Tag: Dana Dane

Jrnl Entry No. 4.21.2004

I’ve incorporate my production company named for my mother, grandfather and grandmother, Leanne, Michael & Ella Productions Inc.” I received the incorporation papers in the mail; I filed for federal and state S Corporation status; I’ve read into what state taxes have to be paid, as well as taxes to be paid once I hire employees and my payroll reaches more than $300 per quarter. I’ve started working on my business plan, which I’m stopped dead in my tracks because I need market research and facts as to the 
buying habits of the Hip Hop community. Official market research studies, which can be purchased from Market Research.Com for $200.00 to $5000.00, money which I don’t have. I figure I’ll go the library and look up some in Billboard magazine and they should give me some sales information and future predictions concerning Hip Hop music, which I need for my business plan.

So the main project that will be sphere headed by my company are a Documentary which I have completely written, and need to get a director to film and edit and help me get financing based upon realistic cost projections. I have also planned my album, which it looks like I am going to have to write myself. I have ten good songs that I would like to record, and I’m going to include five instrumentals. Once I get it recorded, which shouldn’t be a problem, I need financing to market and promote the album.

It is becoming quite clear to me that an accounting job is nowhere in my immediate future. I’m living 
off of table scraps right now as far as money goes. I’m constantly thinking about this company that I want to start and be successful. I read Donald Trump’s new book “How to Get Rich,” which really had nothing to do with telling you anything about getting rich. I’m glad I didn’t purchase it. I read it in two days at the Barnes and Nobles book store on Broadway. The book did kind of tell you to have passion about any business that you are running especially if it’s your own. Along with that passion, know every 
little detail possible about that business. You have to work hard because no one is going to work harder than you to make you rich. The book was sort of inspiring but really had no good details concerning gaining and keeping wealth.

So as it is now, I spend approximately 3 to 4 hours a day reading something to broaden my business knowledge or writing my business plan. That time to me is really not enough, but I’m stagnated because I don’t have any real money to really start doing anything as far as business goes. I mean without money, what can I really do beside plan and write down ideas. I need money to make them tangible, but all in all, I’m excited about Leanne, Michael & Ella Productions Inc. and working to make it into a major label, or at least getting it to be a major force in the music industry to be recognized.

I’ve thought about acting and modeling but getting into those professions will probably be as hard as getting into Hip Hop, which I haven’t been able to get into Hip Hop, which is why I’m seriously starting 
my own company. Here I am –, I have nothing but dreams. I need to get more serious about taking the GMAT test starting MBA courses in the fall. As far as I see, that is the only real step that I can take to secure me an aiiight future. Yeah, I know they say work hard at your passion and it will come to pass. While I have faith in my passion, my dream will slowly materialize, and too slow for my life. If I was — or younger and in my current situation, I’d be fine, probably run with it. But I’m — living with and off of my girlfriend and that is not cool.

I saw Denzel Washington yesterday in the Village on Broadway and Prince. I recognized him trying to be very incognito. I just calmly walked in front of him and the two men who were lazily body guarding him in an effort to keep his presence incognito; I extended my hand out to him, he looked at me and he extended his hand back and we shook.  I’m not a star struck individual. At age –, I know that celebrities are real people just like I am who happen to be a bit more fortunate than myself, to be living there dreams. I only make it a point to speak to those celebrities that I admire their work and their career. Like I seen Eric Sermon of EPMD walking past me in Joe’s Pub night club and I shook his hand. I’ve seen Dana Dane twice on different occasions, and because of his legendary status (one of the, probably the 1st solo MC to have gold album sales), I have to extend my hand out to him every time I see him.

I don’t know if I’m cut out for this relationship that I am involved in. It’s a cute little arrangement I have here. The perfect little light skinned attractive woman whom everybody likes. She has the perfect little 
light skinned daughter that everybody like. Her daughter and my daughter get along really well. I’ve even known her daughter since she was like 2 and a half, the only other man in her mother’s life besides her father. I feel an obligation to be in this for the long run. I used to feel love about the situation, but that love was damaged by a too close for comfort friendship she had or has with another man. In addition to that, she does not trust me. I feel like every time I tell her something as far as me going somewhere without her that she feels I am lying and going somewhere else. I don’t like the feeling of not being trusted. She also tries to do things that I do like if I stay out all day and all night without calling, she’ll do the same thing the next day or in the near future. I don’t call her because it seems 
like she private investigates what I tell her. If I don’t tell her anything, there is nothing to investigate. Denzel said on The View this morning that his marriage works and has worked for 20 years due to trust and patience. I do not think neither of us has trust nor patience. I know I don’t have patience for anything that is making me unhappy, and as I’ve done before, I’ll leave it alone quickly and start something else.

So I’m — and having this conversation with myself. I thought I was a gentle man, and that I would be in a successful loving relationship and happy. But it is not that way for me. But compared to most people, I think my relationship woes are light. I guess I’m looking for perfection and that is not possible. I kind 
of think I might end up alone, well not alone no time soon, but just in old age alone, not married for 20, 30 years and dying with someone as my long loved wife. My future is not bright right now. I have high hopes though. I did have a job interview last Friday with a British company called Financial Times. It seems like a cool company that I could grow with; I want to work for them. It was a British woman who got me hired at the Advertising agency two years ago. Maybe Brits are the only people who are not subjecting me to discrimination that I believe other companies and employment agencies are subjecting me to. I’ve been jobless for a year now. Many agencies have called me but no job has resulted. I thought I’d never feel the effects of being a black man, but now, sad to say, I believe I am right now in New York City.

