Why I Dig Music So Much

Music has an important effect on the world. It can create different moods on being happy, sad, angry, concern about life from a different prospective.  The way I look at music it has gotten me through me hard times and happiness in my life. All I could do is lay back and play the sounds of music to enjoy.  I have a variety range of music that I listened to from soul, funk, rap, hip hop, a little bit of gospel, some blues, and some rock and pop. I appreciated the different selection of artists such as Michael Jackson, Tupac Shakur, The Temptations, New Edition, Phil Collins, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, N.W.A., Rick James, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Notorious B.I.G., James Brown, Eminem, and countless others.  I could be laying down in bed at night with the cd player on the side with jams that could put me to sleep.  Depending on different moods, I can always count on music on making my day complete.  The internet has definitely made more comfortable in appreciating music.  I am always using the website Youtube to watch music videos and live performances.  I would stay on Youtube for hours looking up songs and different artists on a daily basis.  I had my share of concert experiences from artists like R Kelly, Keith Sweat, Gerald and Sean Levert, K-Ci and Jojo, New Edition, Jay-Z, Doug E Fresh, Tony Toni Tone, The Gap Band, Slick Rick, MC Lyte, Biz Markie, The Whispers, Teddy Riley, and others. Music is always apart of my life and that will never change.  I couldn't imagine my life without music.  I always find myself in conversations with family members and coworkers about my musical tastes. Without music, the world would be so damn boring with all the politics and employment issues. Music helps me and others get on with life through joy and excitement. I hope to find a significant other very soon that also has an equal musical taste as me.

Thoughts of an Autozone Employee

I worked for Autozone for over 4 years. I witnessed managers and coworkers get fired, quit, and even had death in the company.  Throughout my journey with the company, I am blessed to be standing strong and God kept his hands on me in protecting my job.  I had my share of wroteups and warnings from upper level management but i overcame all the issues that as an Autozoner.  Even my  solid relationship with regular customers helped me remain with the company. I have a lot of people rooting for me to get a raise and promotion because i went out my way to assist them in whatever problems they had for their vehicles.  There are some boundaries I set when it comes to customers' cars.  I don't mess with the A/C unit at all and definitely the engine.  I would point out the problem if i can spot it without any doubts.  Depending on certain issues with vehicles, I would tell the customers that a few mechanics need to get involved to provide more descriptive opinions on their vehicles. Just start with me by giving you some free advice and share it with a mechanic and/or dealership so maybe they could reduce heavy costs in servicing vehicles. I am usually a multitasker at the job. I look up parts on the ZNet software on the computer, answer the phone lines for customer service, helping out with batteries and light bulbs installation on cars if it takes me short amount of time to do, clean up the store, and organize the merchandise.  I have my moments of bad experiences at work dealing with irate customers, covering for irresponsible coworkers, and also slipping up on work performances sometimes.  Anyway, I managed to maintain my position there at the company. I have ambition and goals that I want to accomplish. I don't intend to be at the place all my life. While I'm still there at the company, I am continuing to gain more knowledge and experiences that could help guide me in my future endeavors.

Code Name- The Cleaner movie with Cedric the Entertainer, Nicollette Sheridan, and Lucy Lui

