disclaimer: this isnt intended to step on any toes or feelings.

& this aint a poem neither
just a rememberies post .
i even pulled out the old screenname for effect.

i was like 17 when i first registered & began postin here, 18 @ the most. this was the only board i frequented for a long time. im 22 now. 4 yrs, yo. that's like 28 in okayplayer yrs. im old.

i think back on my days as a youth tho.

my 1st freestyle favorite was rgv. i remember seein her in the chat room once and feelin starstruck, as possible as that is online. i pm'd her like 'aren't u rgv from freestyle?! i LOVE ur work!!' geekin - lol. i was drawn to her hard-edged style of writing & distince female voice, her and morpheme both, & i started lettin more of myself peek thru in my own words. poetry aint always pretty. they showed me that.

and speakin of the chat room
3rd i - color purple crew
i see u! lol

giovanni used to be up in the chatroom too. i remember him bein one of the 1st ppl i ever spoke to from this forum on IM , talkin bout he liked one of *my* pieces. i was humbled cause his signature freak pieces kept EVERYBODY talkin.. lol.. gio was the fabio of this okp shit, had ladeedef goin *crosses legs* in every post. lol

i remember bein im'd out the blue by this cat who called himself roguepoet too. remember him? dude was like, supernice w/ the verbalisms. i remember, it was during the freestyle battle w/ that other board, i forget which.. a buncha okp emcees registered handles there & went at it. i registered just to talk shit. & we won. lol. but yeah.. me & that rogue dude are bestest homieloverfriends to this day.

i remember how shocked i was to find that orangeloni, kwamidelafrique, and foneticcus (dude, what was ur original sn?? i cant remember!) were as young as they were. such mature voices & words from such similac-laced mouths. cldnt believe it.

i remember when popularity didnt seem to be a primary concern
and real, true & honest criticism was not a rarity around here.
and the COLLABS!! more'n u cld shake a stick at. i still owe blak_yukon a collab from like '83.. lol i aint forgotchu.

after i'd been postin regularly for a couple yrs, i remember bein in the chat room & havin someone new to the board pm me talkin bout 'are u hottlykefiyah from freestyle?!?!' talk about comin full circle. lol

ah, the memories.
times done changed. ive morphed from this corny ass screen name into the older, more grown-upper Trace (i guess). roguepoet hit puberty & became Aeon. foneticcus was born of whoever he was before (for the life of me i cant remember--cause that's not the original, is it?). we've all grown & changed.

it's fun to remember yesteryear sometimes.

and this is in no way a definitive list of the memories & ppl from this place who are important to me, just some that came right off the top of my head; so come help me remember instantaxis and tha anthology and paperdollpoet and lunchboxxx and mindful and vitamink and muse and barefootaquarian and presyzion and lexm and ratpackslim and l_o_quent and like a million other ppl.

let's sankofa for a spell.

but i'm a hater, tho