According to That B*tch and Gossip Jacker T-Boz has some hating “A”zz friends in Atlanta. One of em has even decided to hit up some random forum and put all her business on blast. In the post, the loose lipped friend made sure he/she dropped names of some of the “A”‘s musical elite such as Dallas Austin, Rico Wade, Big Rube, Jermaine Dupri, Sleepy Brown and more to obviously add authenticity to her story.? We’ve all heard about T-Boz’s trials with her former hubby Mack 10, well this so-called friend of hers has dayum near written a tell-all book about Tionne’s life in Atlanta and her addiction to drama.
Now to be fair, all this could be made up bullsh*t and even if most of it’s true, we’ve all had our share of dumb mistakes with relationships. Lord knows I have…*sigh* But I decided to post it in it’s entirety simply because it was an interesting read and because I’ve been slacking on my pimpin…(insert side eye). Anywoo…anyone who grew up or lived here in the late 80’s will appreciate the time it took this fake “A”zz friend to compile all this data…Happy reading!
I’ve said this before that I went to high school with Tionne. It did not matter about her having sickle cell. She was always attracted to abusive men. She was supposed to graduate in 1988 from Campbell High School, in Fairburn, GA but she missed so many days from her hospitalizations that she graduated the next year from College Park High School. I found out later that the majority of her hospitalizations was due to her ex-boyfriend, Troy Long aka “Paco”, beating the crap out of her. It’s amazing how all of these kids ended up famous. Believe it or not, we went to school with a lot of the guys mentioned on this site. Dallas Austin transferred from Riverdale High School and went to Lakeshore High, along with Derek “Divine” Stevens.
It’s ironic how Tionne ended up in a group with Rozonda (Chili) because I remember, specifically going to a talent show at Mays High school to help Tionne find Rozonda. She wanted to whip her tail for sleeping with Troy Long.Patrick “Sleepy” Brown went to Therrell High School and he was in a dance group called “Guess”. Tionne and I met him at Jelly Beans skating rink. Tionne worked at LaMontae’s Beauty Supply on the corner of Headland and Delowe with Rico Wade. Patrick was introduced to Rico through Tionne and myself. They hooked up and started doing the music thing (funded by LaMontae who is now in prison for drugs). Rico ended up meeting Jermaine Dupree and at that time Jermaine was trying to start a girl singing group. Rico hooked Tionne up with Jermaine. Rozonda was not in the group at first. Rozonda replaced Sabrina, who went to prison for shoplifting. Tionne was a shoplifter as well between being a shampoo girl at Xcape hair salon. Tionne would go with Marie to client’s homes and met Pebbles. She complained about working with Jermaine Dupree and how he…
wasn’t doing anything but helping Kris Kross and Pebbles talked to Jermaine, who released them and they signed with La Face. To return the favor, Tionne set up a meeting between LA Reid and Rico, Ray and Patrick and they signed a deal with LaFace, thus beginning the career of Organized Noise.
In the meantime, Tionne’s star is rising and what is Troy doing? Beating the crap out of her and stealing money from her and her mother. By this time, Troy is smoking crack and has 3 prostitutes walking the tracks to support his habit. Tionne’s mom, Gayle, is trying to get her away from Troy but the spell is too strong. Troy was featured in TLC’s first video (What About Your Friends) He’s the darkskinned dude sitting on the couch and Tionne is laying in his lap. Tionne did not break up with him. He left her because LA Reid did some intervention by ripping her off and she had no money to give Troy. She then ran after Treach. Peppa put a quick stop to that. Sorry for being so longwinded. Bottom line: this turns her on.
I forgot to mention, Vonce Johnson, also went to school with us. He is married to Sam Cooke’s niece. He was Lakeshore High along with Dallas, Derek Stevenson, and myself. Don’t want to give too many details on that because then he’ll figure out who I am. I will say this:Vonce has a very checkered past. He’s originally from L.A. but he was so mature for his age. Even though we were underclassmen, Vonce would miss weeks at a time to go to New York and return wearing gear that we later see in hip hop magazines, months and sometimes years later. What we didn’t know is that Vonce had left L.A. because of his gang affiliation and that is how Tionne was hooked up with Mack 10. She always shifted from one gangsta to the next.
