Kool Kim and the Cella Dwellas
Editors Note: For everyone who thinks that Kim was just shitting on KRS out of the blue, he was sent the audio included in the last article under the impression that it was recorded recently, which pissed him off to think that KRS was still talking about that shit and inspired him to speak his piece. It’s also worth adding that it’s the first article in an on-going series which he’ll be writing here, addressing some of the problems facing hip-hop today. The following is Part Two, and was sent to me not long after we posted Kim’s first article – I just haven’t had time to put it up until now. As you’ll see, he’s not afraid to put his own actions under the microscope…
Y’all thought I wouldn’t? Let me say first and foremost I am NO PARTS of ashamed of my career or my crew. But I am going to keep it REAL and be honest about how I believe WE caused HIP HOP to suck.
First and foremost you have to understand the UMC’s. Most of you either remember us from when you were in JR High School (middle school) and most of your experience with the UMC’s is limited to the three videos we put out if any at all, the primary being “Blue Cheese”. A difficult thing about discussing a group and it’s musical relevance 15 years after the last song is that there is a lack of temporial context so some of this shit you are either going to accept and take my word on, or you gonna just come back with some sideways shit.
The UMC’s as a group was a conscious effort on our part to represent HIP HOP in a positive light. I myself was the president of my schools Black Awareness club, had led protest and ethnic reforms at my school as well as helped galvanized my peers to increase their GPA’s considerably. I was extremely Black conscious, mind you I was in High School when P.E. was on fire, Jungle Bros, Native Tongues, De La, KRS dropped “My Philosophy” somewhere in that time frame, so being Black and aware was big. Even dudes like Divine Styler was dropping pro-Black music. So when we were trying to come out we were doing a lot of performances we were primarily a performance group and we in all honesty were very influenced by the Native Tongues collective. Our first song was called “Invaders of my Fruit Basket” LOL…that shit makes me laugh cause if you say it now that sound like some gay shit, and a subsequent album called Fruits of Nature…I am over here cracking up ’cause without context these titles sound mad gay.
All the time we are walking our dogs to get on, House music is doing it big in NY – and nah, I ain’t do the Sound Factory on Saturdays…LOL (dick). My crew was some stylish, trendy, party dudes we rolled deep like shit and we loved to party. We were like 16-18 then, so come on man. And that’s what we did in those days, we had fun. So when after about 3 or 4 years of hard work and struggle and sacrifice and all we finally did it. After every label had passed on us Premier brought us into the door with Wild Pitch. Now some of you have heard about Stu Fine (owner of Wild Pitch records) – some haven’t – this dude is responsible for some of the most prolific groups in Hip Hop (Main Source, UMC’s, Chill Rob G, The Coup, Lord Finesse, et al) but this dude was the WORST…he’s been pistol whipped, beat up, chased, threatened, roughed up by damn near each artist on that label – but I digress. Here we are signing to a label notorious for jerking cats. We had this bullshit lawyer that basically sold us out and our manager was a KOOL brother…but he had a quality to him that made him seem like people could run over him. He tried his best though, but that was how it was.
So here comes the first album Fruits of Nature – which was supposed to be spelled “Fruits Uv Nature” which was meant to stand for F.U.N. – that was what the album was supposed to be about. Further, Haas and I were both heavy into the Nation of Islam, and the Security division of the Nation is called the Fruit of Islam. So we have this first song that is slated to come out “Blue Cheese”. Now many of you think that we actually named the song “Blue Cheese” ’cause we was off the bugg – NO! We named it that because we KNEW that the minds of music listeners were like 5 year-olds – that all we had to do was have a catchy hook and a hot beat and y’all would rock to the song. The song in reality is pure nonsense. It was done intentionally to an extent as an insult to sheeple (sheepish people).
So now Stu gets the song, hears some of the others like “Never Never Land” and he got us pegged as this teeny bop pop group – I guess that was his interpetation of our style of hip hop. So everything they did was real trippy, real bugged on some “kid appeal” shit, which was cool to me cause I studied all this marketing shit that said that there are three prime colors in advertising – Green (cause that’s the color the human eye can see in almost all it’s variations), Blue and Red. Pimps wore bright loud suits. Song and Dance men from years and years smiled when they performed it was apart of Broadway. This is what I thought you was supposed to do as an entertainer – actually entertain – so when “Blue Cheese” comes out…to be real honest, I was the one that came up with the video concept, but I swear on my soul it was supposed to be this Michael Jackson-level epic with all sorts of ill shit. I did all this research on ulti-mat (the green screen process) and had all these pictures and schematics of what the video would look like. Well, suffice to say it didn’t look ANYTHING how we had planned – that damn “Blue Cheese” monster still haunts my sleep. After that it was a wrap for us ’cause there was nothing we could do we had been type-cast we were “happy rap“.
But here is the thing we WERE HAPPY – I mean help me with this, you get a chance to rap on TV – Yo! MTV Raps, BET, Dance Party USA, FUCKING SOUL TRAIN! You’re rapping some shit you made up while you and your boy are 19 years old over the telephone and your going to be ANGRY? We was suppose to do what? Mean mug? Y’all niggas kill me with that. And half the muffukas that have something to say about how happy we was used to be in the front of the stage with your dayglo green t-shirts and your fucking yellow drop socks – fake bastards – niggas is the Bay used to have a hairstyle called the Kool Kim…..ha ha ha…but WE were happy rappers right? OK, so now we are the happy rap group who are signed to Wild Pitch/EMI – who’s jerking the shit out of us – WE NEVER EVER get paid for selling records. We go on tours and all sort of promo shows and never get paid anything but a per diem, so it ain’t so happy now! ((1. Side note – groups that have made radical changes and become “hardcore”:
Mobb Deep – two backpackers singing a song called “Hit It From the Back”.
Brand Nubian – niggas was dancing around a room singing “Feels So Good”.
Jay Z – was Jaz’s side-kick singing about “Hawaiian Sophie” and “The Originators” with a fucking hawaiian shirt on (that shit was hot in them days, fuck that).
Rza aka Rakeem – “Ohh we love you Rakeem”…”thank you”.
Black Moon – this nigga Buckshot and Evil D somehow got my home number and used to call me with all his ideas. I remember telling him I thought the name Black Moon was wack… LOL…shows ya what I know!
Dre – World Famous Wrecking Cru – the dude had a glitter suit on.
How soon we forget…now stop fucking fakin’.))
