Growing up as a kid in the 80's and as a pre-teen/adolescent in the 90's. I honestly can't point to one particular black female artist that made a impact on my life, but I can take you down a path through memory lane from the very first that did to the very last. The first black female singer I absolutely fell in love with was Whitney Houston. When I tell you this very day. I still get goosebumps whenever I listen to her songs(I'll Always Love You, my fav song from her) She had such an angelic voice. I literally can picture her in heaven playing the harp, just singing away. Janet Jackson most definitely make the list, but before we knew Janet the singer. We all fell in love with "Penny" her character in the sitcom "Good Times". She was Michael Jackson's baby sister , who made a name for herself with her own brilliance. As far as the title of princess. Janet was the first princess of pop and r&b. I thought she was just the Prettiest Young Thing. I still want to marry Janet lol. Favorite song from her is "Anytime, Any place" .Mariah Carey was another black female artist who I enjoyed listening to. She was literally the female version of Michael Jackson at the time. She set records as far as number 1's on the Billboard. I can play any of her albums with no skips in between. "My All" is my favorite song from her. Hey get your pen and paper now, because when I'm done writing this you gonna make a playlist from it. Keep in mind I'm not listing my personal top list. I'm listing based off the chronological order I first heard their music. The top list is for another story. Toni Braxton is next on my list. I just thought she was drop dead gorgeous. She has that sultry , sensual silk like voice. I really enjoyed her music because she didn't bite her tongue yet she was vulnerable. I remember listening to her songs and thinking I do not want to be the type of guy who she made the sad songs about. My favorite song from her is "unbreak my heart". I want to mention the female groups here, because TLC is the only group from the 90's I'm writing about, because if I wrote about SWV, Total, Xscape, EnVogue, Changing Faces, Salt-N-Pepa, 702, Blaque, Brownstone, Divine, Jade, Kut Klose . This would be a book instead of an article:) I'm just gone put this out there. Chili was my favorite out the group, but damn this group right here. Anytime there was a house party anywhere. TLC music was played. Didn't matter if the tempo was fast or a slow jam. Parties and dances were made memorable because of TLC. My favorite song from them is "Creep". As we exit one of the best decades of my lifetime, but before we do I can't leave without mentioning "Baby girl" Aaliyah was the Princess Of R&B for my generation. She was a classic beauty. A classy woman all around. You know the kind of girl that stands out in a crowd, make the toughest homeboyz fall deep in love. I cried when I heard she died. She was truly special. Anytime I see her in movies. I get that same feeling I get when I watch any 2pac movie. She wasn't your average star. She was a shooting star. You rarely see shooting stars. My favorite song from her is "The one I gave my heart to". Last but definitely not least is Destiny's Child closing out the 90's. This most definitely was the start of the independent woman. TLC set the stage for them to come out with the type of music they made and Destiny's Child took the torch and ran like Forrest Gump with it. My favorite song by them is "Emotion". The last artist I'm speaking on and it's other singers after her that's definitely worth mentioning, but she still the standard, at least to me. I'm getting goosebumps as I write this(omg)Ladies and gentlemen without further ado. I'd like to talk about the incomparable Alicia Keyes. My fantasy wife. The love I never experienced. Alicia is amazing. One can only be so lucky(swizz beats)I'm a band geek so the fact she plays the piano too is icing on the cake. She's such a younique talent. I'm not a star struck type of guy like I don't go crazy insane over celebrities, but if I could pick a celebrity I would like to meet. It's definitely Alicia, no doubt. She's a musical genius plus she's beautiful. The Most High definitely showed out when He created Alicia. I know I sound like a 15 year school girl talking about her crush, but the woman is phenomenal. Hell the "Girl is on fire" and "No One" can put her out. It's "Un-Thinkable" that I've "Fallen" for this beautiful woman through her music. She definitely made me appreciate "A Woman's Worth" and Alicia "You Don't Know My Name" but we have something "In Common" but I'll keep that a "Secret" . You are truly a "Superwoman" and I will continue to watch your videos "Like I'll Never See You Again" Keep living the way you want and I'm "So Done" with this article..
About the Creator
Matthew Haywood
just an enlightened being living free
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Controlling Your Triggers
We all have things and people that agitate us. They say whatever causes you to act out in frustration in any situation controls you. For example if you're in a good mood and someone says something offensive to you and you get upset. That person has power over you. They become your master. You've given them authority over your actions. I know it might feel good momentarily to curse someone out or even beating the breaks off someone and afterwards you might not want to admit it, but inside you don't feel right about how you handled the situation. You might not feel bad about cursing the individual out, because truth be told. It's a good chance they deserved it. You feel bad because you let yourself get to that point where you stooped down to their level. You know you're better than that, but that's the way emotions work though, it's so impulsive and can happen in the blink of an eye without an thought. Now medically speaking, they say an individual with damage to the pre-fontal cortex(region of the brain that moderates behavior)have a hard time controlling anger. Which maybe true, but I'm no doctor. I honestly think smoking marijuana can solve that problem. That's another story though. There's other ways you can control your triggers. The best superpower you can possess is the power to remain calm in any situation. You know it's actually people in the world that feed off their ability to make other people feel upset, because they're unhappy about their own life? A persons' perception of you is a reflection of how they feel about themselves. If you the type of person who see good in others despite what others may say. You're a person who feels good about oneself, because your perception of people is a mirror of how you feel about yourself. Do you know you can learn a lot about yourself through other people? Just think about it for a second. One can never see his/her faults, mishaps or wrongdoing, but we definitely can spot faults, mishaps and wrongdoing in other people. The only reason we can spot it in other people so easily is because how you feel about people is a mirror of how you feel about yourself. Example: You ever notice how you can so easily judge a person without ever having one conversation with them? Like you can say " Oh Stacey has a attitude problem". How you know Stacey has an attitude problem if you never spoke or had a conversation with Stacey? Your perception of Stacey is a reflection of you. You got a attitude problem(lol) In order for you to overcome your triggers the first step is to say" I Am the creator and fixer of my problems and also realise people that trigger you is only a reflection of something in you that you need to fix. We are responsible for how we react to situations in our lives. Nobody can decide how we deal with something, no matter what the situation is. The only thing that dictates our reaction to certain situations is fear. You have to walk in an understanding that fear is a choice like anything else in life. Decide not to fear the unexpected, meditate, speak daily affirmations, pray and let the universe work out the details. A lot of our problems are created in our own minds, based through media, television, politicians etc. If one was to un-attach themselves from negative manipulation and replace it positive persuasion. Your whole outlook on life would change. So whenever you're an a situation that triggers you or a person that triggers you. Say something that you're grateful for. I know it might seem odd if a person gets "slick" with you and instead of a "clapback" You say something like " I have two intelligent children". They gone look at you like you crazy, but what you just did was take positive control over the situation. Plus you just spoke blessings on your two children. You just knocked out two birds with one stone.
By Matthew Haywood5 years ago in Motivation
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