I don't think we've done a meet and greet in some time. So let's go old school. Post your name and year started with Freestyle. Then in remarks a tale of your 1st experience w/ okp freestyle. I'll start!
I had just moved to Fort Belvoir VA and was bored at the j.o. I heard about the site from my Roots cd and checked it out. At the time there was a crew called the DPP DoemPome Poets and they were the illesst I've ever read. The Lillies were ridiculous too. Okayplayer B was the MOD.
I started posting my pieces right away and folk started feeling me after a while. These were some of the most serious critiques I'd ever seen. I was used to...man that was deep or awww.... so sweet and shyt like that. Here, they tore up my pieces and made me write.
or early 2000 ....I was just looking....I was ripping cats on my block and I wanted to expand my battlin skills ....i posted as loesin or baypa for a longtime then amazin was born .....and all the amazin varitions
4. "RE: When did you get here? Fun exercise" In response to Reply # 0
i first came in here feb. 2000. My friend raquel told me about this site. At first i used to hang out in the chat room ( the dayz it used to be fun and had to wait until i think 7pm to get in)
i met some cool players polo, buspass, stayls, joevilla, ram, smarty, ect. joe villa was pressing me to hit the freestyle boardz. truthfully i didn't know how to write. some stuff i did was good and i had a lil fan base but the rest was trash lmao, hey thinking of shit to write is hard sometimes.
but anywayz i wish i could hit the rewind button and go back to 2000 when i first started when it used to be fun.
6. "mindful|tremaine|tre" In response to Reply # 0
logged on: feb 2000 from: georgia whereabouts: north carolina how'd i find out about okayplayer: my best friend levy (SuperEgo) fondest memory of free to date: when i shared the artist of the month when one of my favorite writers|best friend|sister, paperdollpoet.
24. "invisible ink aka vitamin k" In response to Reply # 6
I guess i came a little bit behind tre...tell you the truth ...it's been so long...but anywho...i came in as vitamin k and then changed to invisible ink and that's the lon g and short of it (lol)...welcome all...miss k
if you didn't define yourself for yourself you'd be crunched into other peoples fantasies of you an eaten alive.
7. "this was back when Radioactive was on power 99fm" In response to Reply # 0
and i was sitting in a car at a train station
i can't tell you what i was doing because i don't remember.
but whatever it was, it wasn't halal... or legal.
i was in college at the time; acting an ass, off my deen
it was raining and Colby Colb played this new roots song
na,
let me go back further.
i was standing with akil's little brother oustide of a masjid on Germantown Ave.
akil's little brother's name was ihsaan/nisaan/niran/idon'tremember
we were talking to abdul malik
'do you want more' was new and the city was buzzing.
malik was holding one tape in his hand. it was the dirty version. we were YOUNG. and malik was debating on whether or not to give it to us.
nilaf/nico/nimrod/nitrogen started begging.
na,
let me go back further
i was at the Eid. i was standing beside my big brother Dawud who was talking to Umar. Umar had set up this little wooden table with a bunch of 'pass the popcorn' tapes on it. He was going on and on and on about them. my brother bought one.
flash forward:
my brother took it home and i listened
flash forward:
malik gave us the tape and i listened
flash forward:
Colby Colb played:
'okayplayer. com where ya game be at e- me and when i'm in your town come see me.
9. "blaksilence, '99, i think" In response to Reply # 7
fav. memory:
angieeeee was wearing a quote from my 2nd okp post in her sig.
i didn't even know who she was.
i didn't click around. i never went to G.D. i typed www.okayplayer.com in and went straight to the freestyle board because i thought malik and black thought wld be in here spitting. or ? wld be in here explaining his liner notes.
someone inbox'd me and showed me who she was.
i clicked the picture
and promptly joined the millions of nggs on her ovaries.
10. "RE: When did you get here? Fun exercise" In response to Reply # 0
not 2 long ago but i blow call me gismo orangegasm if feed after midnight i bring tail pipe heat fast and fear read us i catch the beat filling it wit limo zens coming across as yo friend thin flip illmatic spasmatic reaping havoc in free form transform watch out multi p storms i shit thunder all over fifty gun metal hummer over and out high way robbery i spit holes threw dubar armorery causint casualties please i can't stop i flow off the top of niagra and can't jump threw sea dews battle and bruise fools get stumped by soulless timb boots so i can;t feel when i snatch opp loot
Giovanni had told me about this site when I was posting on another hip hop board. When I arrived I was the Black Widow and going through a dark period. Around 01' I changed to Winter Blaze and been that ever since...
