my first love: sneak peak of the book I'm writing

here is the opening chapter (intro) to a book I'm writing called

my first love:

Memoirs, memories, RANDOM RANTS

& confessions of a hip hop junkie.

I'm posting it here to share it with all of you

please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think, enjoy.............

INTRO
Confessions of a hip hop junkie

Nice & Smooth is funky

Also hip-hop junkies

All we wanna do...Is Unh Unh in you...

I am in no way tryna pass this off as the official guide of hip hop, or the official history of hip hop. There will be many disappointed or down right upset cause I didn’t mention them or their importance to this culture. To those I quickly apologize but I truly believe that no one will ever totally capture every aspect of this culture and everyone who have played a part big and small. Some will come closer than others, but everyone will tell their story from their point of view and that’s all I am attempting to do here. Hip hop is too big for that, too large to be capture in one mere book or even a set of encyclopedias. There will always be an update or a revision. Hip hop has so many stories, many sides and this is just my story, things that influenced me, my memoirs, random rants, memories and the confessions of a hip hop junkie.

No one is new to this or new to Kris

In hip hop's atomic structure, I am the nucleus…

Like KRS ONE said once on a record and in several interviews, I AM HIP HOP. Later when I questioned him on what sounded too many including myself the first time I heard it, as very egotistical. How can anyone man make that claim, it’s bigger than that. He told me in an interview when he made that statement he wasn’t only speaking for himself, he was speakin’ for many of us, Than he looked across the table at me pause and followed that up with ‘AJ, YOU ARE HIP HOP’ as well.

We met briefly back in the days when we were on B-Boy Records together as artists in 1987 (wow the mere mention that record company is still like a bad taste in my mouth that won't go away, to this day). He told me as a hip hop head who has been in this as long as I have, as a writer with a true sense of the history of hip hop, I have a responsibility to document our history, to capture as much of the culture on paper as possible so others outside of our culture don’t rewrite history the way they did Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, Blues and the other music genres we have created and haven’t been properly credited for. I didn’t take it that serious then but Kris I did heard what you were saying and this is my brief attempt to bring us one step closer to that. The revolution may not be televised but as long as I have breath in my life it will be recorded.

Many other hip hop headz through out the years after we had gotten into these deep philosophical conversations of hip hop, talking about who is or was then, hip hop and where it is now, many of those conversation more times than not usually ended with someone saying, ‘Damn you need to write all this down, you need to write a book.‘ To all of them, this book is for you.
A good friend of mine Wendy Day of The Rap Coalition not too long after our first meeting, told me back in 1990 that I need to start keeping a journal, I need to write of book of my experiences like my memoirs. I laughed at the idea, like who wants to read that. I look at someone older, more successful writing memoirs, someone like Quincy Jones or Russell Simons who has been through everything accomplished so much. I didn’t take her serious at the time, but Wendy here it is, thanx for all you have done and taught me about this biz.
Through the years as an artist, manager, promoter, writer, street promotions rep, college radio promoter, video show host, writer and editor as well as underground radio personality, I have realized many headz tend to come to me for info. Tend to look at my as a source of what’s hot, as far as that new album or a movie coming out. Tracii Macgregor, former editor of The Source Magazine used to come to me as a source of information on a story another writer did dealing with the old school. The words: Additional Information by AJ Woodson would run at the bottom of those particular pieces. At first I would get mad I didn’t get the piece in the first place.
But now I realized God blessed me with a big mouth and the gift of communicating, whether it be, orally articulating and dispensing information to people or the gift to write and make you feel like you were right there, which is why my company is called Big Mouth Ntertainment. The gift of recalling information and/ or retelling of stories or events (even when I don’t remember every detail) has always been a strong point of mine. Mama always said, ‘know ya strengths and ya weaknesses.’ So I just started do what it is I do.
The finally thing that happened and led to this book being written was when I was goin over some things I wrote awhile ago with my homegirl Tachelle Wilkes, another fellow writer as well as a dope upcoming poet starting to make a name for herself, one of the creators of Femmixx.com. We had done some writing’ for a new magazine that never came out. Tachelle left me a few messages telling me we need to do something with what we had written. My hard drive had crashed on my laptop so I asked her to resend me the portions I had written. After reading them, so many other memories starting poppin back up in my head, and the stories I wrote a few years ago and never saw the light of day ended up being the beginning of the first few chapters of this book. Thanx for ya constant push and inspiration to write this book
Sure this isn’t even the first book of this kind floating around out there and I am not the first to document and write about hip hop, big up to my man Nelson George who I have only met once or twice, who is the voice of hip hop he has always been a personal inspiration to me. Writer like Nelson, Harry Allen, Havelock Nelson, Michael Gonzales, Smokey Fontaine (who have all had books out on or about hip hop, that I’ve read several times) and the entire On The Go Magazine staff (one of the dopest hip hop magazines ever and the most fun I ever had writing,) and all the editors I have worked with though out the years thanx for the personal tips, inspirational words to make me a better writer and believe in myself and ability or for just being an inspiration by doin what you do.
I believe we all have our own style and flava and God willing you will enjoy the ride, as I take you on a journey through my hip hop and what hip hop has meant to me.
I called this intro ‘confessions of a hip hop junkie,’ because this has always been in my soul, my spirit, my very being most of my life, before the first hip hop records, when they wasn’t a name for what we do or who we were. After the recording artist portion of my career was over I stepped away from hip hop but it kept calling me back in. I have quit and broke up with hip hop the way one would a lover or spouse. I have tried to distance myself from hip hop but like Pookie in New Jack City, “It keeps callin’ me.”
Like that first good sex ya ever got in ya life or ya first true love. That girl might drive you crazy but damn that sex is good. Hip hop was my first true love. I will always love her no matter how much she pisses me off.

