SATURDAY. JUNE TWENTY-FOUR. TWO THOUSAND AND SIX.
It was a family affair that day.
When it comes to Brooklyn Bodega thats always the case. Husband and wife tag-team, Wes and Ebonie Jackson created the BHF to celebrate Hip Hop’s legacy and culture. So in essence, its a family run organization.
But we didn’t know that then. We only knew that Big Daddy Kane was headlining something called The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival at someplace called The Tobacco Warehouse and the tickets were free and we needed to be there.
It was imperative. Not because of Kane, though.
Because of Lupe Fiasco.
FACT.
We were hooked — my cousin Sha and I, that is. Ever since he kicked “I’m tryna stop lyin’ like a Mum-Ra / But I’m not lyin’ what I’m layin’ on the beat” on Kanye West’s triumphant “Touch The Sky”, we were hooked. I didn’t quite catch the reference initially. Of course, Sha broke it down immediately (Mum-Ra…villain from Thundercats…lion…lyin’…Eureka!).
Thats the way its always been between us two. Whether it was 16 year-old Sha teaching a 5 year-old Company Man all the lyrics to Run DMC’s “Peter Piper”; or screaming on me because 36 Chambers hadn’t entered my 7th grade Sony tape player; or showing me how to count bars a few years ago when I realized I should write rhymes if I was gonna write about rap.
When it comes to Hip Hop, Sha’s the Jedi. I’m the Padawan.
And we were excited about Lupe.
I can’t emphasize this enough.
That ear-snatching verse on “Touch The Sky” was only page one of his doctrine. Those next few month’s were spent scouring the internet for mixtapes and leaked tracks, attempting to one-up each other with the latest Limewire Lupe discovery, exalting the lyrical genius from Chicago’s West Side to any and everyone willing to listen. For us, Hip Hop hadn’t been that much fun since the Jay and Nas beef first set off.
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