....THE SOUL WORLD NEEDED THIS.. Songs like "Way of Love", "Enough", and "Sorry" this EP is a MUST HAVE for R&B/SOUL lovers. 

GO COP THIS!!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/simply-tweet-ep/id600414640

Two Eleven

One of my favorite singers is back with a new album after 4 years. Brandy released Human in 2008, which I felt was a great album because it was so honest but she felt that her long time producer, Rodney Jerkins and label didn't give it the support album. After label changes , she finally got the music she wanted. But this album Two Eleven is very personal to her because her idol the great Whitney Houston died on her birthday, which is February 11. So Brandy thought that naming this Two Eleven it would be a dedication to her idol. From listening to this album Brandy didn't disappoint. 

Now we know that this industry has clearly changed since Brandy was on top of the charts, so with this album coming out I was nervous because I didn't know if the music world would accept Brandy again. Also, R&B music is not in the forefront of mainstream music anymore. As I stated before, I was nervous but Brandy brought it on this one. Now when her single "Put It Down" was released in May. I had mixed feelings but I just admired her swag on the song. After a few more listens, the swag took over and I love the song. I felt she was giving me Afrodisac era swag. I understand why this was the first single because it caters to the young music market but still the Brandy fans know B-Rocka is coming. So about 4 months later, I was on twitter and Brandy tweeted that she has a song for the fans. Then "Wildest Dreams" blasted into my headphones. Brandy's vocals is epic on this song, this is the Brandy that I have been waiting for. I started tweeting Brandy is back!. Now listening to this song everyday, Brandy tweets again "Starz I have another track for yall". Then she leaked "No Such Thing As Too Late". Brandy again amazed me again with her vocals on this mid-tempo. I tweeted "songs like this shows me why Brandy is one of my favorite singers". I knew then Brandy was NOT playing with this album.

After so many people wanted the album to leak, it finally did this Thursday. And when I tell you Brandy is back, I really mean she is back. This album is amazing and on October 16, I will be buying 3 copies. Brandy deserves to have this shining moment. 

After a little(lol) background for yall, time to talk about this AWESOME album....

The album begins with an Intro that most definitely into the album. Then the second single Wildest Dreams is the next track so epic as I explained earlier. Next song is So Sick, I remember a video on youtube when she was playing the beat for her brother Ray J. Brandy was riding this beat with her vocals, which is her specialty. Then we go into one of my highlights of the album Slower, on this song Brandy has so much swagger. I never wanted this song to end. Next is another favorite of mine, No Such Thing As Too Late. Brandy is giving me the Full Moon era with this song. I just love her vocals on this especially at the end, when she hits that note, vocal heaven. Next is the club banger, Let Me Go this song will definitely get you in the partying mood. Then Without You gives me Apart vibe from Full Moon. The vocals are great as usual it's such a laid back song. Next, is the first single Put It Down with Chris Brown, Brandy has to much swag on this. Like I said, I understand why this was the first single. Another favorite of mine is Hardly Breathing the melody and the Brandy vocals are standout outs. Next is Do You Know What You Got Have this song gives me Like This vibe from once again the Full Moon album. Very sexy vibe song. Now to my favorite song on the album, Scared of Beautiful. This song speaks to my soul, when I heard this it brought tears to my eyes. Frank Ocean murdered these words and Brandy brought those words to life. "Scared of the truth so much more than a lie" those words hit home for me. Next track, gives me the Full Moon era once again. Wish Your Love Away is a laid vibe song like Come A Little Closer from Full Moon. Paint The House & Can You Hear Me Now are good songs. Music is an anthem for me because I love the beginning "I wake up to you and go to sleep to you" and lastly "I am lost without you". This song is my life. And to close the album she has the banger What You Need. To me this song is Brandy's message to the fans telling us she has what we need, which is good music. That's what I take from the song. But she also singing this to her boo Ryan. 