Kim’s editorial for The Source, April 1992.
Now here is a very ill concept about Fans and Artists that I have come to understand after all these years. Fans are in a time warp, while Artists are living in real time. Follow this – I put out an album, 1st single comes out and rocks for 4 whole months – by the 5th it sees #1. The second single comes out and 5 months later it reaches #2. The third single comes out and gets burn for about 4 more months – THAT’S a YEAR and TWO MONTHS that have passed in this artist’s life. In this time my dear grandmother has passed, my mother (my only parent) is away at WAR, so is my only brother, I got a baby’s mom now and an infant daughter, I’m living in a fucking tenament with two windows and they face each other – damn, this is my word – but for YOU THE FAN, last thing you heard me say was “We are the kids of Never Never Land”. So to this point if I was your average internet dick this just sounds like I am making excuses for my group. So HOW DID UMC’s CAUSE HIP HOP TO SUCK?!?
Well here it is. Now as I said we are living in real bad conditions, while niggas is playing our songs in expensive cars. Check it – when i got my #1 plaque from Billboard I had to jump the turnstyle to get home from EMI that day, ’cause I didn’t have a dollar to pay the train. My daughter’s moms was on welfare ’cause I ain’t had the dough. People were kinda carrying us ’cause the image and my dudes that I grew up with and used to work at Statue Of Liberty with were coming out with a group Wu-Tang – a group that we were the first to mention ’cause we came up with these brothers. In fact back in the day – before the first album fully dropped – Rakeem and RNS and Haas used to practice producing at RNS house and RNS was learning MAD SHIT from Haas and vice versa, ’cause Haas was already NICE ’cause I had ALL THAT equpiment – Ensoniq EPS 16 plus, Roland R8, Akia S-900 – holla back if you a real producer. In any event WU’s movement was strong, and instead of acknowledging the fact that we were bigging them up on the first album ’cause we knew they were coming soon enough, they made this anti-UMC’s campaign! Dudes was “soooooooing” at us and shit on the block – lil’ young cats – *sigh* man and near that time we had this beef – if you wanna call it that – with the Hit Squad, which to this day had me baffled. So now we are on full alert. We went to a club one night while we were supposedly signed to Flavor Unit Managment out in LI. Let me tell you, at one point shit was all gravy – we vibing – next thing you know the ENTIRE club was just Hit Squad assasins! Shit was sureal…but that’s another story.
So like I said, we are on amber alert like a muffuga, and then the final catalyst kicked in: the UMC’s Kool Kim – Mr. “Need no narcotics” – started drinking and smoking weed! HARD CORE. And that was it – that did it. Whatever restraint I had up to that point had succumbed. Stu Fine – the bastard – demanded that we produce 5 songs a week…meanwhile we are begging for rent money. I got locked up for assult on a cabdriver who hit my baby’s carriage. Shit just goes bad – and we are making music under these circumstances – and here you have the next album Unleashed. The realest shit ever, ’cause it was honest. If you would have ran across me I would have murderd you. And ANYONE that knows me knows that ain’t my steez at all, but believe me at that point you have no idea how many people have to walk around right now with the knowledge that they got fucked up by them “UMC niggas”.
Still making excuses right? Well here is how we caused hip hop to suck: I feel like the UMC’s were faced with the trial of JOB. If you are familiar with Job he was a servant of God who was favored for his good works and faith. The devil “wages” with God that if he would take his protective hedge off him that he would curse his name. And those that know the story knew that after losing EVERYTHING, Job doesn’t falter he remains true to his GOD to what made him and GOD rewards him with a better life. When things got bad for us – real bad – I was hurt ’cause I was a BATTLE MC. That was my shit – battling and sex rhymes – I would have been that dude with that shit. And again, those that doubt – if you really know what it is – ask Young Zee and the Outsiderz about Kool Kim, ask niggas in the ATL at 5 Points Underground about Kool Kim, ask niggas in Washington Square Park, ask SuperNatural, ask anyone that has faced off against me if I am a battle rapper. I have only lost ONE battle in my life – ONE – and I beat that cat too. So i am fucking pissed ’cause I feel like GOD betrayed me. HERE it is I come out with an album with positive words NOT ONE CURSE, no disrespect to women, I ain’t shame my race with a bunch of fool shit and cooning. Not getting on TV and dumbing out (man, I remember when the Beastie Boys won that Grammy years ago, and these bastards get on stage dippin’ extra low on some super stereo-typed shit, and at the time they were the first to represent HIP HOP like that on a national level. We was mad like shit cause we felt like they made clowns of us. At the time Hip hop was something u had to justifiy to your moms and shit, when she would be like: “This ain’t real music!”, so I swore if I ever got a chance I wouldn’t go out like that).
Here it is after all that, after all this “sacrifice”, here we are with LESS than nothing. For what? For fucking what?! I remember this day clearly: I was tryna bring these clothes up the stairs of my apartment – mind you I used to be a tumbling fucker and have mad balance – and somehow I just trip and go falling down the stairs, bust my nose and the whole shit, it was crazy. It takes the weirdest things, but at that moment I snapped and I just left the apartment and walked to my then baby’s moms house and vowed that if GOD was going to forsake me like that then I would take as many people to hell with me as I could. I vowed to be his enemy. I wasn’t as good as Job – not by a long shot.
And that is why Hip Hop sucks because of ME. Because I failed myself at that moment. I wasn’t a strong enough man and I succumbed to this bullshit business. I wanted success more then I wanted to make good music. I didn’t understand that being a good man was its own reward. I couldn’t identify the fact that my crew was beloved by the HARDEST dudes we – were able to go anywhere and be safe because people had love for us. We were like everyone’s lil’ brother. I ain’t peep how dudes like Cube would break they mean face and start dancing around like kids when they saw us cause we were FUN. People loved us for that, and I wanted to be respected for fear! I lost it all, and the world lost my group…and that shit sucks.
So that was the fruit of my nature…KOOL KIM – HIP HOP SUCKS BECAUSE YOU!
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first…
and I’m glad Kim is on board… the man seems to have stories for days… Unkut’s own Combat Jack
:)
Well written. Looking very forward to future posts.
Always liked the UMCs. The two tracks (‘Party Stylin’ and ‘Invaders’) on the ‘Roughouse Orchestra’ were both cool, the first album was a classic, and the second gets hated on but it’s really not that bad at all.
