Days 29 & 30 #BlackMusicMonth #30DayMusicChallenge

I didn’t post yesterday because I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to pick for the prompt. A song you HAVE to play loud? I mean, I get it, but I feel like I don’t really blast music anymore, so I would have to go way back. And when I did blast music, what would I blast? Also, honestly, it’s less that I play an entire song last and more that there are specific verses–especially with rap–that I have to play loud.

Day 29: A song you have to play loud

So the first song that popped into my head for this was “It’s All About the Benjamins” by Puff Daddy and the Family, especially Li’l Kim’s and Biggie’s verses (so you know, the end).

I am also a fan of the rock remix. Same volume rules apply.

Day 30: A song that changed your life

Ugggggggh, this one was so hard. Why not a book? A TV show? A movie even? ANY OF THOSE QUESTIONS WOULD BE EASIER TO ANSWER. While music has always been present in my life, I do not think of any of it as life changing, so I had to dig deep. Real deep. And then it came to me.

When I was in 11th grade, I switched schools midway through the school year. (I don’t recommend this, generally speaking, even though all of the fiction I read/consume said this would lead to me being popular, etc. That only works if you are pretty in a specific kind of way. I still hate myself for buying into this fairytale. See what I mean? ASK ME ABOUT A BOOK.)

Anyway, in my pre-calculus class I bonded with two of the people in the class over Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” song and video. One was another girl who told me she was going to UMBC. Up until then, I was planning to go to Morgan State for college, but when I got the invite for the UMBC black student overnight, I decided to go and that was it. I wound up going there instead of to Morgan, which I never would have done if I hadn’t gone to that other high school and met that girl in my pre-calc class. And I never would have even cared about where she was going to school if we hadn’t talked about “Rock with You.”

And that’s a wrap for the Black Music Month 30 Day Music Challenge. I’m so glad I participated in this little meme/Twitter exercise. It was fun and a nice distraction from everything else that’s been going on. Not only that, but it made me revisit some of my favorites songs and artists (not all of whom appeared in my posts).

I hope Naima does it again next year, for sure.