I remember when Troy Long threatened to sell pictures of Tionne to a tabloid. I ran into Vee and told him what Troy said. Vee’s exact words, “Mack is a crip and he would have crips crawling all over Atlanta, terrorizing that n—-!” BTW Troy looks a hot butt mess! The last I seen of him, he was working at the Hartsfield International Airport as a security guard. He has missing teeth on the top and bottom and looks a hundred years old. I would not have noticed him if he hadn’t called my name.I am really not clear on how Lisa ended up in the group. I am sure it had something to do with Sabrina. Sabrina was from New Jersey and when she was released from prison, she went back to Jersey. I am pretty sure that Sabrina hooked Lisa up with Tionne but I don’t know how or when. Lisa did not got to school with us and I moved away but when I came back, Lisa was in the picture.
I do not want to give the impression that I can just pick up the phone and call them because this is not the case. We grew up together and went our separate ways in our early 20’s. I am going to speculate on the distance process. There was a lot of things that LaFace artists could not do and certain places they couldn’t go unless cleared by their managers and they had tons of meetings because back then, a lot of things were going on. Damian Dame, I don’t know if you guys remember. They had a hit out called “Exclusivity”. Well, Damian was getting into a lot of trouble. He’d got really strung out on drugs. He married Carol. She’s the owner of Xcape hair salon. The same hair salon were Tionne worked as a shampoo girl. Carol’s salon was located on Cleaveland avenue, in the Kroger’s plaza. It was on top of Radio Shack. You had to walk up steps to get to her salon.
She (Carol) was a bipolar. She was notorious for flipping out and calling the police. She even called the police on Tionne and accused her of stealing towels, color, shampoo and conditioner. Carol is/was a genius when it comes to hair. She even worked with Paul Mitchell and he financed a black hair product line that Carol designed. So a lot of her behavior was overlooked. But when she married Damian, she would go on the rampage and accuse her own clients of sleeping with Damian. She would go to clubs, strip joints, and houses to confront Damian’s suspected lovers. Also, Derek “Divine” Stevenson was being groomed by LaFace to become the next Bobby Brown. This boy was so talented. He was in a dance group called Fresh Dancing Crew, in high school and we knew he could sing and dance. Well, when he signed to LaFace, he got too full of himself. LaFace had financed a house and car for him and he was always out on the town partying with his entourage. He’d miss rehearsals, recording sessions, and fail to report mandatory meetings. Reid had to make an example out of Derek so he put him on the back burner and eventually released him.
Usher later stepped in line to be groomed for the next “Bobby Brown”. This move scared a lot of the artists and they stopped hanging out as much. But you could always go over on Conrad avenue (Lakewood Ampitheatre area) and hang out at Rico Wade’s mom’s house. They had turned the basement into a studio, thus beginning the infamous “Dungeon”. This is where the Dungeon Family, Outkast, Goody Mob, Big Rube and other LaFace artist could be found. They would stand in a circle in an empty room upstairs with a red light and smoke herb and listen to their music that they were creating.I can’t see my posts so I’m not sure if I’m double posting. I moved away and Tionne changed all of her numbers and moved away from her house on Delowe Drive. I believe she purchased a home in Stone Mountain and Patrick married and bought Evander Holyfield’s ex-wife’s house. I would come to town to see my relatives and I would stop by Rico’s or run into Derek or Vee and they would give me updates on all of our classmates but Lisa did not grow up with us so I don’t really know that much about her. I knew one of Tionne’s aunts, married her (Lisa) uncle.Pebbles caught L.A. and Rozonda and all hell broke loose. Now what I can tell you about Lisa is that she was a very pretty and humble young lady. She began to drink heavily and would tell anyone that would listen that they were being ripped off. Pebbles justified it by saying she had to buy them out of the contract with Jermaine. We didn’t believe her until they filed for bankruptcy.