Cedric the Entertainer has his ways of making you laugh with his style of physical comedy. He is known for participating on BET's Comic View, sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, movies such as Ride, Barbershop 1&2, Kingdom Come, and Big Momma's  House, and also apart of the successful tour the Original Kings of Comedy.  In this film, he is joined by Nicollette Sheridan from Desperate Housewives and Knots Landing, Lucy Lui from the Charlie Angels movie trilogies, Niecy Nash from Reno 911, and DeRay Davis (a Chicago comedian who appeared in Barbershop films wih Cedric also). Cedric plays a custodian that has amnesia after waking up closely to a dead CIA agent in a hotel room with a briefcase full of money.  Nicollette Sheridan plays Cedric's wife in the film and convinces him that he is a part of CIA agency squad.  He had difficult moments remembering Sheridan being his wife and he questions himself about being in an interracial marriage. I will say that Nicollette was looking very sexy in the movie when she wore an all white outfit that had a suit jacket and skirt to match.  There was a scene when Sheridan gave Cedric a lapdance in the bedroom in her pink underwear and bra with some high heels on.  I never really watched Desperate Housewives but  managed to caught some episodes of Knots Landing when she was on the show.  She was mad young at the time acting on Knots Landing.  She is a hot older woman that will attract the guys attention.  She never had any kids so she's a cougar in my eyes. (Cougar is an older woman that attracts young men.) Lucy Lui plays an undercover CIA agent who Cedric had a past relationship with.  Lucy seems to get pissed at Cedric for not remembering her and bullied him around with pouring coffee and ice in his pants. DeRay plays Cedric's fellow coworker in the janitor business. DeRay is hilarious when he tries to protray the role of a rapper in the custodian business.  His attempts to become a rapper will have you laughing at him.  DeRay is a damn fool with his style of comedy. Neicy Nash plays the role a ghetto security agent who claims to have a relationship with Cedric in the past. It was mainly a cameo appearance for Nash. She wasn't in the movie for long.  The movie scene with Nicollette and Lucy facing off with each other is entertaining and sexy.  In Cedric's mind, he thought the two ladies would perform lesbian sexual activities.  I saw the behind the scenes footage when Nicollette explains that she takes kickboxing lessons as a form of keeping her body in shape. Lucy is pro when it comes to martial arts. I saw her skills on Charlie's Angels movies 1 and 2.  She is like the 'female Jackie Chan' bridging the gap between martial arts and Hollywood acting. The movie is entertaining overall with its comedy mixed with action filled drama.  Cedric did his thing in the film while Lucy and Nicollette provided the eye candy for the fellas to appreciate their beauty onscreen.

Disorderlies DVD

Anybody remembers the legendary hip hop trio the Fat Boys which included Prince Markie Dee, Kool Rock Ski, and the late Human Beatbox Buffy.  They were ruling hip hop during the mid-80's with their comic style of rap.  They always rapped about food in their songs.  Buff was one of the pioneers of the beatboxing sound along with another fellow pioneer Doug E Fresh. Around 1987, the group made their starring film debut in the movie Disorderlies. The trio already had some experience in the movie field when they appeared in 1985's hip hop classic film Krush Groove.  This movie was funny and entertaining at the same time.  Fat Boys portrayed the role as caretakers for an ailing elder rich man (played by Ralph Bellamy from Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd) named Albert.  They were hired by Albert's nephew and also set up by him in attempt to kill his uncle to pay back his gambling debts.  Movie critics dubbed the Fat Boys as the' hip hop Three Stooges' because of the constant handslaps and random funny outbursts.  The group had performance scene in the film when they performed the song 'Baby You're A Rich Man' which is from the soundtrack. Anyway the movie is a must have in your collection because you are to laugh like it's no tomorrow.  The Fat Boys did good in their starring roles.  I thought they should have more acting opportunities but the film expanded their legacy.

Levert For Real Tho

Both the late Gerald and Sean Levert (sons of O Jays lead singer Eddie Levert) along with their friend Marc Gordon exploded on the r&b scene as Levert. They had a string of hits in the beginning of their career such as Pop Pop Pop Goes My Mind, Casanova, Just Coolin, All Seasons, Baby Im Ready, and others.  They also produced songs for other acts like Troop, Miki Howard, Rude Boys, Men At Large, Chuckii Booker, and even their mentors The O Jays.  The trio kept their sound going strong in 1993 when they released the For Real Tho album on Atlantic Records.  At the time, r&b was moving toward the hardcore hip hop image and sound with the baggy jeans, Timberland boots, bandannas, dark sunglasses, and wearing baseball hats backwards.  Levert adapted to the hip hop sound but maintained their style of music with romantic and heartfelt songs. Anyway i was around the age 6 or 7 when the album came out.  I used to go family picnics in the summer and this album would be in rotation at the ceremonies. The lead off single from the record was Good Ol Days.  The song was about having fun and enjoying positive energy in the older years instead of the modern time when there is poverty at a high percentage and gun violence.  That video was getting good rotation on BET when they had the video show titled Video Soul (anybody remember that show with Donnie Simpson and the lovely and sexy Sherry Carter).  They released the slow jam ABC-123 which got some heavy radio play on the R&b stations. i remembered the radio stations playing the hell out of the song.  They also released the single and video for Do the Thangs which the song is like Zapp's Computer Love mixed the O Jays's For the Love of Money because of the lyrics and sharp production.  Other tracks i'm digging from the album are the title track, Say You Will (Marc and Gerald were going back n forth on the joint), Quiet Storm (Marc's falsetto was perfect on this song. Sean and Gerald also did well on the song.), She's All That Ive Been Looking For (another hot uptempo with Gerald and Sean trading back and forth about a woman met their expectations to fall in love with), and Me N You (Sean and Marc took the lead on this record. Marc also rapped on the track). The album had the aggressive production with the romantic and passionate lyrics of Marc, Sean, and Gerald. Though the record wasn't their best success because r&b adapted into a more aggressive sound during 1993. Levert proved that they could make the sound work during the changes in r&b music.

