So yeah… ‘95 was a great year. YOU see the picture.
That was my old girl Aisha, a situation that ended up jumping off-and-on for the next three years. It was one of those relationships where the counterparts stay at each other’s throats, but always manage to end up cool again. We met at school in ‘93, when I was a freshman who was crazy into her, and she was a junior who couldn’t be less interested. After about a year-plus of like and dislike, we finally ended up together in late-’94. By summer ‘95, we were way into each other and GTD-ing on the regular (whenever we weren’t arguing over THEE dumbest shit).
In other news, I was 15 and flexin’ nuts. I was at the rec for the summer again, and spending blowing my money more responsibly. I had also begun DJing by this time, although I def. wasn’t ready for prime-time yet. But in the process of stepping my game up, I made a connection with DJ Base, who at the time was on WEAA’s Strictly Hip-Hop show. I used to listen to that shit faithfully, hoping one day I could parlay this connection into possibly getting a spot on the show. I stayed on my lil’ starter kit every day, fukkin’ up needles and bein’ the best Kid Capri I could try to be.
In addition to that, I was starting to venture out with my rap aspirations too. That summer, I performed on stage for the first time at a showcase held at Monique’s Comedy Club. I also made an appearance on 92Q’s “Battle of the Baltimore MCs” segment, which at the time was my first time rhyming on the radio (but not my last… wait for ‘98). Whenever I wasn’t making (turrible) mixtapes, I was making tapes of my “songs” over my favorite instrumentals. I didn’t really have my mind on “gettin’ on” at the time; I was all about findin’ an avenue to be heard first and foremost, one way or the other.
One pattern in all of these years (that even I’ve noticed while typing these entries) is that a LOT of shit I did revolved around music. I tried to get into sports and other shit, but it was never my thing. I found more enjoyment in taping videos or buying records than I did in developing my athletic skills (or lack thereof). I wasn’t gonna make it into the 3-on-3 basketball tournament or any of that… but I sure the fukk knew what day Cuban Linx was comin’ out.
The Danj! Summer Seven of 1995:
Notorious B.I.G. “One More Chance” (Stay With Me Remix): Arguably runnin’ that rap shit by this point, B.I.G.’s Debarge-sampling remix puts the official stamp on it.
Jodeci feat. Raekwon & Ghostface Killa “Freek’N You” (Remix): The “bad boys of R&B” and the Cuban Linx co-d’s connect. All day like Harry Belafonte.
Bone Thugs N Harmony “1st Of Tha Month”: Cleveland’s own BTNH rep for SSI, WIC, and all that shit with the official anthem.
Luniz “I Got 5 On It”: Messin’ with that indo weed, the Luniz fukked around and made a classic for all those who engage in the herbal practice.
Grand Puba “I Like It”: Puba continues his solo run, and the DeBarge family continues to cash them checks. The term “stinkbox” is still a lil’ disturbing, but that’s neither here nor there.
Raekwon feat. Ghostface Killah “Criminology”: Rae’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx KILT every other album that dropped around that time (with Mobb Deep’s Infamous being a possible exception)… this being one reason why.
Mary J. Blige feat. Smif-N-Wessun “I Love You” (Remix): A favorite from MJB’s My Life album scores extra points with the addition of the Boot Camp Click’s gun clappers.
IN CASE YOU MISSED ‘EM: check out the other Summer Sevens HERE.
-D!
Posted by Danj! 
