#MNR:2023 RETROSPECTIVE

#MNR: 2023 RETROSPECTIVE
 
“Dearly departed, for years I reminisced, inhaling chocolate.”
Nature
 
“We don’t want no problems, B. Get your name in the obituary column sheet. Cuz life is too short, and it just gets shorter. I wish I had a quarter for all my people they slaughter.”
Special Ed
 
TYRONE THOMPSON, SR. · TAMICA EPPS · RODERICK BOO ROBINSON · JADON JOHNSON · TRUGOY THE DOVE · ANDRE BRAUGHER · MUTULU SHAKUR · TINA TURNER · JIM BROWN · HARRY BELAFONTE · WILLIS REED · AHMAD JAMAL · LANCE REDDICK · RICHARD ROUNDTREE · RUDOLPH ISLEY · MAGOO · GANGSTA BOO · IRISH GRINSTEAD · TASHA BUTTS · BILL LEE · ELISE FINCH · RUSCHELL BOONE · VIDA BLUE · OTIS TAYLOR · WAYNE SHORTER · RON CEPHAS JONES · ELLEN HOLLY · GEORGE BROWN · SUZANNE SOMERS · BOB BARKER · JIMMY BUFFETT · BROOKS ROBINSON · BOB KNIGHT · ROSALYNN CARTER · BURT YOUNG · NORMAN LEAR · MATTHEW PERRY · DIANNE FEINSTEIN · JEFF BECK · PAUL REUBENS · RYAN O’NEAL · JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR · BILL RICHARDSON · SINEAD O’CONNOR · JANE BIRKIN · TONY BENNETT · JERRY SPRINGER · RAQUEL WELCH · BURT BACHARACH · BOBBY HULL · LISA LORING · BILLY PACKER · DAVID CROSBY · LISA MARIE PRESLEY · GAIL O’NEIL · CLARENCE AVANT · CHRISTINE KING FARRIS · WALTER DAVIS · DJ CASPER · HUGHES VON ELLIS · CHICO DEL VEC · DJ MARK THE 45 KING · HOWELL WAYNANS · BIG POKEY · GEORGE MCGINNIS
 
“Read the headlines – Noreaga blast with nines.”
Tragedy Khadafi
 
ISRAEL BOMBS GAZA, REPEATEDLY
4 INDICTMENTS, 91 CHARGES FOR #45
HAWAII WILDFIRES KILL 99, WIPE OUT TOWN
MESSI COMES TO AMERICA
TITAN SUBMERSIBLE GOES MISSING, IMPLODES
HUNTER GETS INDICTED
CANADIAN WILDFIRES FUCK UP AMERICAN LUNGS
TRAIN DERAILS IN EAST PALESTINE (OH), CAUSES TOXIC FIRE
MIGRANT BUSSING TO LIBERAL CITIES TESTS URBAN RESOLVE
 
“And discover, my level is that of no other.”
Black Thought
 
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS · DENVER NUGGETS · LAS VEGAS ACES · LAS VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS · TEXAS RANGERS · MANCHESTER CITY · GEORGIA BULLDOGS · CONNECTICUT HUSKIES · LSU TIGERS · OKLAHOMA SOONERS · LSU TIGERS · QUINNIPIAC · WISCONSIN
 
 
 
 
 
“Last year, around the time this year, if I would’ve got locked, yo, I wouldn’t even care.”
N.O.R.E.
 