Brandy with this album has proved why she is and should be forced in this game. This is such an awesome album. She gave us the classic R&B from the first album, Brandy. She gave us the pop appeal from the second album, Never Say Never. The epic vocals from Full Moon she was SANGING on this album. She was giving us the swag from Afrodisiac with songs like Slower, So Sick, and What You Need. And lastly, this album is as honest as Human with songs like Scared of Beautiful and Hardly Breathing. With all that, Brandy didn't lose herself on this album and I want her to win on this. 9.5/10

STANDOUT TRACKS

Wildest Dreams

Slower

No Such Thing As Too Late

Scared of Beautiful

What You Need

Songs For Moment...Just A Feeling Part 8

Tears of Joy-Faith Evans

When I heard this song I fell in love with it. Now Claude Kelly used the sample from Aretha Franklin's "Baby Baby Baby". I wanted Mary J. Blige to remake this song so bad but Faith beat her to the punch. Faith did an awesome job with this song, it's so soulful and it's my favorite song right now. I listen to it everyday. I told Claude Kelly on twitter, thank you for this song. 

Listen to this EPIC song

Sample from Aretha

Where's The Fun In Forever-Miguel & Alicia Keys

Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream is a good album. He most definitely gives you the Prince vibe. I like the whole album but this "Where's The Fun In Forever" is such a stand out for me. The song is musically epic with the drums and A Keys playing the piano. EPIC! (Go get this dude's album)

Listen to this great musical collabo

No Such Thing As Too Late- Brandy

Now Brandy new album Two Eleven is coming out in about 2 weeks and she has been leaking music. When I hear Put It Down, I said  "Brandy is coming with the swag". Then she came with Wildest Dreams, I said Brandy is not playing with us with this new album. The 2 days ago she leaked "No Such Thing As Too Late" I was in music heaven. Even tho Rico Love isn't one of my favorite producers because he recycles alot of his songs. But this song him and Brandy's collabo was epic. Brandy brought it with the vocals....OMG

Vibe with B rocka on this

 

Utah & The Drifters

The Drifters

About a week ago, I was listening to The Drifters' greatest hits and it brought back memories of the magic moment I was introduced to them. So, as a result, I felt that I had to write about that moment so vibe with me as I take you through that moment.

By now you know, I have gotten my musical taste from my mother. And during our South Carolina days, my mother use to listen to oldies and as soon as she started playing them, I used to run in my room and play Super Nintendo. During that time I didn't want to listen to that. I wanted to listen to Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, and some hip-hop. But as I would run away she would tell me "When you get older you are going to love this music, because that's what happened to me". I never wanted to understand what she meant, but today I get it. My friends and family know that oldies are my favorite.

Now this Drifters story starts during my families' South Carolina days when music played a big part of our lives. See my mother was going to college and my father was a truck driver. So sometimes my mother and I would go on trips with him. But this particular time he had this trip going to Utah. At first my mother was little concerned about it because she didn't want me to be out of school too long. But my mother knew I could handle it. As a result, Utah here we come. (Don't want to showoff but I was really smart kid, honor roll all the time. I would have like 25-30 days out of school and still got awesome grades....WELL enough about my grades back to the story....lol)  

The journey to Utah begins and my mother puts on a cassette (funny right). And this song comes out of the speakers.

This Magic Moment

Sound so good didn't it? I didn't feel that way then. I wanted my mother to turn it off. Now I couldn't run so I had to deal with it. I looked at my dad and my mother had him so gone with soul music he was vibing to it. Even if he didn't like it, he wouldn't say anything because he didn't want to hear her mouth. But me "mom please turn this old stuff off". But of course she didn't pay me any attention. So, the album continued to play and the more it continued the more I started to like it. Seeing that we had a long trip and my mother wasn't listening to me, I felt I was forced into liking it. As the album kept playing, two songs came on that I actually knew 'On Broadway' & 'Spanish Harlem'. The reason for me knowing these songs because the jazz legend George Benson remade 'On Broadway' and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin remade 'Spanish Harlem' Check out each version

Drifters version of On Broadway

George Benson version of On Broadway

Drifters version of Spanish Harlem

Aretha Franklin version of Spanish Harlem

Epic right?? Aww man the original was great but even the remakes were great too. Aretha and George made those Drifters classics their own. So I asked my mom "so the Drifters made these songs first"?  She said "yea George and Aretha were not the first to make those, so many different artists back then remade the Drifters records". With me taking a liking to this, I wanted my mother to continue to keep playing it. By the time we got to Utah, I knew all the words to the songs. Sometimes my mother, dad, and I would sing the songs together. Awesome family moment! The song I can remember us singing together was 'Save The Last Dance For Me'. My mother would always sing lead because OF COURSE she knew all the words and me and pops were the background singers. (Doo wop pop pop in my Tamar Braxton voice) 

Save The Last Dance For Me

Aww listening to that brings tears to my eyes because I can feel that moment with me and my family singing this in my pops truck on the way to Utah. What a magical moment!

