...Let Them Eat Cake...

2Pac - Keep Ya Head Up

Over the past 11 years, I have thought about him every single day. Every time we laughed together and fought with each other. Every moment our group of friends spent together. Although I will forever cherish the memories, I've dreaded this day every year since. I sulk. I become sad. I think about what things would have been like in a different circumstance..

Today started out to be not much different from that. Until I finally decided to honor him. Pay my respects, if you will. I listened to Tupac and System of a Down because those were some of the last memories I had with him. I finally started to take the moments that I know he has been showing himself to us in this present day and instead of allowing them to be daunting, I saw them as a good happy reminder that not only does God know what He is doing, but that He's got a dope ass Angel with an amazing Heart and a Charming Smile by His side looking down on Me as much as I still look up to him.

I’m really fascinated by Bee Hives. I’m also the only one at my job brave enough to go up to one.

4 weeks..

3 weeks…

Its been one week since a part of my soul was lost.

I was born in music. The first song I ever heard on earth was “Isn’t She Lovely” by the great Stevie Wonder, sung to me by my Dad… My Dad is a singer from Arkansas, spent his whole life living and breathing his art. As kids, my brother and I grew up in church, not just because of faith, but because that was my Dad’s platform. He lead the choir, we sang in the choir. He taught Sunday school, we were there for each version of the lessons with at least 2 services every Sunday. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday was choir rehearsal, Wednesday was Bible study. We lived our life in church. Not just because of faith, but because it was my father’s platform.

We grew up in my father’s gift, we were surrounded and gifted by his talents, but it is with my Mother that I grew up in music. From the beginning, I was a lover of Prince. The man could do EVERYthing and I loved my Mother’s admiration of that. To her she “just LOVED him and also loved his music”. To me, he was something magnificent that we shared. I named my first car (and the guitar left to me by my late Uncle Lamont) Rodgers Nelson, with a ’d’… I will never forget, I was about 15 years old or so when my Mom had the chance to see Prince live in concert. She bought an entirely elaborate outfit and snuck booze in her purposefully purchased boots for it. And she was so bold in doing such. I mean, how many people on this Earth can say they weren’t afraid to go be fly and  get lit at a Prince concert?? A great story I will never have…

Prince is the being that opened me up to the world. He is the reason I was never afraid to branch out in my quest for musical knowledge; to love new artists, diverse genres, and different views of expression. He has always inspired me to be just who I am without regret, without limits, without restriction. Prince is the epitome of everything I wished I could be. I never really wanted to be a rock star or an actor or know how to play every single instrument ever made like he did, but he always inspired me to give life to my truth. To do and be EXACTLY what the Lord put me on this Earth to do in every way, and to never hold back from that because gifts are given, and they can be taken away.

I thank God because this type of clarity comes rare. In this case, it comes with the loss of a brilliant life, but I thank Him for it. I thank God for giving me Prince and for allowing me to be able to say that I lived and loved one of THE greatest talents there will ever be. From his music, his talent, and his conscious efforts at better life for all humanity, I thank Prince for following his truth, living his gift, and for not being afraid to share that with the rest of us. There have been way too many times where I didn’t even realize how much I was holding myself back in the past and if there was ever any doubt I felt within myself before, there will be no longer. I am amazing. I am valuable. I was put on this planet and in the lives of so many simply to just be great. Prince taught me that.