Was 2010-2012 An Era or What?

Sheesh, being birthed in 1997 made it super hard for me to find a future celebrity husband. I grew up admiring acts like B2K, Jodeci, Blackstreet, Tyrese, B5, Lloyd, D4L, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake, Andre 3000, Usher, and so many more. Each of these talented acts have contributed mere greatness to Hip-Hop and R&B. Even those who paved the way were fine. I mean, have y'all seen the Jackson 5 in their prime? If I was a 60s girl I know Eddie Kendricks from the The Temptations would've had me wrapped around his fingers. One thing about my imagination, it never allowed me to settle for unrealistic thoughts. I've always wanted to create scenarios in my head about meeting my celebrity man crush backstage and eventually marrying him, but it didn't feel right with any of these artists who came before my time because when I finally arrived at the fangirl age age, these folks were married, divorced, or had children my age. No thanks.

In 2011, I was introduced to a new era in which fangirling became my part time job! Mindless Behavior, Jacob Latimore, Diggy, and Lil Twist took over the scene and began my decade with hope. I fell in love with every member of Mindless Behavior the day I heard "My Girl" on the radio. It was just, ugh... *chef's kiss* You can't tell me that you've never hummed ay, my girl, my girl, she loves me at least once. 'Til this day, I can't see the numbers 1-4-3 and not follow up with "A smiley with a wink!" For youngings on the come up, these four young men, Prodigy, Princeton, Ray Ray, and Roc Royal threw out catchy hits.

Remember this one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cuoL8lwaPs

I had so much hope for this group and I paid attention to the most shy, adorable one who I felt everyone always overlooked. It also gave me a better chance at becoming his future wife since everyone else was obsessed with the other three. Prodigy. I remember crying one night before going to school on a cold winter morning because of how much I wanted to meet him. I begged my mom to allow me to attend every single event in the big apple whenever they'd arrive.

I remember feeling super desperate one night about hardly ever getting the chance to speak to them. I went to one album signing and Prodigy smiled at me so hard that I couldn't believe my eyes. I almost passed out in the Mall! That was the moment that gave me hope. We also had a one minute Oovoo (does anyone remember that video chatting app?) video chat in which he asked me for my name and where I'm from. Then he hung up. My 14 year old heart was so hurt because in my mind, I figured "Yes, self. This is it. This is how it starts and in 3 years y'all will be married!"

I did everything in my will to be Prodigy's Mrs. Right! I remember when they came to New York City one night for a short performance and album signing. I traveled from my humble abode located upstate all the way to Time Square just to arrive at the end of the event and sneak my way to the back door in which they would be leaving from. Eventually the members and their security dashed out of the back door and into their tour van. I was so upset that I didn't get to express my love to Prodigy that night. I didn't even have three seconds to hug him, they were gone!

I wasn't able to actually live the life of a celebrity's girlfriend, so I'd make my way to Wattpad.com and live vicariously through the characters of these freaky fanfics that I had absolutely NO business reading at the age of 14. A hot mess. I used to write some of my own as well and they were extrememly rated R. The other day I went through my old diary and came across multiple entries about Prodigy. Prodigy this, Prodigy that. I even made a checklist titled "How I'll End Up With Prodigy from Mindless Behavior."

It's now 2020 and all I can do is sit back, reminisce, and laugh about the good times I met other fans at their events, sing their songs and not feel a thing towards the young man who was the love of my life at one point, and understand that it was just a phase. When we grow up, our vision becomes so much clearer and we understand that there is way more to life than being a celebrity's girlfriend...but trust me. If someone said this to me while I still had that poster of Prodigy right above my bed to stare at every morning, I would've thrown a fit! I'll always love Mindless Behavior though. I even still have my old tickets from their concerts! These four guys truly had me on some mindless behavior.