Funnily/annoyingly enough, the best track from the second album was only on the CD and cassette, if I remember correctly. ‘Speak Ill Thoughts’ was dope though.
Any unreleased material from the early days out there, Kim?
umcs…illest shit!
By no means do I think that Hip-Hop sucked because of the UMCs or Kool Kim. A lotta dudes felt the force of the business side of the music and succumbed to it. Some maintained and others went under. It seems as though that was/is the nature of things. Wild Pitch was mad shady, however, and I can’t think of any act from those days that I didn’t hear a horror story about. They had quality releases, though.
Dayum, that’s some gully ass shit right there. Music industry is mad eff’ed up. I’m glad I bounced before having to go through some ish like that. What’s Kool Kim up to these days? Besides looking like a brawlic ex -con? Seriously, what up fam?
Man, I never realized how influential “Blue Cheese” was until reading this epic piece.
That was deep, yo! Mad Deep!
BUT Hip Hop doesn’t suck because of you, though. Personally, I think hip hop sucks because of (brace yourselves) the Late Great Tupac. I blame his Death row era steez for creating these bandana-sporting fake thugs in NYC, and for taking the whole diss record thing to a new level by supposedly knockin BIG’s wife, busting shots, and just being violent and ignorant. What’s sad is, THAT’s what cats today choose to copy, instead of his positive, thought-provoking side.
UMC’s repped creativity and will always be remembered for the “Fruits of Nature” way more than “Unleashed.”
What was the alleged beef with UMC’s and WU about, though?
by the way, I went to high school with UG from Cella Dwellas! Big up to THOSE dudes!
Damn, Kim..each man is the center of his own universe. No need to take all this shit personal..hip hop is happening to dudes everyday in strife type situations, dudes who can’t even get on, never get heard beyond their block. I dont think anyone can retain control once they become a “product”..happened to the Wu!
When you say school, was this at New Dorp? I was there as Jr. when Blue Cheese was the shit..and Wu stickers were just starting to appear in the hallways/fire doors. Oh yeah, btw I love how people fronting on the house music thing..this was the clubs of new york, not in your parents house.
Simply Amazing….and honest. Something that is sorely lacking today.
PEACE
“Industry rule #4080, record-company people are shady”
Yo, thanks for dropping the knowledge on us, I hate to hear stories like yours but a lot of cats, groups vansihed ’cause they were in fucked up situations like you and are forced to do drastic shit…
I always thought Blue Cheese was a metaphor for your style…
“I blame his Death row era steez for creating these bandana-sporting fake thugs in NYC”
Why stop there really. I blame NWA. But the reality is if they hadn’t of done it, someone else would have — because that’s what Hip-Hop’s new core audience of the 90s (white people) wanted to see: ‘niggers’ acting stupid.
Also, Kool Kim’s story gives you a glimpse of what Steady B and Cool C must’ve felt . . .
GREAT PIECE! Keep up the insider stories. You know we love gossip :)
Anyways.. how did things with the Wu get patched up since Hass did beats for them the last few years.
”Rza aka Rakeem – “Ohh we love you Rakeem”…”thank you”.”
What soes that mean?
Damn, that’s one hell of a story. Makes me want to hear what happened when/after that infamous second album dropped.
props to Kool Kim, I discovered Fruits of Nature years later and I love that shit. It IS fun and if cats needed that then, they sure as hell need it now.
yo i can feel alot of what kim’s kicking. but i do feel he should have more self satisfaction then he demonstrates . . . yo brah, pat yourself on the back. . . we all felt the change in hiphop in the 90’s . . not being a bandwagon jumper is the best feeling. . looking back on the golden era and seeing how positive and even rap that was fun or made you feel good was still coming from the real.. i appreciate everything i gave and took from hiphop . . never hate , i am a so-called survivor of the underground and i’m damn proud of it. . . tony d ( poor righteous teachers ) peace
Yo.. what it do good fellas..
I been away from the board today so i couldn’t vibe with yall like i would like to about this piece.
I hope that you are starting to see where i am coming from with this joint.
Again .. I don’t think hip hop sucks.. i think like anything.. there are elements of it that suck.. hip hop is so unique in the history of the world.. it is a culture that is reaching a point of perfection.. in some ways.. but in others.. it sucks..
And I want to bring to light moments.. that i feel were pivitol in the music.. for the individuals and the collective. Where choices where made..
Peep how my dude suddenly could feel what Steady B and Cool C must’ve felt..
This is the next level in our relationship as fans and artist.. a true paradigm shift.. that allows us to appreciate each other much more. to be in touch much more..
think of how many cats that have read this that thought my team was on some bullshit.. hell think of how many cats that saw this had this picture of me getting clobbered by a puppet burned in thier minds.. and now they can see what really went on and who we really are better.
and this can bring us closer as a culture..
not just mindless fanatics and aloof artist.
but artist and supporters who share a symbiotic relationship based on mutual understanding.
now maybe when u listen to that Fruits of Nature album.. u will here what we were trying to tell u in songs like Never Never land.. because u know the MAN now not the fucking image.
the image means nothing.. it’s like skin color.. in some cases.. it is the content of the music.. that matters as the content of ones character.
I’m out .. but i’ll vibe on some of the specific comments made above..
mad love for receiving a very personal portion and perspective of my life so warmly and respectfully.
you stole my title. i want royalties (lol)
Ha…he actually sent me this article before you posted that comment. You’re like the Nostradamus of comments or some shit!
thank you for talking about your contributions to hip hop. that was very interesting and funny.
still had to put a couple extra people on the spot though… but anyways your story was insightful…
This is probably the most interesting thing to happen to internet hip hop since bol and o-dub had that little scuffle. Hah, I was just listening to Fruits of Nature on the bus today, and I get home to find who else but the Kool One posting and arguing like the world’s about to end.
Damn. I always thought this cat sounded like a mix between Eric Sermon and Q-Tip. But that may just be me.
But anyway, what’s up with you Kim? What you been doin’ since ‘Unleashed?’ You seein’ any royalties or anything? Do your kids bump your shit?
i can respect his honesty and objective criticism of your own stuff. WE never understand the struggle artists go through cuz we busy waiting for good music and being overly critical. Keep up the dope writing .. i wanna read the “tech on da dresser, tour wit large professor” article lol
all i know is that i saw kool kim take out the best mcs easily in in atlanta at the cage matches in 95. that brother was no joke!
King esseen
my dude!! i been tryna find someone that was there for years..