MC Hammer- Let's Get It Started CD

MC Hammer was truth back in the days with his style of dancing and rapping. He was criticized for his clean cut image but he wanted to show that hip hop can be positive and enjoyable for people of all ages and races.  I was a little boy when Hammer first came out on the scene.  I mainly loved his first album but it was really his major label debut album. Originally, the album was called Feel My Power and he sold it from the trunk of his car as in the term of getting 'his hustle on'. As he was making noise on the independent circuit, Capitol Records approached Hammer with a deal to their label. He refused at first but requested to be paid upfront with top dollars in advance and recuperate money from record sales as well.  He was a shrewd businessman from the start. He added a couple of songs and retitled the album Let's Get It Started. Anyway this was the raw and talented MC Hammer coming from streets of Oakland, CA.  He had his female dancers backing him known as the lovely Oaktown's 357 and 2 Bigg MC as his hypeman.  I used to sit in front of the television set whenever MC Hammer videos come on  TV.  This album had crazy joints like title track, Turn This Mutha Out, They Put Me In The Mix, Ring Em, Pump it Up, Cold Go MC Hammer, his remake of BB King's The Trill is Gone.  Hammer and his posse were reppin that Oaktown flavor on this cd and they had a movement at the time. He had his own label called Bust it Records.  Other good tracks on the record like Feel My Power, You're Being Served,  legendary soul singer Curtis Mayfield's sample of Freddie Dead titled That's What I Said, and the underground spiritual classic Son of a King.  This album made me appreciate Hammer for his talent and also the videos from the singles he released during the time of 1988 and 1989.  A lot of people thought Hammer was corny because of his less lyrical abilities. I just think Hammer brought energy and hardcore street dancing on the hip hop scene.  He was well recognized for dancing and bringing out Oaktown's 357 with him during that time. When the 90's came along, Hammer crossed over into the mainstream pop industry for songs like You Can't Touch This, Pray, Too Legit to Quit, Adams Groove, Have You Seen Her and many more.  Hammer first album reminded why he was great at being a showman and displaying raw talent like no other.

Heavy D Heavy Hitz

Heavy D was the shiznit back in the late 80's and 90's during the hip hop music scene.  Hev brought a lot of energy as far dancing and rapping along with being a big guy on a move.  He also had a backing team with him called The Boyz which dancers G-Wiz and the late Trouble T-Roy (whom rap duo Pete Rock and CL Smooth did a tribute to him called T.R.O.Y /When They Reminisce Over You) and the underrated producer DJ Eddie F (who went on to produce tracks for artists like Mary J Blige, Donnell Jones, Intro, 2pac, Biggie, Ludacris, Jay-Z and more). This cd gave you the best of Heavy D from his biggest hits to some rare cuts. The cd even includes the legendary collaboration with Cleveland r&b group Levert on the 1988 classic song Just Coolin.  You know the classics like Overweight Lovers in the House, We Got Our Own Thang, Now That We Found Love, Is It Good to You, Nuthin But Love, Somebody For Me featuring  r&b heartthrob of late 80's Al B Sure, and others.