Fast forwarding to last week, I was on amazon and I was looking for music to buy and I came across "The Very Best of the Drifters" I knew I had to buy it because these guys played a big part of why I love oldies because of that magical ride to Utah.

Here are other Drifters classics

Up On The Roof

Under The Boardwalk

Fools Fall In Love

There Goes My Baby

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRIFTERS CLASSIC?? 

11 Years Later: World Trade Center Attacks

2 Albums/Music That Kept Me Sane During Trying Time:

Wow, I can't believe it's been 11 years since the World Trade attacks happened. September 11, 2001 is a day I will never forget. It one of the days that you don't like to remember, for example the day Michael Jackson died or the day The Notorious B.I.G passed. You will always remember the things you were doing on those days. But I am glad that two albums got me through those tragic times, Mary J. Blige's No More Drama and Jay-Z's The Blueprint. And with both artists being from NY, it felt good that we New Yorkers had to our home artists to listen to help us through the pain.

Now September 11, started out as any normal day. I remember waking up with me and moms still talking about the Janet Jackson "All For You" concert that we attended about 3 weeks prior. Her and I was reminiscing about the concert and it was the last time we heard Aaliyah before she died. So I finally left the house walking to the bus stop, listening to Mary J. Blige's No More Drama album. The album was released about 2 weeks ago, with me with me being a big Mary fan I was playing it non-stop. So, I get to school and first period began and my Electronics teacher, Mr Delfino always played the news. But this day, I actually paid attention to it and I heard the newscaster say "Oh my God that plane just crashed into the World Trade Center".  Now with the class at full attention, the newscaster says again "Oh my GOD another plane went into the second building". Now the classroom was so quiet you could hear a pin dropped. My instructor kept the TV on the whole class, we didn't even do anything for the rest of class. My instructor and I were from NY, so most of the people in the class couldn't understand what we felt. After the attacks, I felt empty so I took out my cd player and just played track 6, from Mary's album which was the title song "No More Drama". The song during this time had so much more meaning. While listening to the song, I was just thinking how blessed I am because 3 months prior my Electronics class went to the World Trade Center to check out the wiring of the building. Furthermore, my grandma just retired from AT&T after 30 years which was near the World Trade Center. I just started praying and thanking GOD that my family wasn't affected by it. but I prayed for the people that were.

So, the  school day ended and I remember getting home and my mother called me and said "Get some clothes for you and me and get to grandma's house, I will meet you there" Meanwhile, I had the No More Drama album blasting while I getting ready, by this time the album had so much more meaning. But these three songs were more meaningful during this:

No More Drama

Testimony

Destiny

As my mother got to my grandma's house, my family kept the news on and I stayed on the computer for updates. Then I realized Jay-Z's The Blueprint was just released. I went to cdnow.com and previewed the album. After previewing it I knew I had to get it. So I downloaded it. Alot of the songs had that soulful spirit what soothed my soul. (Yea I used Napster at the time. but I brought that Friday though lol) But during this time, three songs stood out:

Heart Of The City

 

Never Change

All I Need

These songs to me were uplifting to me because I needed music to escape what tragic was going on in the world. As a result, the whole week No More Drama & The Blueprint were the only two albums I was listening to. Furthermore, I want to think Mary & Jay-Z for releasing these albums at that time because it became food for thought for me. 

WHEN YOU TURNED ON THE RADIO THESE SONGS WERE ON 24/7 DURING THIS TRAGIC TIME:

Whitney Houston's National Anthem

Various Artists-What's Going On

Marvin Gaye-What's Going On

Bruce Springsteen-Born In the USA

WHAT SONGS ON MUSIC WERE YOU LISTENING THROUGH THESE TRYING TIMES??