I tell peoples about that last battle i had with son.. i think his name was Newton or something. That was a battle for that ages… when i left that spot that day i was spent.. now that’s A STORY.
I gotta write about that one.. but u might have to get with me on that one so there is more than one perspective.
bk, Cap’n Jack, bedouin, et al
Well u gotta know, after about 95 i slipped into a super depression. It’s ill because i am a very strong willed individual. As u can see i will argue and debate to the ends of time if provoked ..
But there is nothing in the world that can prepare you for the kinds of things u go thru .. “Post stardom” it is one thing to be a “never was” see then u can always talk about all the shit that you woulda coulda shoulda done.. u can front about all the things u might have accomplished. But when your a has been.. it’s like we know for a fact what you did ..and the perception is that u failed, not that you did a thing got where u could and moved on.
but at the end of the day i am a family man and i dedicated my life to my children and that has made life wonderful for me.
My kids are like .. my avenging angels.. they make all the pain a thing i am at peace with.
telling these stories help to bring a peace to me too.. cause it is shit that u needed the world enmass to know.
As far as making money on records .. never a dime. NOT One.. maybe one of these days i can post my last album the haz been and brothers can purchase that out of love. Right now we sell our UMC’s merchandise to raise funds to do a new album.
it’s sad in a way that groups that people seem to like just struggle.. not just us either.. i mean look at some of the things we hear about from the other brothers.. it’s scary.
Tony d.. thanks for the good word. Know that i am in good spirits.. and thankful for all that I did.. man… I was the first dude in the history of Hip Hop to dive off the stage at soul train.. I ripped just about every MC that stepped to my business. traveled the world. slept with some dime as chicks, rocked the mic all day,
u can’t be but so sad about any one portion.. other then it had to end.
Hip HOP don’t suck because me.. or KRS ..or the next ones i speak about. It’s about looking at the lessons objectively and finding new meaning to our history.
it’s like when u get to hear about pivitol historic event and find out more sides cause certain info wasn’t available when it happened.
some history channel shit.
keep rocking with us… the story isn’t over yet.
Anyone else hoping that Tony D. is also share his experiences-like Kim has? I am sure as a “survivor of the underground” Tomy got stories for days!!
Kool Kim,
This is the 1st time I’ve written a comment to an online post. But I’ve thought both of your posts were really thought provoking and were inside information from a time that we all love of hip-hop.
I hope you continue to give us your insight.
And I’m glad to hear that your life is brighter these days.
Nigeria – “Ooh We Love You Rakeem” was a single the RZA did when he was Prince Rakeem (pre-Wu days – check for the GZA’s first album “Pass the Bone” while you’re at it). “We Love You Rakeem” involves ladies cooing “We love you Rakeem” while RZA (in his best Shock G voice) drops line like “I’ve got too many ladies/I gotta learn to say no” and “Time is moving slow/Life is a drag/there’s money to make/and more girls to bag.” It’s pretty hilarious to hear the future mastermind of the Wu rhyming “And my ladies love me deeply/because I’m handsome, charming, and freaky.” Another example of people forgetting how things were, as noted in the footnotes about Mobb Deep and Dre with the World Class Wrecking Cru.
One more thing…big up on the honesty and self-awareness, Kim. Those are two qualities that are sorely lacking in today’s (and, I guess, yesterday’s too) hip-hop world.
You need only look at the founding fathers of Hip Hop to get a sense of how depressing the shit is..I cant imagine Herc and Bam (+countless others, graff writers, too) who had a hand in INVENTING this shit and certainly are not finacially well off. They barely get their due respect..You think any of todays Dirty South chart toppers even know about this history? KK, I know its of little solace, but their are kids worlwide that certainly value and miss what artists like yourself brought to the table..BTW, Im all about fighting the good fight and giving out the bozack over at http://www.bozacknation.com
Still giving out the Bozack in ’06.
Kool Kim wrote —
In this time my dear grandmother has passed, my mother (my only parent) is away at WAR, so is my only brother, I got a baby’s mom now and an infant daughter, I’m living in a fucking tenament with two windows and they face each other –
—–
that right there would of made me flip and throw a motherfucka off stage like KRS did! but on the real look, that kinda shit should have been put out on the music real clearly, so people would have known what’s been going on with y’all. only for whatever reason it’s like only now we hear about all that shit.. but you still shouldn’t have lost your faith and what made you YOU, and I feel that point. I guess everyone else did notice also, so it’s like a lesson we gotta learn from. talking about all that personal stuff, label politics, all that shit would have helped put it into persepctive for the fans, if the songs were about that. still gotta kick knowledge and hold down your perspective for music. I wouldn’t know tho, I never even heard the follow up my man. there’s nothing wrong with all that drama to come out, but we always gotta be ourselves and remember how we shine. nuff respect, and be easy Kim
and plus ——-
1. Side note – groups that have made radical changes and become “hardcore”:
Mobb Deep –
Brand Nubian –
Jay Z –
Rza aka Rakeem –
Black Moon –
Dre –
How soon we forget…now stop fucking fakin’.
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these dudes got to change up because of this: they never blew off their original styles. rza/rakeem, mobb deep, brand nu, jay z, they never blew up off of those songs big time, like yall did with blue cheese. that makes it easier to get away with a style change up. let’s be real. I didnt learn about mobb deep from their song “hit it from the back”, or rza from that silly shit. and no one else did. but when yall profiled and blew off of the day glo shit it was too big, yall can’t blow one way and then change up from that. it dont work
Set Em Straight!! Now most of you folks up here don’t know me because I played my role in Hip Hop behind the scenes. My company back then was 40th Street Black Management. My name is Tony Rahsaan and I managed D-Nice, The UMC’s, The Fu-Schnickens and Organized Konfusion among others, all DURING their heydays. So I got a phonecall today that called my attention to this discussion. After reading it, I felt like compelled to weigh in on a couple of issues here in Kim’s account of things. First, let me start with Kims comment about me.
________________
Kim said:
“We had this bullshit lawyer that basically sold us out and our manager was a KOOL brother…but he had a quality to him that made him seem like people could run over him. He tried his best though, but that was how it was.”
_____________________
Let’s start with the lawyer, Mr Jackson. I agree with you 100% on how bullshit he was because I personally told him NOT to let you guys sign your record deal until we hashed out issues of creative control, merchandising and publishing among others. If you recall correctly, the label gave you guys an ultimatum, and he let you guys sign that contract without my knowledge or approval while i was traveling. I found out you guys signed the contract after getting back to New York from a road trip to Cali.