Any poster, that grew up in Atlanta, was aware of Lisa’s record. She was arrested at the Turner Field stadium for public drunkiness and she was the type that wouldn’t cause any trouble but would tell you what was on her mind when she was intoxicated. I liked her a lot because she was down to earth but our encounters were public encounters. I never hung out with her behind the scenes, only ran into her at clubs. I hung in circles that crossed over into her circles.I don’t know anything about Prince and Rozonda. I just learned that from Ms. Sable. I thought it was scandalous because I remember when Dallas and Vee spent a lot of time in Minneapolis with Prince and Dallas has a son with Rozonda. So that is just crazy to me that she gets down like that. But she was known to be a nympho in high school and that is why Tionne wanted to fight her. She had been creeping with Troy and come to think of it…Who knows? Maybe Troy made Tionne “get along” with Rozonda. He really did have that much power of her…I don’t know, with Rozonda part. This is just pure speculation on my part.But isn’t it funny how Rozonda didn’t complain when they filed bankruptcy. She was sleeping with L.A. and Dallas (who BTW was producing some of their album).I hope I didn’t sound rude with that last statement. I want to be clear and state what I do know not what I don’t because I would be lying.
I know that Rico lived in some apartments on the corner of Headland and Delowe, right across the street from the plaza that he and Tionne worked at the beauty supply store. Tionne lived right down the street from him in a brick house on Delowe, right across the street from an elementary school. Rico lived with his mom and little sister.Rico was more Tionne’s friend than mines. We became closer because Rico knew we (Tionne & I) were hanging out with Guess and he wanted to meet them and join their dance group. Rico’s heart was in the right place but he couldn’t dance. He was so tall and lanky… it was “sight” to say the least when Guess would battle rival dance crews at Jelly Beans. But Rico was hell on those skates! Patrick saw potential in Rico. They shared a mutual love for music. Patrick and Rico just vibed like that.Patrick’s daddy was in that group from back in the day called, “Brick”. They had that song that I loved called, “We Don’t Want To Sit Down, We Want to Get Down.”Patrick lived off of Old Fairburn Road by Camp Creek parkway, with his mom. His dad lived in some apartments on Washington road. So we would meet up at some of the places mentioned. LaMontae rented a space for Rico and Patrick right next to Jelly Beans on Old Fairburn Road and when LaMontae went to prison, they lost that space but Rico’s mom then moved into that brick house on the corner of Conrad avenue and they moved their equipment into her basement.
By this time, they had a large following but I didn’t know half of those people. The only reason why I knew Big Rube so well (because I did not go to school with him) is because he would be reading a lot of books about Egypt and studying numerology and he would break down how these things applied to life. But as far as the material they produced, I’d listen to whatever they played for me and it was mostly like hanging out with some urban eccentric hippies. I was so lame and naive and would be mesmerized simply by the atmosphere that my friends had created. It was so beautiful to them vibing like that but I’m sorry I don’t have the answers you are searching for. I remember that song on the radio but I don’t know and knowing Rico, if he said he produced it than I believe him because he doesn’t lie about stuff like that. His passion for music is so strong, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s produced more than he’s getting credit for. He discovered Nivea and I don’t know if he got credit for that.
I am not sure if the salon is still open but I know Carol is still doing hair. I saw her at the Buckhead Grand but I am not sure if she still lives there. You know she contracted AIDS from Damian? That is what Damian REALLY died from. She was so busy beating women of him but didn’t know he was bi-sexual. She had a daughter by him and thank God the baby did not contract it.Carol had opened a salon on the bottom of the first Xcape salon. She had an awesome hairdresser in there, by the name of Napoleon, but she always ran everyone off. Marie was the only person that could really put up with Carol. I know she also put a salon, downtown at one point and even opened up a beauty college. But I don’t have to tell you, Ms. A. Princess, how Carol looks. You have seen her yourself. She’s so frail and I just sigh with relief when I run into and see that she’s still maintaining because Damian died from full-blown AIDS.
Oh yeah! And you know that’s Carol that’s doing Neffe’s hair on that Keyshia Cole show? Remember when Neffe was crying in the kitchen and explaining her past with her ex-husband? Well, Carol is the skinny one with the glasses on, that’s asking Neffe all the questions.