Jrnl Entry No. 9.13.2000 “MY HIP HOP STORY” PART I

It all started as a bud when my cousin Samuel met his first cousin on his dad’s side by the name of Clay. Clay had DJ equipment and was for the most part he just messed around in his room. This was like back in 1984/1985. Clay could scratch and transformer scratch, actually the first person I ever saw do it. We’d go over Clay’s house on the weekends and hang with him and his cousin Ricky. Clay had many records and at that time, it seemed like all the records he had were on the Tommy Boy label. Def Jam had a few bullshit records like the one’s by Jazzy Jay whoever the hell he was. I remember this one particular record on Def Jam. It was either Russel Simmons or Jazzy Jay, they may have been the same person who knows. But he was just talking shit on the record over a beat.

We hung together all summer long, Clay, Ricky, Samuel and I. Our main mission was to get some pussy. Clay was a virgin, I was a virgin, and Ricky was a virgin. Samuel was about the only one who had pussy on his dick because he was the oldest. We hung out over by Delaware and Jackson Street which was where Samuel’s father lived at the time. We hung out in the Palmyra Heights, which was where Clay lived. That summer, I met Tina, Sandra, Sydonia, Lavonia, Pam, Reena, Marlette, Wendy and the three girls who had the white Honda Spree Scooters. They were like the only people in the whole entire town with Scooters period.

Occasionally, our little gang would go swimming at Packard Park. It was then that I met Carla and her sister whose name, I forget her name, and I also met Shay who I instantly feel in love with. Shay was the most beautifullest thing. She was mixed, and in 1985, you know most niggaz was brainwashed to think that the lighter the skin and the thinner the hair, the better the person. Don’t get me wrong, even though she is a lot heavier now, Shay is still beautiful. Those days at the local pool were the good old dayz. Many Black people at the pool chillin; teenagers dunkin’ each other and shit like that; feelin’ the girls up under the water.

As summer passed, we were all still virgins. Clay’s Djing interest eventually had all of us interested in Djing and learning how to scratch. Samuel’s mom had bought him two turntables, a mixer, and a microphone, and he started buying 12 inches and albums with his extra money. I dabbled a little with the scratching. I could catch the record on beat and do a little scratch routine and then let it go. I remember my first record experimenting with scratching was Sugar Hill Gang “8th Wonder”. I used to go over Samuel’s house with like really cheap 90 minute tapes, like 3 for $1.99 from Woolworth is where I used to get them. I would record albums, and most albums would fit on one side of a 90 minute tape, so I’d put two albums on one tape. Let’s see, I had albums by UTFO, Boogie Boys, Skinny Boys, Fat Boys, Dougie Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew. I remember Samuel coming over to my house bragging about how dope the first Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince album was. He was telling me about how Ready Rock C could beat box so well, etc. He was right, I taped the album and it was the bomb, especially the beat box song that started like “When we rock the house there is no doubt / that me and Ready C will turn it out.” That was the shit!

I also would record many twelve inch singles at the end of the albums when there was room left on the tape. Shit like “We’re Only Buggin”, “Listen Up”, Dana Dane’s “Nightmares” and “Delancey Street”, Sweet Tee’s many twelve inch singles she had out before she put them all on one album like four years later. This was also when I recognized the name, Produced by Herby “Luv Bug” Azor as the guy making the, always funky, beats for Salt & Pepa, Dana Dane and Sweet Tee. I still have these tapes to this day.

During the course of time, the idea had come about to throw parties in Clay’s basement. Samuel and them came up with a name for themselves and got some sweatshirts made with an airbrush design, and the parties began at $.50 a head, and $.25 for soda. At the end of each party they would count up the money and split it like five ways between Samuel, Clay and Ricky, Samuel’s sister Shaneequa and Clay’s sister Shaniece. The parties got to be well known too. Every weekend they were packed. Samuel, Clay and Ricky were the DJ’s. This was around the time when LL COOL J ‘s “Radio” single dropped, and “Rock The Bell” was the shit. Ready For The World was the group to slow dance to the song “Let Me Love You Down”. I was always like the youngest one at these parties. I remember I would always slow dance with this one girl because we were like the only two left not dancing. I liked Sandra but she was going with this older guy Tim and he always had her on the floor or grinding and kissing on her on the basement wall. The parties were going well until the Beta Boys started fucking it up and fighting. The Beta Boys, well the only one I really remember was William and his brother Lester. It was about five or six of them total. One night they tore up the wall paneling of the basement. From that weekend on, there were no more parties thrown.

We’d (Shaniece, Samuel and Shaneequa, Clay and me and Ricky and Ricky’s sister) all go to concerts together. The first concerts being the ones at The Star Palace in Youngstown, OH. We seen Salt & Pepa, Heavy D & The Boyz, The Fat Boys, and Salt & Pepa, and Heavy D &The Boyz again. I wonder if Heavy D or Salt & Pepa remember The Star Palace.