Fondest memory- Well it was off the boards when Muse snuck my name on the list to do a spoken word piece at some spot up in Harlem. I was nervous as hell, but it was exciting as well..
Peace
Ms. Blaze
If fucking were graceful, I'd be your dancer
I have boarded the train to nowwhere waking up to find myself somewhere
13. "Well thank you for giving me a soapbox!" In response to Reply # 0
I'm Banakayi/ Marijane as most of you know
I came here in 99 posting as Abysmal and switched it to my rap name of Marijane in like 01 or 02. I used to post EVERYDAY and I was heavily inspired by Toejam, Knowone, Delrica, Jai, and 3rdi RIP.
My first experience that made a name for me was prolly this piece i called the Aftermath. Like to here it here it goes....
360 like a cipher Decipher the reason There's a season For bees and birds And words of Sanity Vanity will corrupt and erupt the wrath of fate It’s not the math, but the Aftermath You’ll hate
I've lived, loved, and lost through these boards. And frankly i miss the communal comradory that existed here in times past.
Hope the legacy continues....
_____________________________________ WITH CUZ (STACEY) GONE, I'LL NEVER REALLY BE HERE AGAIN
I swear I'm a marry an OKP
Nakia Genevieve are my middle names... Not my attempt to morph Phenom with Novembersgift... But...
15. "nowachaoticthing, 12/21/2003" In response to Reply # 0
I found out about this site through an article about The Roots in The Source magazine (I think it was the one with Q-Tip on the cover, cause I normally didn't fuck with The Source unless somebody I listened to was on the cover. Yes, I'm really that shallow.)
I looked-up the site, and immediately jumped into the freestyle forum. I began posting within 3 days of reading here, and my 1st reply was from some cat who re-worded my rhyme, mocking me. I almost didn't post anymore after that.
My fondest memory was the Wu Tang Triumph tribute, 9-10 guy collab. It's archived somewhere. Though I was the weakest link, I was geeked about sharing a piece with some of the illest, most respected members of the board.
My next fondest memories are all the times I made folks laugh when they actually felt more like beefin with one another.
"To be a poet is a condition, not a profession." - Robert Frost
18. "KnowOne |Alias| Rag Doll| Dash|etc.......1999" In response to Reply # 0
Found out about OKP like most people from a Roots CD. Lurked for a few weeks. Spent a lot of time in freestyle, saw tons of amazing poets...asighn4jane, rgv, Amina (MoonBeam), incogx, I could go on and on.... finally decided to post a piece... and it got DESTROYED!!! rgv and a few others tore it to pieces! It scared me away and I went into lurk mode for a few months. But it motivated me to work at getting better. A few months later I started posting again...and been here ever since.
_________________________________________ "Too weird to live.... too rare to die..."
22. "RE: KnowOne |Alias| Rag Doll| Dash|etc.......1999" In response to Reply # 18
aw yous a bitch when i first hit the sceen i was tearing fiens wanna bee kings a new brain anurysm go and get them old scrpts black yukon zin and i eve trampled a few bitches in the process man get grown stop the blue berry blues shit this making me thristy
19. "soulchild - Phyllis" In response to Reply # 0 Mon Oct-16-06 10:06 AM by soulchild
it was Christmas day. I was only 15 and scared as hell to post anything. I lurked for a few weeks. Then posted my first angsty poem about no one being free and got 6 replies (I was elated!). I remember buggin out about words by rgv, paperdollpoet, delsbrothergeorge, presyzion, blaksilence, foneticuss, ratpackslim, giovanni, aeon, and mindful, just to name a few. The first cat I really vibed with was otto. The first piece that went over well was a collection of eintous called My Brother. I liked the "In your words" posts, taking lines from the board to construct a poem. And I liked rgv's post where everybody could draw pictures for one another. Some of y'all did some surprisingly beautiful things.
31. "RE: When did you get here? Fun exercise" In response to Reply # 0
i guess arond 02 and 03 i would come in from time to time and read but not post. i lived in a diff city at the time and was circulating pretty heavy in the spoken word and poetry scene there. my friend chris of total experience(totalexperienceunlimited.com) put me on to okp.
late 04 i moved back to my home town where i found absolutely NO spoken word or poetry scene at all. poetry groups i had to choose from was the college kids or this over 50 group of white houseladies. i needed an outlet so i came here, registered, started posting in early 05.
fondest memories?...lif, blak...thanks to okp. friends indeed. reading all the fly poets and ill emcee. its been peace all the way around.