If I've said it before, then I'll say it again: as much as music keeps me going on my own, music is often the life blood between me and my closest family members, friends, lovers lost and lovers kept and Mrs. Scribbler is certainly no exception to that rule. Whether it's been on long road trips, date nights, hanging out in the house or just random moments, there are so many songs and albums that have provided the soundtrack to our life as best friends, boyfriend and girlfriend and eventually husband and wife. So to kick off the celebration of our eighth wedding anniversary, I share with you all a special "Rave & Favorite Five" dedicated to my Babushka. Be warned: the majority of it might make you need a barf bag and be on your Ice Pick from Don't Be a Menace "aiight, that's enough of that sentimental sh--" flow. Let's go...
#4 BOBBY SHMURDA, "Hot N*gga" (Shmurda She Wrote, Epic/GS9, 2014). Trust me when I tell you that this will be a much smoother transition between songs than you think. One of the things that I love most about Mrs. Scribbler is that she has never been afraid to let her ratchet flag fly, and "Hot N*gga" is the prime example of her pledging her allegiance. First and foremost, Jahlil Beats--who also hails from Chester, Pennsylvania where my wife was born--serves up a park ape bananas banger that snaps your neck the millisecond the beat drops. Second, this clearly is and will always be the hottest song of the now-incarcerated Bobby Shmurda's career. Third, and more important for the sake of this discussion, it's the first song that comes to mind when I think about her being pregnant with Baby Boy Scribbler. Now some people say that you should play Beethoven or Mozart near a woman's stomach to stimulate a child on his or her way into the world, but apparently, my better whole thought otherwise and so did mini-me. Every time she played "Hot N*gga" in the car, the hood roots from his father from Southeast D.C. and his mother from Chester were on full display as he kicked a little more with every boom of the 808. Considering that we have woods, creeks, deer and bunny rabbits behind our apartment, that was about as hood as it was gonna get for the young bull. While I'm not the biggest proponent of playing music with explicit lyrics around young kids, it nevertheless takes me to one of the first times when the Scribbler family had our "one nation under a groove" moment...
#3 JAY-Z, "Allure" (The Black Album, Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, 2003). Although "Meet Me on the Moon" was perhaps the first song to unite us musically, Jay-Z has been the common denominator that has glued me and Mrs. Scribbler together from a hip-hop/rap standpoint. The only time in my life that I've seen him perform live was with her, and it was one of the best concerts that I've ever attended--largely because I was there with her. Now since I couldn't put the entire American Gangster album (which makes me think of Mrs. Scribbler more than any other song or album) on a "Rave & Favorite Five" countdown for individual tracks, I had to narrow it down to one and none of those songs on AG beat out "Allure". Always one of my "there's no point in listening to this album if I don't listen to this" songs from The Black Album, I included this on a mix CD of Jay-Z's best songs. During a trip to Philly for my great uncle's funeral in June of '07, I made a special visit to Chester to see her as we sat, talked and listened to Jigga. Although we were vibing to most of the songs because, well, it's Jay-Z, "Allure" just stood out in my memory for because we were collectively bobbing our heads a little harder. When I found out that this was one of her favorite Jay-Z songs, that made the experience even sweeter--that and both of us geeking over the "all of y'all can get it like group-page on your 2-way" line. I could've picked so many songs from the William H. Holla Collection, but "Allure" was the first song that came to mind and it's hard to pick against one of the first songs that we listened to while around each other for only the second time in five months; nostalgia always wins...
#2 JOHN LEGEND FEAT. MARY J. BLIGE, "King & Queen" (Once Again, GOOD, 2006). First of all, every time I think about John Legend, Mrs. Scribbler is the first person who comes to mind because I don't know anyone who's a bigger fan of his. Second, this spot could've easily been a toss-up between "King & Queen" or "Each Day Gets Better"--the latter of which is the second song that connected me to her behind "Meet Me On The Moon". Hearing it for the first time during one of our first road trips to Chester, I immediately dug it because 1) it's a dope song, 2) it's a duet that I wasn't expecting, 3) it's one of Mary J. Blige's better vocal performances of the past ten years on the low and 4) she loved that song enough to share it with me since I had never heard that or most of the Once Again album before. However, what connects me to "King & Queen" as it pertains to her transcends sentimental value as it showcased her musical knowledge and appreciation. We've had several conversations about her love for musical progressions in "half notes"--of which I'm also an avid fan--and the movement in the bridge of "King & Queen" is a master class in that. Moments like those and all of the aforementioned examples are why she's one of my favorite people with whom to listen to and discuss music. Now as high on this list as "King & Queen" is and should be, there's not a song on the face of this Earth that exists or that will be created that can ever top this...
#1 JOHN LEGEND, "So High" (Get Lifted, GOOD/Sony Urban/Columbia, 2004). My initial love for "So High" came about two years before I even knew that Mrs. Scribbler existed. While taking one of my long Saturday night walks down Martin Luther King, Jr., Avenue in Southeast, I was playing this CD on my Discman--absolutely insane to think that the Get Lifted album is that old--and I heard this for the first time. Immediately, that made me want to experience that kind of love. Ironically, I was with someone at the time who I constantly battled over John Legend's as she always came from the critical perspective of him not being a technically-sound singer whereas I valued his ability to emote regardless of his technical imperfections. Whole time, that should've been one of my many signs that she and I wouldn't work other than her being a die-hard Cowboys fan. Little did I know that three summers later, "So High" would be the song forever associated with the day that Mrs. Scribbler and I tied the knot. When the song began playing throughout her pop-pop's house where we got married, she cascaded down the stairs in her dress and smiled one of the biggest, brightest smiles that I've ever seen while one of her favorite singers was in her ear and one of her favorite people of all time was right before her eyes ready to love her for a lifetime. I'm sure that it was evident to everyone in attendance that there couldn't have been a more fitting song than "So High" because, in that moment, that's how elated and elevated we were to be taking such a huge step together.
###
For the record, this list was difficult to compile and commit to for a few reasons. First of all, Mrs. Scribbler is a huge Beyoncé fan and it's almost criminal that I don't have at least one Bey song on this list. In fact, "Formation" nearly made the list and "Drunk in Love" was actually at the five spot before I remembered the importance of "Meet Me On The Moon". Second, I could've put Adele's entire 21 album on here as I couldn't even go to the organic market without hearing the album in heavy rotation and not think of her sitting at her desk as it was on repeat at least twice a day for like a week. Third, she made me a believer in Teyana Taylor's highly-underrated-and-under-appreciated VII album, especially of the super-sensual "Request" that had a real shot of taking that No. 5 spot. (I feel a future idea in the works. Shhhhh...it's 40 percent a secret.). Fourth, and finally, I felt some kind of way for a split second that Bobby Shmurda's "Hot N*gga" edged out Waka Flocka Flame's "Hard in da Paint" as the ratchet pick because 1) she's actually more of a Waka fan because she feels like he's authentic, 2) I actually like the song a little more, although I'm more of a fan of that "Hot N*gga" beat, and 3) it reminds me of riding around with the Mrs. when we still lived in Southeast. Nevertheless, I'm pretty satisfied with this list because, like the songs that didn't make the cut, every song holds something special. That just goes to show you that in eight years of being married and nine-and-a-half years of knowing each other, we have compiled an impressive catalog of memories together and continue to do so. And the beat goes on...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to enthusiastically chime in or RESPECTFULLY disagree.