(1988 - 1992)

The summer before freshman year, I went with my cousins to the KMEL Summer Jam. The headliners were Paula Abdul, NKOTB, Milli Vanilli, and Tone Loc.. except Tone Loc flaked (supposedly he was sick) so Too $hort came through and shut that muthafucka down... Very unexpected considering they hardly played his shit on KMEL at that time. Other folks on the bill included The Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince Tony Terry, Afro-Rican, Sweet Sensation, Troop, Tony Toni Tone, Run DMC, Martika, Safire, Tommy Paige, Flame, etc..

NE Heartbreak came out the year before or around that time (not sure) but it still got plenty of play.. That shit was musical crack to those of us who grew up on MJ for some reason.

I remember Tone Loc being the shit that summer. Also, MC Hammer was always big amongst most of the kids.. Bobby Brown, too. The fall was all about The D.O.C.'s "No One Can Do It Better" and Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock's "It Takes Two" (one of the biggest singles of all time). I remember starting to get into Prince again.. I grew up to his shit when I was young watching Purple Rain and hanging out with older cousins, but I think the Batman shit and watching Sign o The Times on cable really got me into his shit even though my peers were not really on that tip at the time.

I think Operation: Desert Storm was going on around the time of my freshman year.

the next four years were a musical blur.. Most of the guys at our school who liked rap were into NWA, Ice T, 2 Live Crew, Ice Cube, Shy D, Too $hort, etc.. My rocker buds were into Guns, Metallica, etc.. hiphop and rock kids both started getting into Bob Marley. My cousin got me into UB40.

I remember buying Mantronix "This Should Move Ya", Redhead Kingpin and the FBI, and Wrecks n Effect's first tape.. That New Jack Swing song was the first time I started putting things together in my head as far as the producer's role and how different acts were connected (Teddy Riley talking about how he had Boy George, B Brown, Guy, Al B, etc..)

Around this time, I thought Vanessa Williams was the finest woman on the planet.. Cindy Crawford, too.

It wasn't cool for a dude to be into Madonna at the time, but I loved watching her videos for Express Yourself era around this time.. Also, Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation was what every female was all about.

Saucy dudes (myself included) liked Troop, Guy, BBD, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, En Vogue, etc.. One hit wonders like "Helluva", "Ditty" by Paperboy, etc.. When we started driving, we bumped Naughty By Nature's first one, Cypress Hill's first one, Black Sheep's first one, X-Clan's, LONS', etc.. my other friends thought that shit was for nerds and wanna be New York style kids.. They were more into Mac Dre, E-40 and the Click, Totally Insane, Dre Dog, IMP, etc.. it rubbed off on me, but I was also into the soft shit like Kwame, PM Dawn and Dream Warriors, but I also liked Paris and P.E.. the artsy kids in my art classes liked shit like The Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, etc..

I liked reading about music in those free mags you would get at the music store.. I was into Digital Underground, Tony Toni Tone, and Del the Funkee out of local cats.

DJ Quik, AMG, Second II None, and Geto Boys were big amongst my friends, but I didn't really get into them until later..

High energy dance music was big amongst Filipinos and Mexicans. Mobile DJ Groups were big in the bay and mixed high energy, hiphop, pop, r&b, new wave, etc.. breaking/strutting/popping/bboying was making a comeback under the guise of "housing" or new school hiphop dance movement.. Raves were getting popular in early 90's but I wasn't a part of that scene. I did like some house styled remixes of r&b and hip-house videos on Yo! I loved that Lidell Townsell single "Nu Nu" as well as Jomanda.. couldn't stand Snap! Hated Teknotronic, but I dug Neneh Cherry.

Tracie Spencer should have been a lot bigger than she was.

A lot of this stuff is way out of order, but whatever.. Oh yeah, during senior year I really got into the whole Philly and Chitown sound.. I borrowed that 4xLP they used to sell on TV.. "Hey Love" from a DJ buddy.. and I was hooked on the Chi-Lites, Delphonics, Stylistics, etc.. Also, loved hearing EW&F "Reasons (live)" on the radio and Lenny's "Ain't Over til It's Over" as well as The 5 Heartbeats soundtrack.


White Bronco.