Now I laid into him and fired him from any and all dealings with me and anyone I represented. Since he worked for a larger firm, I also let Kendall Minter, the firms founder, know what happened and how I felt about it. He called me one day crying about some big deal he lost after I put the word out about how wack he was.
Nonetheless, I told you and Haas, that this would come back to haunt you. (remember this part)
Now getting on to me. As much as you wanted someone to run into record companies and flip over desks and yell and scream at the top of their lungs, that was not how I got down. Those tactics wouldn’t have served you well in any way in our dealings with the label, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t reppin’ you and Hass to the fullest. People think that you have to be feared in this industry…and that’s the only way to get things done. I counter that and say that you have to be smart, hard working, creative, rational, loyal, and having at least some iota of character would help, although it seems to be optional. People do business with me nowadays because I do good business. My businesses after 40SBM have made millions and I’ve never had to turn over a desk, scream at the top of my lungs or even intimidate any one…not even once, to get that money.
You have to understand that in management, you have to not only truly UNDERSTAND your groups, but you have to live, breath and eat them. You have to know what works for them and why…and what won’t work for them and why not. These are the MOST important parts of the responsibility of representing artists. I did this for every act I ever represented and that’s why I was successful.
Managers get their so called “power” from their groups…The fact that I represented D-Nice and Fu-Schnickens on Jive Records afforded a certain leverage within Jive, but each group stands on his or her own merit when it all comes down to it. Me reppiing Derrick on Jive doesn’t mean much for The UMC’s on Wild Pitch….Nor would Shakim repping Naughty on Tommy Boy mean anything more to how the UMC’s new deal would be structured.
So when you speak of me and say “he tried his best and that was how it was”, it kinda gets under my skin because it implies that I failed you guys somewhere and it couldn’t be helped. If I recall, NOT ONE group that I repped under the 40th Street banner EVER reached the same level of success as when I managed them.
Under Flavor Unit everything that I built at the time was laid to waste. At Flavor Unit, groups were commodities, at 40th Street, groups were partners. That’s why Flavor Unit never approached the same success as I had with any of the groups.
I still have MAD love for you guys, so don’t get it twisted but your real problems began when Wild Pitch started making their own mixes or UMC records. (refer back to record contract coming back to haunt you) Your problems began when you bounced to Flavor Unit thinking they would solve all your problems. Your problems began when you decided to change everything the UMC’s were about in favor of the “hardcore” flavor of the moment. Your problems began not when you sold ya boy out…but when you sold yourself out.
So to tie this in and sum this up to why Hip Hop sucks, it’s not just because of the music, it’s definitely not because Kris pushed someone off a stage. It’s because a lot of people in this industry have no character. No integrity. No Loyalty. They would sell their brother up the river for peanuts. It’s an industry were people will do ANYTHING for money. That’s why Hip hop Sucks!!! Yeh I Said It!! TR
for the record, Blue Cheese was dope.
Now…your haircut? That shit is why hip hop sucks. THE MUTHAFUCKIN EARLY 90’S FLATTOP KILLED HIP HOP.
Your claim to fame is a poster of Fruits of Nature album on the Martin show…lol
I didn’t know you were knockin’ brothas out the box with your skillz like that, You should have went solo earlier in your career…
Yo Kim, I just wanted to say speaking to you is like connecting to the good times when Hip-Hop was dope as fuck, Peace bro!
Tony.
you bastard.
nigga don’t return a got damn call.. but even slightly mention the nigga .. not even his fucking name and here he pop up like a pimple.
LOL.
First and foremost.. I love you my dude.
NOW..when and if u read what i wrote closely.. I take the fall for everything that I did. Even and including leaving 40th street.. but regardless of how u try to bounce and flip it.. and on the real Tone.. since u put it out here in the public.. I gotta speak on it..
U were clueless..
Niggas was tryna chop your head off.. your mans.. who we will TRY to keep nameless was gunning for you something awful. and we were ALL tryna put u up on it. and it was like you wanted to belive that u could “KOOL dude it” thru the situation. Some situations needed a good stern backbone. You were unorganized at home and on the road. And when they … Flavor Unit made they move .. u were there with your pants down. If u remember that shit aint really happen like we just slid on you bro.. that isn’t fair to say. D was moving on that situation like he had the authority to make that move. So u can’t pin it on us like we just shitted on u.
but u know tony.. u are and were a big brother to us man. that is why i tried to say it as i felt it on here.. I could have said a lot of other things that might have been extreemly distasteful or even worse i could have let haas type the shit.. LOL.. But I chose to put it as delicately as i could .. and to annote that YOU TRIED YOUR BEST.. which is all any man can ask of another.
You tried your best..
so did we.
Fuck .. we were kids too.. in a game designed to feed off of youthful ignorance.. you were to idealistic in a shark infested industry.
On some honest shit.. I know u loved us bro.. just like we loved u too man.. but sometimes i feel like u got it in for me personally cause i was the one that actually “fired” you that day.
but man.. look.. I am a man of principal.. and even if u don’t agree.. i had enough love for my brother that I saw what these niggas.. niggas in my own crew were doing.. niggas was gonna let u do all this shit.. and then slide on u.. i was like FUCK THAT.. we gonna straighten this shit out with our mans today.. fuck leading him on…
but i think u probably thought it was me on that bullshit… which makes me sad cause I only did what i feel needed to be done..
it’s like that scene in the movies where the dude is dying this slow horrible death.. and the dude just come and chop his head off and end his suffering.. I felt it was merciful.. tho i am sure u may disagree.. that what was in my heart and God is my witness and my judge.
But i will say this.. I believe that somewhere in the vast regions of this internet is a man or woman.. that is walking or about to walk on the same paths we’ve walked..
and unlike us.. they have this dialogue to look at to see the REAL shit this music is about. And maybe they can learn from this bro.. and maybe all our hurt will have not been in vain.
I love you my dude.
brother block.. your a funny bastard.. LOL.
i am cracking up.
Bang.. i am feeling your insight. that is a good point about the other artist not blowing off the other style and it allowing for a remix of thier style all together
and again.. to all.. this shit is meant to be a road map.. not the total truth or the total answer.. cause all that is relative.. it is about giving yall more insight.
