He was the sweetest, most hope-filled boy and man I've ever met; he was horribly exploited in his short life and never seemed to see it; and he always deserved better than to be left behind by everyone who had invested in and profited from his talented, charismatic youth just because he kept growing up.

Every time I ever spoke to him, he suffused the day with light. (You might say that it happened every time we met.) His greatest gift was his faith in people, and no boybander's life of being eaten up and spit out was less fair.

it WAS always leading to this; this is a moment of pure joy

The world is a bizarre place sometimes.

this is absolutely amazing

WHY IS THEIR OFFICIAL SPOTIFY BIO THE INTRO PARAGRAPH OF AN ARTICLE I WROTE IN 2008 AS PART OF A NARRATIVE NONFICTION JOURNALISM ASSIGNMENT AND GOT PUBLISHED ON POPMATTERS

WHY AND HOW

IT ISN’T EVEN ABOUT THEM, IT’S THE INTRO PARAGRAPH, IT’S ABOUT ***ME*** AND MY LOVE FOR THEM AT FOURTEEN YEARS OLD

WHAT THE FUCK

i saw my name and out loud in real life covered my eyes and peeked through my fingers at the screen and said, “it was always leading to this, wasn’t it”

i don’t even know what i meant by “it”

but

i --

WHY

and HOW

...and yet, i do love dream street more than anyone who has ever lived. including and especially its former members. it WAS all leading to this.

Love dream street!! Is there anything that tops the It Happens Every Time music video?

NOPE. Well, I mean, probably some of their live stuff after their voices changed -- I'm quite partial to the Philly Thanksgiving Day Parade performance and their hosting of Slime Time Live, personally -- but NOPE.