I’m taking my own freedom / Putting it in my song
Singing loud and strong / Grooving all day long

When did you first fall in love with music?

I still remember my first pink boom box and how I would let my tape rock ’til my tape popped. Salt and Pepa talking about “Push it real good!” Big Daddy Kane aka “Smooth Operator” used to get raw through my speakers. And of course I had the requisite LL Cool J poster on my wall from Word Up magazine, imagining I was the Around the Way girl he needed. He wouldn’t be talking about needing love if only he met me. Yes, indeed, I wanted to go and talk to Devante; wrote 4-page letters with Aaliyah; felt Sisqo’s pain as if I had found someone sleeping in my bed.

I didn’t think it could get no better. Until I first heard D’Angelo crooning something about that brown sugar baby. I sure did get high up off his love and didn’t know how to behave! It was as if Mary was my girl talking me through the pain of unrequited love ’cause surely we both were going down if “he” wasn’t around. Who remembers forgetting to wonder just what Erykah had under that head wrap as she mesmerized you with “On and On?” Just like I’ll never forget where I was when I heard that Luther was gone, I vividly recall the day an old high school friend told me to run, not walk and pick up this hot new album that would bless me the moment I pressed play. Skeptical, I asked, “Who is Jill Scott?”

Music has and always will play a huge part in my life. It soothes, stimulates, lifts, focuses, inspires, prepares, drives me…and a million other things that I hope to share in this space. I have been marinating on my presence in the blogosphere for months now. I read a variety of blogs ranging from personal, humor, political, social, celebrity, sports, nonprofit, technology, books…generally everything that interests me. What did I have to add to the conversation? I knew it would be a personal blog, but what would be the slant. I kept coming back to the advice: write about what you love.

So here we are.

I’m not sure where we’ll go from here. I just know that I have a lot to say and it all will be framed by music, one of my greatest loves.

Are you ready? Let’s Rock.