2023 was a year of definitive endings and new beginnings. It was the first full year in seemingly too long that COVID-19 didn’t dominate the news in some form or fashion. It’s far from being eradicated and likely never will be, but it is far removed from the headlines and has ceased being a point of contention. Out of sight, out of mind (I guess). Apparently there’s a new variant strand that’s causing concern... (Ju voice) NEXT! We may have moved on from COVID, but its enduring effects still linger. The supermarket continued to be out of control in 2023. Shrinkflation is the realest shit since the invention of the air fryer. Frito-Lay should be ashamed of itself. Y’all fucked up the pack. Literally. PepsiCo is their parent company, and they’ve been just as shiesty with pricing. There are plenty of other companies involved in the fuckery; serving sizes decrease yet prices increase. In some cases, they increase drastically. Thankfully, pump prices eased up in the last quarter of 2023. Last I checked, a gallon of petrol is $2.95 in North Jersey. Housing continued to be in low stock, though mortgage rates and prices remained high in 2023. Good luck. Nike continued to bump up in pricing in 2023, but I can say that sneaker availability was better than the prior couple of years. The sneaker resell market fell dramatically, thankfully. Playlists continued to dominate the music scene as album sales continued to approach irrelevance due to streams. The only major release that I can remember came from Drake. I don’t remember the album title, but I do remember that his son drew the album cover art (that’s love). It received meh reviews and wasn’t mentioned in popular culture within a month. From what I did hear on the album, it was a quarter pound of mid. His Joe Budden-eviscerating IG post rang more bells than the album. His metrosexual (at best) photo shoot caused more of a stir than the album did, too. I had to add that. It’s the nigga in me. I do know that Brent Faiyaz is my favorite young R&B artist not named H.E.R. His Larger Than Life mixtape was my favorite project of 2023, and “Forever Yours” was my favorite track of 2023. Yes, all 1:36 of it. Nas and Hit-Boy concluded (allegedly) their epic six albums in 37-months run by dropping Magic 2 AND Magic 3 in 2023. To sum it all up in a single word, it was...magic. I became a K-Pop fan in 2023, as Tonantzin, one of my students, formally introduced me to the genre. She’s a big Blackpink fan, but “OMG” by NewJeans was my favorite K-Pop bop of 2023. 270 Park Avenue, aka the JPMorgan Chase Building, plateaued in 2023, and says hello to me every morning as I approach the Lincoln Tunnel helix. Its base and middle have glass exteriors in place while the uppermost part remains bare, surrounded by scaffolding. It is expected to be completed by 2025. I can hardly wait. Oh yeah, speaking of “can hardly wait,” Rockstar formally announced a 2025 GTA6 release date in late 2023. Word is the most expensive version will be anywhere from $150-$200. PlayStation Network, please charge my AmEx immechiately.
 
School and mass shootings continued in 2023. Yeah, it’s as American as apple pie.
 
 I don’t like what Israel is doing to Palestine. They took one terrorist attack and went super OD. I understand that Hamas committed a true act of terror, but killing 50K civilians is past ridiculous. You’ve bombed Gaza to the point that those folk have nothing left to return to. That’s all the way fucked up. I’m also not a fan of the propaganda that is disseminated through YouTube ads. Ain’t shit you can tell me to justify what’s being done. Ye too shall be judged accordingly.
 
I respect the migrant dreamers and their quests for decent lives, but there’s no room in our major cities for you. You ain’t got to go home, but you got to get the fuck up out of here. Respectfully.
 
If you’re stupid enough to think that Donald J. tRump is being persecuted through prosecution, you are in the throes of a cult. It’s going to get very dark for your god in 2024. Please don’t blow up a federal building while I’m up in that bitch trying to get some paperwork straight. Just go into your doomsday bunker, take the pin out of a hand grenade, caress it and do the Griddy until you hear a pop.
 
“Meditate daily, I do so I sort, things I consider in my mind as deep thought.”
O.C.
 
In 2023, life did a lot of lifing. I began the year under the assumption that I had secured my Great Value version of a dream job, only to be deceived in the end. It almost crushed me, but I kept the faith. I applied for a job at an autism center in the city just ‘cause. I had no expectations. I went on the interview because it was a day off from two jobs and an opportunity to potentially bum around in the city after another letdown. I actually got the job. I actually got to remember the feeling of working a single job (I’ll probably still get a PT). I actually got to matter again as an employee. Goodbye, EPSD. I love most of the kids from over the years. I love plenty of the faculty throughout the district, past and present. I don’t love EPSD. Au revoir. And then, just when it seemed like everything was Candy Lane, I lost two of my Virginia Union folk within weeks of one another. I learned that my guy Boo passed after battling an illness. Shit hurt. I road tripped with my bro Louie and Boo to The Lou. We shared some good times back when. Before I could begin to digest losing Boo, I got word that my baby girl Meek died in an auto accident. That damn near crushed me. I loved that girl. She was my kind of people. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully get over that one. You know what they say, y’all. Death comes in... I lost my father in May. He succumbed to the same thing that almost ended me exactly four years ago: a pulmonary embolism. He and I hadn’t spoken in a decade, but the last time we did speak, my last words to him were, “I love you, dad.” Tyrone and I are straight. If he made it up top, I hope he did right by Shareon. If he didn’t... I ended a long-term relationship with an extraordinary lady in 2023. It wasn’t easy for either one of us. I’m thankful that we’re in a good place. All these things happened before June. C’est la vie. The second half of the year wasn’t quite as eventful [thankfully]. I did make it to Homecoming. It’s always the greatest of blessings to spend time with my folk from college era. Our bonds are indelible. 2023 was alright, I suppose. I made it through. Here’s to 2024. We have so much to live for. Let’s get it.
 
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