We never really had that.. someone that was in the game just chopping up that game for us so we could digest it. After the Jerking we took from Wildpitch.. I promised that if i could.. I would speak to whomever would listen and tell them what i know so they could learn something.. and apply what is usefull to them in thier lives.
I’m not a hater
Not Bitter
Not a liar
Not irrational
I’m not tryna TEACH or PREACH .. I’m tryna Relate some shit .. and reach those that need to know this.
Whatever happened in the past you probably experienced more than most could dream of..
And believe there`s people leaving comments here that are from all over the world.
Keep it coming Kim..
I feel you on that last post Kim. But you got it wrong when you say I was clueless. Brotha WE were clueless. I didn’t see what was coming..truedat…but you didn’t see where you were going. And I give you props for manning up when others wouldn’t. I’ll NEVER hold that against you. All that is water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned. If anyone reading these posts can learn something….pay close attention to what is being said. I used to LOVE this game, but now, it’s somethng that I don’t recognize anymore….Damn…I can’t even let my own son watch BET. The game done changed..for better AND for worse… but it’s NO ONES fault and EVERYONE’s fault.
I agree.. WE didn’t have a clue..
but we do now.
Dope read!
Dayum, ya’ll brought back some effin names! Kendal Minter was one of my legal mentors when I started in the legal game. Ya’ll referring to Bruce Jackson? Sheet, this the hottest shit I read on the internets in a long effin time.
On the real ya’ll what ever happened to the following execs of past:
Paris Davis
Cat Jackson
Angelique Miles
Bruce Jackson
Vivian Scott
Faith Newman
Jocelyn Cooper
Leotis Clyburn
Louise West
Vader
Reggie Osse
Denise Brown
Royale Bayaan
Dick Scott
Floyd Norris
Eddie “Eddie F” Ferrell
Jay Black
Ron Sweeney
Also, remember that midget dude brother with the big ass head? I think his name was Rashaad Smith (although I used to call him “Little Big Head”). I remember dude posting like he was a business manager, getting clients on the strength of Bruce jackson’s word and one day, dude upped and disappeared with like, over 5 million of his client’s dough (clients like Damien Blyden and Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth).
I figured you cats would know since ya’ll did a damned good job of taking me down memory effin lane.
wow, i’m loving these post kim & robbie. were’re getting somwhere now, Bruce Jackson, wow. Bruce Jackson is behind the demise of a lot of talent in the Hip-Hop game, that guy right there, needs a bullet to the head. Pete Rock, K-Def, those guys were on a roll, and he slowed down a lot of shit. Kim this is what i’m talking about, you wanna know what happened to alot of talent, Bruce Jackson, happen. I know he will not show his head, here.
Didn’t hip hop get taken over by Jewish media types with their bankers, record companies, lawyers, and managers? I think that’s where it all went bad.
Willis done lost his blackness, and it’s hard to tell him that, or for him to believe that, when the companies are blowing hot air up his young ass. And then the money gets siphoned off, thousands of dollars at a time, for clothes, for women, for drugs of all types, for plane rentals, house rentals, boat rentals, all sorts of props which are ultimately managed by the bankers, lawyers, executives, etc.
The artist just sings into a can.
lets take it to the present, execs. how about BBE releasing Pete Rock material without his consent, and Pete Rock confronting BBE A&R eddie @ J-Dilla album release party in New York. He was so heated he spat in dude’s face, twice. LOL.
^ Damn! That INI album has to be the most bootlegged rap LP ever. There have been at least four different pressings of that shit:
1.The orange label version with the wrong track names.
2.The one with Pete Rock’s head on the label.
3.The double vinyl with the INI logo cover and “To Each His Own” pressed at the wrong speed.
4.The BBE “Lost & Found” version.
Man.. I’m getting put on to a rack o’ stuff i hadn’t even been aware of.
I am going to start working on the next one today.. which is going to be heavy. And cause a lot of controversy.. cause i am going to call out the biggest institution in hip hop to date. So we can expect an international response.
But again everything i say is going to be true from my own personal experience.. and i hope that it continues to open this level of dialogue.
Some have charged me with shock media.. to a degree i did set this off with a little sensationalism.. no need to front about that. And hopefully it wont bite my ass too hard in the end. But it is what it is.. and if this is the product of it.. then we just gotta keep doing what we do.
When I hear someone say “Jewish Media Types” bells start going off..WTF is that? FOUL.
I get what you are saying (-cough-Jerry Heller) but cmon now..
“Dudes was “soooooooing” at us and shit on the block “- what does this mean? Some Shaolin hog-calling routine? Were they saying you were foul? Pork?
Is it a typo?
Sorry, didn’t get it.
OK Combat…With those names you just listed, you brought back a lot of memories…LOL. As for Kendal Minter, He’s always been stand up in my book. For The Record, It was Mr. Jackson that called me crying about his lost deals….not Kendal. Secondly, I only refer to Mr. Wack Lawyer as Mr. Jackson, because I can’t remember if his first name was Bruce or Bernie. I tend to think it was Bernie, but I could be wrong. Whoever the fuck he was, he worked for Kendal.
Yo combat, I don’t know the name of dude with the big head you are speaking of, but the Rashad Smith I know is a music producer, and is real good peoples. He did “Doin It’ for LL and some bangers for Busta Rhymes, i just can’t think of the names of the tracks right now. Did the big head dude work for Burt Padell?
To Combat Jack:
“Eddie F Named New Voxonic Executive Director of Production”
That just popped up on AllHipHop.com today – http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=6102
You might be right about Bernie Jackson. Dude just sold his sold to the new black evil, Londell McMillan. Wow, Bruce might have hacked a lot of niggas into itty bitty pieces, but I never knew dud to be no bitch. Bernie on the other hand…
soooing.. is the sound wu tang makes..
like the word sue but extended.
“Fans are in a time warp, while Artists are living in real time”
The business of entertainment is based on the exploitation of the perception of reality. Fans in a time warp is good for business.
“…there is a lack of temporial (temporal) context.. ”
The best part of reading this is that it allows me to fill the gaps from what I watched on TV, heard on the radio and danced to in clubs with what YOU and many others were living. It’s fascinating.
The power of illusion. It drew me in. Not just as a fan but as someone who wanted to participate in that process.
I want to thank TR for offering his 2 cents as well.
I too have been clueless for some time. Only now coming to understanding. I’ve been working to carve my own niche in the game for a few years now. To hear of the experiences from both artist and agent/manager (which I am) is very enlightening.
