#MNR: #LoveUnconditionally

MNR: Love Unconditionally

Could this be, be the one for me? That is really all I need. Someone to love me unconditionally (unconditionally).
SWV, “Love Unconditionally”

To be loved...to truly, absolutely, and indelibly be loved.
To be loved unconditionally.
It’s all I’ve ever wanted.
It seems so long...my season of loneliness.
And even that beats strange or marginal love.
You can keep that.
Been there, endured that.
That’s what tempted me to forfeit love’s possibility.
But, just as I’d all but given up, at the moment
I felt it was a lost cause,
you entered my life.
You showed me what it truly means to be loved unconditionally.
You brought life back to me.

I’d like to take the time to wish my lady a blessed born day. Of course I did that ‘pon dem midnight hour. But this is her day all 26 hours. And this portion of MNR is dedicated to HER. #143 BT

Soundtracks

There’s a blessed union between the movie and its soundtrack. A crazy sdtk makes a good movie even more memorable. I wish there was a camera to record me and the CEO reaction when Yeezy & Hov “HAM” played at the exact moment the party realized the gnome was full of rollers on Project X . We went absolutely...HAM. Or for the older heads and movie aficionados alike—The opening scene of Saturday Night Fever. Tony walking down the avenue while Bee Gees “Staying Alive” made his steps a hunnit times flyer. Or even better—the opening scene of Superfly with Priest chasing the fiend as Curtis wailed pure soul over the organ, bongos, drums, electric guitar, trumpet, sax, and violin on “Little Child Runnin’ Wild.” Fucking EPIC. Yes, I put the track on and listened to every instrument. Thank God for growing up in a musical family AND Music Appreciation freshman year at ye hallowed halls of VUU (1865 Panther Pride). But back to the soundtrack. Sure, there’s the scene and the song that matched up perfectly and became indelible in your heart. But on to other aspects. I’m always intrigued by that movie no one really cares about but has that one memorable song. There’s a movie from the ‘80s titled The Woman In Red. Pretty unmemorable aside from the fact it starred the great, late Gene Wilder AND the lead song off the sdtk...a little number by the name “I Just Called to Say I Love You” by the GOAT Stevie Wonderful. By the way, it won an Academy Award for best song (yeah, Stevie has an Oscar TOO). Then there’s that whatever trash ass Batman with the mid-90s Too Ugly For TV Seal and his powerful love ballad “Kiss From a Rose”. Completely fucking horrible movie. Like, I’d deadass rather watch the Leggo Batman movie over that ridiculously horrible Batman movie. It fucking sucked elephant and giraffe ass. But Seal completely killed that song. He put the love AND the ballad in love ballad. I digress. Then you have your R&B/hip hop sdtk. It may be my “Soul/R&B/hip hop is my culture” bias, but Black movies have the best and most memorable sdtks. Short range, I’ll mention the Black Panther sdtk. TDE did their MF thang in an era where the movie sdtk is vastly undervalued. I’m glad they brought some attention back to it. Here’s a short list of some of the best sdtk from the past 30 years: Above the Rim, Juice, New Jack City, Menace II Society, Idlewild, Soul Food, New Jersey Drive, Men In Black II, Friday, Crooklyn, Boomerang. At one time, the sdtk was damn near as big as the movie itself, and on rare moments, it did outshine the picture it accompanied. One such example is my favorite sdtk ever, The Show Soundtrack. The Show was a Def Jam produced documentary on hip hop that featured many of the top artists of the time: BIG, Wu, Dr. Dre, to name a few. The documentary, aside for the Wu argument featuring Meth vs Rae/Ghost, the doc marketed as a movie wasn’t particularly memorable. But that damn sdtk. That damn sdtk. There were plenty good songs, with quite a few obscure classics. Onyx turned in a rare “happy” track, the party friendly yet signature Onyx “Live”. My nigga Pac dropped one of his most memorable and heartfelt songs, the melancholy “My Block” (original version; my fav Pac song overall), 64 bars of the most real talk he ever spit. Many agree (including self) that Me Against The World is Tupac Shakur’s magnum opus, and the song was written during that time period, right before he went to prison. The mark of a great song is when you can play it a generation later and it still has absolute relevance. He breaks your heart 100 times on that song. You feel his pain. Next is perhaps the most memorable song on the classic sdtk, Red & Meth “How High” (LP Version). I prefer this version over the video version...and I LOVE the video version the same. The only difference is the beats. But the LP version pulsates crazier through the speakers. I think Red’s bar “I beez the ultimate rush to any nigga on dust” pretty much sums the song up quick fast and in a hurry. Then there’s the GOAT Mary J. MF Blige and her obscure gem “Everyday It Rains.” A lotta music heads overlook or forget about this one. But it’s from the My Life era, her best era musically. That shit has the quintessential MJB rock, sure to make the dance floor tap out in 2.5. I gotta throw in The Dove Shack “Summertime in the LBC” cuz that was me and my nigga Jab track freshman year. We used to two-part harmonize the hook. I had tenor, Jab had bass. Much love to my brother Aaron Joseph Baker. My fav all-time The Tribe delivered “Glamour and Glitz”, a solid ATCQ Tip unassisted track, solid but not at all classic classic. Just memorable classic. Definitely BRL era and not MM. Then there’s Uncle James Todd Smith with another obscure classic from a GOAT type artist on the project, “Papa Luv It”. In my opinion, as far as LL on his extra fly LL shit go, it’s his best track. MF may disagree. But understand what I’m really saying and give it a listen. You just might agree. To end the memorable track listing, the great, late BIG fella and Puff deliver a live version of “Me And My Bitch” that rocks the crowd into a frenzy. They had great chemistry performing together. We’ll always love BIG Poppa.

It’s my time y’all. Two blogs in 3.5 days with two jobs and a life is a MF. But thank God. Somehow, some way.

theunbearablescrew.com
tymonday.com
​