#MNR: 4TH WARD TO FALLUJAH

#MNR:  4TH WARD TO FALLUJAH
 
“Used to ride around in a Crown Vic getting baggies off. Less than twelve months went from Crown’s Chicken to caviar.”
Sule’, #07631 GOAT
 
“I just suplexed your bitch like a wrestler. Dog, let it all fly, even the extras.”
E-Class of The Hoodies
 
“But still skeptic on who I cling to, cuz every single nigga that swing through ain’t my man just cuz we mingle, too much snake shit.”
AZ
 
It’s a beautiful thing when a dream is manifested.
 
I am blessed to have met Sule’ when he was a seventh-grade student at JDMS in Englewood, NJ. I soon learned that he was easily the sharpest blade of all aspiring MCs his age. He always had a great demeanor. He was always willing to listen and to learn. I told him to listen to the greats of my era like Nas and Buckshot. He listened. Yadda, yadda, yadda...he released his first “major” album on Benny the Butcher’s Black Soprano Family label, titled Written On Wides Corner. Released on 2.27.2024, the album is nine tracks in length and features Benny, Inspectah Deck, Fuego Base, Sy Ari Da Kid and The Hoodies. If you know Sule’, you know that he is and has always been super lyrical, and the flow is remarkable. He’s only gotten better with time, from the 4th Ward of Englewood to YF to Eviction Notice to Written On Wides Corner. Every track gets busy, but my clear favorite is “Crown Vic” featuring the duo The Hoodies. Su, E-Class and Young Poppa spit fireworks from front to back. Su set it off in his customary A++ lyrical form, matched by few of his ilk. The Hoodies take over after the hook and proceed to shut it down. I didn’t even know who these guys were before this song. I do now, MF. They remind me of Styles P. and Jadakiss. They sound completely unique, but the way they weave and intertwine their lyrics remind me of 2/3 of the legendary Yonkers trio. Tek and Steele of Smif -N-Wessun also come to mind. The track is 101 bananas. I can spin that shit back like two, tree, six times. Other standout tracks include “Courtesy Inn,” “Made For It” featuring The Butcher of Buffalo, “Wu-Sopranos” featuring Deck and Fuego Base and “Jodie,” a storytelling masterpiece reminiscent of "Julio” off his Eviction Notice EP. I am sincerely happy for my brother Sule’. He had a dream, he worked his ass off, he manifested it. I always saw this day coming because I knew he had everything necessary to be great: the ability, the expertise and the work ethic. He had two of the three when I met him back when. The expertise came with time. I am also happy for Englewood, NJ. Another one of its native sons/daughters has made it big. He’s an inspiration to every kid from this era, too young to remember Bill Willoughby, Bruce Harper, Regina and Bernard Belle and Big Bubba Drakeford and Today. Su joins NFL wide receiver Juwann Winfree (Colts) as role models for this current generation of Englewood’s babies. Keep winning Su. You earned every accolade and penny.
 
Rest in peace to Arthur Lee “AJ” Scott Jr, Tisha Pannell, Acie Francis, Nick Breedlove, Duron Moorefield and Michael Vanney, all members of the Halifax County High School class of 1996, and all gone far too soon.
 
HCHS c/o ’96 seniors voted the Fugees “Killing Me Softly” the song of the year for superlatives. I partied throughout my senior year, from Homecoming to house parties to white boy bonfire parties to prom after party to graduation night. We used to go crazy when Lauryn bellowed the bridge. It was and remains my favorite part of the song. I lost my classmates in diverse ways: auto accidents, heart attack, traumatic head injury, and suicide. Some of my friends have been gone for decades while some passed recently. It hurts when I think about them not getting the opportunity to see how wonderful midlife is; my 40s have been amazing. I miss them. But whenever Wyclef says, “a yo L, take ‘em to the bridge,” my classmates live on for those following 15 or 20 seconds. Long live all my fallen folk. I love y’all.
 
Y’all were on my mind. I rarely get the time to think about you all individually after thinking about you all collectively, but I did today. I am honored to have known you all, even if for the seemingly most insignificant things. Breedlove put us on to No Legs, the plug with the best satin in Halifax County. And yes, the nigga had no legs. Breedlove was a cool ass nigga, an old soul. Acie Francis was the prettiest white boy in the school. You know you’re pretty when the Black girls admittedly want to give you pussy. He was cool as a fan; I never saw any type of hubris in him. All I saw was humility and that $1M smile. He’d speak to the most unsightly girl with the same respect he would the prettiest. Tisha was a classmate in high school and university. I had supreme respect for Tisha on the court and off. Duron was a teammate and my nigga; we never had any type of quarrel. Mike was a rival and a teammate. I always thought the world of Mike. I know I’m not the only one. I wish he knew this in his heart before he took his life. AJ was my nigga. I kicked it in A’s mama’s crib. I smoked too many blunts with A. I competed with A. I admired A. A loved me. I loved my nigga A.
 
’96 and forever...
 
tRump, you’re on the clock. I’m finna start flame broiling your pathetic excuse for a human being ass in short time. And I’m not going to let up. I want my blue face, Tina Rose. This clown is cooked food in November.
 
Y’all know where the fuck to @ us.