I’ve been experiencing things (disappointments) that have had me considering abandoning the music business. . But now, I feel I am ready to continue my journey (battle) fully armed, not only with the knowledge of the true nature of the beast, but heavily shielded with my Honor, Integrity, Character and Manhood intact.
“Life’s battles don’t always go to the strong or faster man. But soon or late, the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.” – Author unknown
I’ve been following the Kool Kim posts since the first one and I gotta say it’s some of the best shit that I’ve read here in a while. Keep coming up with that good shit Kool Kim! It’s dope to see a dude who’s been there write this shit up honestly, with no extra ego and nonsense!
The part about how his first album was named Fruits of Nature made me laugh though, not only cause I guess he disclosed his homophobia, but also cause appearently he’s been out of the rap loop long enough to not know to just say “no homo”
Keep writing up good shit and keep making fun of suckers in the comments cause that shit is funny!
This article put a big smile on my face, this is a true document of the time first hand from the man- Kool Kim. That was an interesting time in Hip-Hop, right on the cusp of craziness that would change things forever – people were feeling the UMC’s and I remember the whole “happy rap” shit
It’s crazy to think back about that – like being happy is wrong or some shit, but people got on it like that and tried to smear that whole style
from the UMCs right on through the Native Tongues
anything considered ” down town” or “happy” had to fall back
But dancing was the shit, and the clubs then were spectacular…sorry if you’re growing up in NYC but I feel like younger heads missed out
the closest you get to the vibe Kims mentions is
Rock Steady / Zulu anniversary
keep on Kim, Hass
Staten Baby
oneder
You’ve been absolutely killin’ it recently, Rob
..via a lil’ help from Kool Kim
Keep up the good work.
Bells start going off? You say FOUL? Then what is Suge Knight’s problem about? Oh I guess it’s just some Conspiracy Theory?
Rap got sucker punched and confused. Rap was stolen and the ART of turntable performance was relabled SAMPLING and was quickly attorned. Rap was on the verge of reaching a lot of people. How dangerous.
No way. It’s just beats and rhymes, you insist.
Yeah, right.
BLAP is the sound of me slapping the dick out your mouth. Open your ears, something went wrong..shit was definitely stolen. But how you going to say some ignorant shit about “jewish media types” How about corporate america and greed in general? It seems everyone was trying to cut themselves a piece of the cake..
damn..startin to feel like my pops with all this reminiscing….but NY clubs was THE ISH back then..Latin QUarters, Union Square, the Funhouse, and And the infamous Roxy(later known as 1018)
and the funny thing is that I wouldn’t have stumbled on this (or some other blogs like DallasPenn, nah Right, etc.) if the music game wasn’t so full of ish right now….
But thanks KK, your bringing back long forgotten memories
ps. lemme ask you this..your stint with Wild Pitch, was that before or after Serch?
Your right on about NYC chase..but downtown changed too. And now RSC reunion is in Newark, NJ! That shit was ill when it was up in Rocksteady Park and was like a small park jam…I remember Cella Dwellas was standing there, Fat Joe too. Damn miss those days..
bk, if you could stop thinking about dicks for a moment, maybe you could actually understand WHY rap was hijacked. no, just keep fantisizing.
your statement “How about corporate america and greed in general?” just shows you are anti-American and anti-capitalist. Ignorant too.
Fantastic.
Remember there is a message in rap, and that’s precisely why it’s under attack. You got nothing to talk about but some silly dickslap. Or did you get fascinated by some Beastie breaks, black?
“When i got my #1 plaque from Billboard I had to jump the turnstyle to get home from EMI that day, ’cause I didn’t have a dollar to pay the train.”
Is there a hip-hop hall of fame or something where we could put that quote? Damn!
Keep speaking on it, Kim.
BLAP The fact that we are on this site, on a forum, posting in response to comments from Kool Kim from UMCs, obviously shows a level of dedication that is fanatical..I dont think someone who doesnt care about the message of hip hop would even be here.
In plain english, I got to call you out on stereotyping on principal alone..now Im done and peace ya self. You can check me at http://www.bozacknation.com
RE: above,what about hopping the turnstyle for the ferry? The fare was like next to free! And watch the moving platforms..
Love the article(s) and reading the comments. Some of the most informative Hip Hop shit I’ve ever read on the internet. I think you’re really on to something with your comments in regard to a new level of understanding between artists and fans, Kool Kim.
I sorta slept on UMC’s back in the day, but that Kool Kim could rhyme I became convinced of after hearing his shit on one of those Bobbito Freestyle Frenzy tapes (despite me always getting pissed and taking it too personal when I hear rhymes like ‘I’m doing this to your girl, I’m doing that to your girl’, haha…).
Real fukkin’ Talk right there, and I couldn’t put it any other way. I cant front, I was one of a legion of young niggas who shook their heads when I saw the UMC’s… the fuckin’ UMC’s… rockin’ Carhartt, cursin’, and talkin’ about hard shit in ’93. But again, as a 14-year-old, I simply thought “maaan, these niggas are just jumpin’ on the bandwagon”. Although I could’ve easily thought the same of Brand Nubian and others who went thru dramatic changes around that time as well- but it seemed like TOO much of a stretch for the UMC’s, who’d previously danced with a puppet.
Now that I’m older, I know exactly how real life could make a nigga flip and be on some “new shit”. I used to be the human equivalent to ‘Fruits of Nature’… no homo… and life has dealt me all kinds of bullshit. And now, I’ve become the equivalent of ‘Unleashed’- as if to say ‘THIS is what happens when you get fucked over repeatedly’. I can totally understand why certain conditions and things that happen can change a man’s mentality and take away that big cheesy 32-tooth smile. Like that one you had on that album cover (lol).
And fukkit, Martin Payne had y’all chillin’ on his wall for two seasons, so y’all couldn’t have been that bad.
The cuts on “One to grow on” are all-time favourites up there with Scratch on “Rampage” and Too Tuff on “Nut”. That whole tune is certified.
I’m really enjoying the old-industry shit. Seems like at the time our whole knowledge of the hiphop industry, as fans, came from the outro to Paid In Full. Now it gets padded out a little some 16 years later. Nice one.
Robbie, dope as ever and Kim; keep it coming.
ayyyyyyyy… where’s the new articles at? This shit’s been too good to stop here- there’s gotta be more.
