It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
Not failure, but low aim is the sin. – Dr. Benjamin E. Mays

When I was a li’l gul, 3450 Sewell Road was just a big old hill with a bunch of trees next to I-285 expressway that we passed if we took the long way to Southwest Hospital. A couple of years and a street name change later, it became Mays High School.

I went to its feeder middle school, but I didn’t go to Mays because I was lazy. While they cleared a number of the trees, the school was built at the tip top of that dang-on hill. My momma didn’t have reliable transportation, so if I had to (or chose to) stay afterschool, I had to hike “The Hill” to get home. Do that in 90 degree August and May Atlanta heat, get on a MARTA bus and then do some homework:

But I digress…

Back in my day, Mays was virtually an all African-American institution at the pinnacle of urban public education. It was located in one of the more affluent neighborhoods in the city and the Math and Science Academy magnet program was literally churning out rocket scientists. (more…)

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]]> http://straightfromthea.com/2009/09/07/video-straightfromthea-tv-weekly-recap-we-9209/feed/ 5 http://straightfromthea.com/2009/07/10/o-s-a-m-dj-kizzy-rock-yeah-shawty-yeah-flashback-video/ http://straightfromthea.com/2009/07/10/o-s-a-m-dj-kizzy-rock-yeah-shawty-yeah-flashback-video/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:19:39 +0000 ATLien http://straightfromthea.com/?p=15798

I caught up with an A-town legend a few weeks ago during birthday bash…the one and only DJ Kizzy Rock and of course I couldn’t resist grabbing a bit of Old School Atlanta Memory footage from him for the archives. Kizzy Rock had us all in stitches as he reminisced about Freaknik 94 and Club 559.  Check him out below:

Today’s flashback video is none other than DJ Kizzy Rock’s skripper anthem “Yeah Shawty Yeah.” Back when asymetrical hair cuts were the norm and all the cool dudes drove Jeep Wranglers. Peep the full video under the cut (NSFW):

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Once a staple at Greenbriar Flea Market, Eddie’s Gold Teeth catered to any ATLien who had an appetite for a grill. So in honor of the “Flashback,” I thought I’d devote a post to Mr. Eddie Plein. The “godfather of grills,” also known as the owner of Eddie’s Gold Teeth. I’ve never met Eddie personally, but I HAVE met several recipients of his custom works. By the way, you have too…there’s Big Boi, Andre 3000, Big Gipp, Lil Jon, Cee-Lo….the list goes on and on. Not to mention the non-rapping regular joes who just wanted to have a lil GOLD in their mouf!

The fad has since gave way to porcelain veneers but the fond memories of the bling shall remain in our hearts forever.

Yep…Eddie Plein was/is responsible for all of THAT and contrary to popular belief, wearing grills started in South America and not Southwest Atlanta! Ha!  Peep what Eddie had to say about how the fad started, why his craziest request was from Andre 3000 and what he’s up to now: (more…)

So, I’m sitting at my daughter’s honor’s program with one of her best friends, Braves-game-ghetto-cheering for all of their ‘The Smawwt One’ buddies. I love this kid! He was all hugged up in the parking lot with his Sasha/Malia-looking girlfriend yesterday who is on her way to UGA to study pre-med, I believe. He plays in the inner-city high school band and was actually in a fairly popular snap music video for a few seconds (below).

When they all went to the Battle of The Bands college fair earlier this school year, they got stopped by members of other bands who recognized him from his cameo. Purportedly, “He got that fire!” Did I mention that he’s white?

That White Kid. Remember him? Not the Jamie Kennedy, Straight From The ‘Bu caricature kid who walked around “acting black” and only saw black folk on tv, one lunchroom table over and at his back door, but the kid who was very aware of his “whiteness” in a sepia-toned world and didn’t care. (more…)

TV One has this incredible series called Unsung about old school music groups and artists whose careers experienced premature endings. It’s pretty good stuff, but not too revelatory to The Smaaawt One (a pet name given me by one of my oldest buddies). It just so happens that most of the acts have always been counted among my favorites – except one.

I never really knew a whole lot about The Clark Sisters. I was a child of hippies in the 70’s who wasn’t really raised in church in the 80’s. To be honest, the first time I ever remember actually going into an Atlanta church for a service with my mother voluntarily was when she got cancer and started bargaining with The Father to spare her a premature smite. She might have been a hippie, but she wasn’t no fool and knew exactly where to appeal when times got tough. I had more than a few friends, though, who were all up in the sanctuary singing at every opportunity they could find back in the day. Choir rehearsal to some in Atlanta was like working out – they sweat through it daily, for long periods of time, diligently. So, other than listening to them on WCLK’s Sunday gospel show and listening to those friends try to approximate those lush harmonies, I never knew anything about that family, that group, until that show. What I did know was that Xscape did a rousing rendition of one of their most popular songs on their first album that still stands as one of my favorite remakes of all time.

Is My Living In Vain ~ Xscape

When you’re a teen (as a few of them were when they made that album) you tend to think that everyone will live forever. Even if yo silly behind is playing chicken back on a still-undeveloped Kimberly Mill Rd. in ’80-nunnayobusiness (more…)

Yet again, I’ve creeped over to my friend’s site and snatched up one of her good O.S.A.Ms (Old School Atlanta Memories). This week it’s the Youngbloodz. Remember them? You never really miss something until it’s gone and I realize I really miss these two together. The duo behind today’s “A” Pod classic jams “Damn” and “U-Way” have gone their separate ways, but are still quite active in the industry.  And in honor of Flashback Friday, take a moment to reflect with my friend as she shares what she learned while working on the set with Youngbloodz and the attic crew:

It may not be headlines like when Jay Z split with Irv or Snoop with Dre but one of my favorite groups in Atlanta has always been the Youngbloodz and to know that they are not a duo anymore puts me in a melancholy state of mind. Now the fan in me is MAD AS HELL, I love their swag as a rap group, I knew they were having their difficulties but damn if Dre and Big Boi can do it then why not the Youngbloodz. The picture taken above was from one of their last videos Chop Chop, I was the assistant director and it was a long cold day but somehow, I just didn’t mind because I love these guys.

Finally one day I decieded to stop being selfish for one minute and was able to realize the SECRET TO THIS ENTRY, ITS VERY SIMPLE – FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON.

Now I’m gonna take you back to a night I can recall at Club 112 a few years back; it was an album release party for Ludacris, and all of Atlanta’s royalty came out to support. The VIP was an Atlien who’s who list. I was sitting down near Michael Vick and my friends were asking me if was I going to follow them back to his house.

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