I met this girl, when I was ten years old

And what I loved most she had so much soul

She was old school, when I was just a shorty

Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me

Not The regular, not a church girl she was secular

Not about the money, no studs was mic checkin her

But I respected her, she hit me in the heart

A few New York niggaz, had did her in the park

But she was there for me, and I was there for her

Pull out a chair for her, turn on the air for her

And just cool out, cool out and listen to her

Hittin on a bone, wishin that I could do her

Eventually if it was meant to be, then it would be

Because we related, physically and mentally

And she was fun then, I'd be geeked when she'd come around

Slim was fresh yo, when she was underground

Original, pure untampered and down sister

Boy I tell ya, I miss her

I was a few years older when I met her, but like Common I Used To Love H.E.R., she will always be my true love even though I’m not feeling every person she associates herself with these days, I will always have her back, she can never need anything and I won't be there for her.

Love of my life, you are my friend Love of my life, I can't give in Love of my life, Without you babe, feels like a simple true love But this shit ain't clear

I despise all those who rape her for their own personal gain with out contributing anything to her. I can't seem to turn my back on her. Just ask my wife who can tell you hip hop is the mistress that she has always had to share me with. Baby this book is for you.

Ya'll know how I met her

We broke up and got back together

To get her back I had to sweat her

Thought she rode with bad boys forever

In many ways them boys made it better

To grow I had to let her

She needed chedder

And I understood that Lookin' for cheese that don't make her a hood rat

In fact she's a queen To me her light beams

on me I love it when she sings to me-
(Erykah Badu f/ common -Love Of My Life (Ode To Hip Hop)

- Brown Sugar Soundtrack)

The movie Brown Sugar was also a great inspiration for this book as well. Like the lead character, a writer as well, I put off this book off for years because I wasn’t sure I could write on this level. But this book has been floating around in my head, like old re runs of a 70s sitcom. It was something I just had to do.
Hip hop is my vice, my addiction, my drug of choice, and I thank you for letting me share my experiences, and memories, all I loved and hated about hip hop with you. This book is my ode to hip hop- the love of my life. Hope you enjoy readin’ it as much as I enjoyed writin’ it.

Hello everyone, my name is A.J. Woodson and I’m a hip hop junkie.

© AJ (AJ ROK) WOODSON
HIP HOP JUNKIE 4 LIFE