Man, Good article
Nigga’s got a slave mentality
It’s good you survived the music industry of that era with your mind and body still functioning…love your inside stories and I’m looking forward to read more of them.
I always trip out when I see that UMC’s poster on the wall on “MARTIN”.
oh yeah…by the way…
I was 14 when the UMC’s dropped “blue cheese” and I saw the same thing that happened to them happened to Kwame; first rap fans loved them, then they started hating them…the entertainment industry can be a cut-throat business.
That was an inspiring piece. I just broke out my “One To Grow On” single the other day, by request, and listened to it. THAT WAS DOPE! As a matter of fact the whole first album pretty much was. I just wanted to say no matter how things turned out your group did put out good music, and are not the reason HIP HOP sucks!
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nice post.
thank you, kool kim!
me n some friends recently saw umcs
and blacksheep and a gang of others rock
@ bb king’s in nyc, and it was a great time.
i was smashed and all over the place..
but apparently the umcs have been producing HITS
for top artists in the last coupla years.
nice!
stay up!!
it’s cool to see these newer cats
give the older ones some respect-
like kwame doing g-unit joints etc..
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kool kim. i see the posts about you being an ill battle rapper. can you please bless us with some old joints you might have on tape. or any unreleased joints of your albums. both your albums were hot. one
http://www.getfam.com
hEY WHAT’S THE DEAL POP.mY NAME IS jON WRATH FROM A GROUP CALLED lntg.i GREW UP IN STATEN ISLAND AND REMEMBER WATCHING YOU IN ST MARKS DOING YOUR THING IN THE PARK.i USE TO CHILL AT 165 AT MY COUSINS KIYA AND NONAS HOUSE AND WOULD OFTEN CHECK YOU CHILLING BY THE BARS EITHER TALKING ABOUT MUSIC DOING CRAZY FLIPS AND SPITTING FIRE and was excited for you when you were in ms melodies video “Live on Stage”.EVEN THOUGH i WAS A LITTLE SHORTY THAN, i DEFINITELY THOUGHT YOU WERE THE MAN, not to mention , you had the illest flat top and sharp style around.I remember when Blue cheese came out.I was living in savannah GA at the time , but when the video came on rap city I was like OOOOHHHHHHHH SSSHHHHHHIIITTTTT I know this cat, I was like that’s my man pop o( though none of the country boys believed me.Man I just want to say even though the fame and the dough never came ,in my eyes you are a great success.Me and my boys from the marks, Tyriq, Meach, Jarren, tyrell,freddy, alexian, and felipe thought you were the man and still do.
You can check my group out at Myspace.com/lethalnation ( we’re definitely on some diferent shit by I think an artistic brother like you will be able to appreciate what I’m trying to do) Peace my brother
Dayaaamn, this is crazy. I’ve been downloading all my cd’s 2 my ipod… and run across the “Fruits..” cd, and that shit brings me back to the old clubbinn’ days in ny. No one can understand how big house music was and all the new dances every week. That fruits.. album is on constant rotation in my car and UMC’s were way ahead of they’re time as far as rhyme patterns and beats. It’s a shame all those old school ny cats who took rap to another level are all broke, even though you can’t say rap w/out mentioning, ATCQ, PE, EPMD, Chubb Rock, LOTUG etc,etc. It’s nice 2 know you’re still around involved in hip hop Kool Kim n thanx for the flashback, ya’ll niggas was the shit back then and you can catch me bumping “swing it to the area” as I drive 2 work on hiway 400 in atl… the beat switch is sick ’till this day. Peace.
“Ain’t nobody ba-ad like me,
ain’t that the way it all styarted G?
You say men call me He-Man,
Some call me super
Robo-Cop couldn’t stop the super trooper”
“I got a million in the bank and it’s all mine,
a third of it invested in salt mines
Material wealth may be the least in a girl’s eye
Searching for a man with charisma”
Word up I used to love that song ‘Jive Talk’. RNS killed that track too.
I see these post were added some time ago, but still paint a vivid portrait of days past. Thank you Kool Kim for all of that history. I can relate to you focusing on raising your children, I decided to do the same once my daughter was born.. After reading all of this, it had me thinking back to a 12″ single you dropped. I can’t remember the name (It’s in my crates)..I loved it though,had a female on it as well..I think it was around 1997?? Much Love,,, Peace
It’s been a long time.. i shouldn’t have left you.. lol
just ran across this article again via a facebook friend. The post themselves brought up as many memories of where i was mentally at that time as the story itself.
It also makes me happy to know that the things i’ve gone on to do in the now .. are positive things.
maybe it’s time to resurrect this column
I by no means think that the UMC’s made hip-hop suck. To me you made it fun and worth listening to. We have the different types of music in hip-hop and the “happy rap” was and is something that is needed. One of my all time favorite performances I ever saw on Soul Train is of the UMC’s just wilding out on stage TWICE!!! Truly wished you guys had stayed in the game even if you switched up from “happy rap” to something more edgy because your flow alone would have taken you through that “Oh they trying to be hard now” phase especially if you are battling the likes of WU and Hit Squad.
thats fuckin UGLY niggaz man….. wooohaooo real UGLY
I saw you guys in Toronto way back in the day, you were there with Chubb Rock, Cypress Hill, and the Fu Schnickens(rap fest 92) lol.For the record, you guys were always legit just too young to see it. Still remember your performance to this day, I always judge an artist by their live show and you guys were great live.
Probably the most interesting and best post i have read on the internet about anything in a long long time…WOW…i miss the fun days of hip-hop
Appreciate the honest history lesson – keep your head to the sky dude. Hip Hop loves you back for what you put in and for keeping clear eyes after all this shit. It matters.
And to Tony Rahsan – u remember we rolled with our respective ladies to the Prom and ended up at one of those classic P-funk Atomic Dogcatcher parties until whenever – anyway, like your boy is saying, we were all young and “doing our best” and cats like you and KK who got in where you fit deserve big credit for doing your thing. Congrats on your success and your M.O. and ponder the straight talk from your dude because it can only help – both you, personally, and anyone lucky enough to be reading this in the first place. Props to KRS and BDP.
What up NYOil (Kool Kim)
It’s 2017 and both UMC’s albums catches wreck on the deck from my CD collect.
I appreciate both albums for what they are It’s like a positive side and a negative.
Something we all deal with in life.
I discovered this old content today and had to leave a message and pay my respect.
I hope all is good with you and your fam.
Peace, Prayer & Blessings!