Just a N.E.R.D.

Because my brother, sister, and I were so restricted, from time to time we would sneak into my parents room and watch TRL on MTV with my man Carson Daily. I can truly say it had always been one of my dreams to be on that show.

I still have this vision of my brother, sister, and I jumping on my parents bed going absolutely APESHIT when any of the Spice Girls videos came on. ((Sorry Naj don't mean to call you out on this one, I'm just being honest...))

Specifically, it had to be 8th grade I remember seeing the "She Wants to Move" video one faithful afternoon via my parents bedroom television. I remember immediately falling in love with the beat, and just being so curious as to who this band was. I had never heard of them before, and I thought the video was very bizarre, yet I was so intrigued...  

There wasn't really much I could do about this besides listen to the radio and pray that the song would come on, then dance like crazy once it did.

So time had passed and it wasn't until a few years later that I would be able to rebirth my love for N.E.R.D. 

Wait though... allow me to do some quick schooling before I continue because up until 2009, I legitimately believed that I may have been the only N.E.R.D. fan in Syracuse alone... Come on people! USE THAT BRAIN ;)

What is N.E.R.D. you ask? Originally the Neptunes, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo duo-ed some sick beats late 90's early 2000's then collaborated with Shay Haley hence the birth of N.E.R.D. According to Urban Dictionary, this quote is supposed to be from the man P. Wills himself..." N.E.R.D stands for No One Ever Really Dies. It's our life. N.E.R.D is just a basic belief. People's energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn't destroyed. Energy cannot be destroyed. It can manifest in a different way but even then it's like their souls are going somewhere. If it's going to heaven or hell or even if it's going into a fog or somewhere in the atmosphere to lurk unbeknownst to itself, it's going somewhere."

It's deep... right? Pharrell please correct me if I'm wrong.

Moving on. So my freshman year in college my sister happened to be a residential advisor for the 10th floor Brewster hall at Syracuse University. Because my sister and I are very close I spent a lot of my time there. It just so happens that all of her residence were freshman as well, so I ended up making friends with them and their friends friends etc.

I'm that kind of person that believes everything happens for a reason. And I believe it was very strong reasoning that led me to become friends with Gabz. 

Gabz happens to be N.E.R.D.'s biggest superfan. She's attended endless concerts, repped them in soo many ways, and has taken incredible risks to do so. Finally.... someone who understands my level of love for these nerds :).

One faithful day while performing my usual child labor in the library I got a call from Gabz telling me that she had gotten tickets to Jimmy Fallon's late night show with N.E.R.D. performing, and that she wanted me to come. 

This moment... not in 1000 years did I think would ever happen.

That weekend, Lydia (fellow N.E.R.D. lova), Gabz, and I drove to the city to see them perform.

Although getting to the show was a hassle... On the 4.5 hr drive we had gotten lost several times thanks to mapquest. We ended up driving through a lot of strange towns along the names of "Marathon" and "Preble". Thank goodness it was daylight because that ish was SKETCHY. It was the strangest thing we saw the creepiest looking motels literally in the middle of the highway. Like I'm not lying, all of a sudden there was a stoplight intersection and to the left was this rundown motel that legit looked like some sort of stay for anyone rollin out of the 1800's that felt like killing someone and getting rid of the remains... But it was all fine because the wanna be KFC/diner thingy brightened it up a little quickly... An hour or two later we arrived in Jersey. We knew we were getting close. Although mapquest had other plans for us. We took a short detour through Newark, NJ which I would like to refer as.... hmm how do I say this? THE GHETTO. We were all SO confused as to where we were, everyone in the car was losing service, and the further I drove, the quicker my half black side began to lighten... It was time to pull over. No one really wanted to ask anyone anything but damn I had to do it for Pharrell. We pulled over into this alley way like stop where we found two large African American men eating out of styrofoam trays while blasting "Juicy". The scenario literally couldn't have been any more perfect... One of them approached the car, and I'm not gonna lie, we basically begged him for directions to the city. Lucky for us he was very nice, and led us directions towards the city. Somehow we ended up making it JUST in time for the show to start.

After the show we waited for them to come out, and just before we thought Pharrell was coming out, out walked Mick. Mick travels and works with N.E.R.D.. he's a friend of Gabz and he stopped and introduced himself to us. While talking to Mick I noticed that Shay had walked out of the building. I was just a little star struck when Mick shouted to him "Yo Shay come say hi to these girls". Shay looked at us for about .2 seconds and said "Hey" in a very I-dont-have-time-for-that kind of way. I was a little surprised that he didn't bother to actually say hello, but then again I wasn't going to judge because I didn't know his life... I just considered myself lucky enough to even see him from that close of a distance. After Mick hopped into his ride, out came Mikey. Mikey as well as Mick works with N.E.R.D., he introduced himself and was really nice as well, along with a little sense of humor. After Mikey hopped in his ride I saw Chad walk out, and I wasn't going to miss another opportunity so I asked him if he would take a photo with me. And he did, didn't seem too thrilled but he made the effort which was pretty bomb.

And FINALLY he walked out. Oddly not a lot of people were around so Gabz went right up to him and said hello, he said hello back and shook her hand. There he was... the man. DAMN. This moment literally can not be expressed. It still is all very unreal to me that it happened. She introduced us to him, and I was really surprised that he shook our hands... or even the fact that he cared enough to meet us in the first place. The vibe from this guy is incredible. Very very chill, and honestly I was expecting him to be a little bit more divo. But he was the complete opposite. Very cool, and in fact I felt really comfortable around him. Even though he knows he's a big deal, he doesn't play it off that way. We conversed very briefly about a youtube video we found a few days earlier of him dancing around trying to get a filet o fish via McDonalds Paris. He claimed "I was HUNGRY". He also took a pic with us (myspace style) it literally made my life.

After this whole scenario I believe we skipped through the streets of the city to a small pizza place where we COULDN'T stop being so happy about what had just happened. Even the pizza guy was happy! I mean come on... look at this face...

To have met this guy in the first place was a miracle in itself because this was the first time I had accomplished anything on my bucket list. But the most beautiful thing about this experience is that if you believe it... you can achieve it! For real people! Don't think that this was all just luck. There was a lot of stuff that I couldn't include in this that could have easily prevented this all from happening. But don't let anything hold you back! Great things can happen if you believe in them. And yeah, it may not be as simple as it sounds, there will be obstacles. But it's  up to  you to be able to push through them.

Mel D Cole

A lot of the times I tend to question myself about the things I do.
For example why am I always late when it comes to meeting up with my friends/social events, yet I've never been late for school or work?
Why must I always be in control of the music thats being played in front of a crowd?
Why do I keep little things like tickets to cuse games, and a party hats I wore out that convinced everyone it was my birthday.... when it was not...?

As I perform these simply random musts everyday I can't help but wonder why.
After deep thought I've come to the conclusion. I'm obsessed.
Yes, I'm obsessed with life. It's little moments within these rinky-dinks that make me smile and remind me why I do the things that I do.

You see, I have a story. And I'm desperate to preserve it.
I don't ever want to forget who I am, where I came from, and why it's all so important.
I'm not running my mouth because I want to be famous, I'm doing it because I don't want to be forgotten, I want people to remember my imprint on this world, and the story I have to share.
Even if there's only one person listening.

Growing up my father has always had the camera in his hand.
Photography is a huge part of my life, and in fact it was to be my life.
I started college with photography as my major, but switched it realizing that photography was too limiting in matters of what I wanted to live my life doing.
Throughout multiple jobs and school I lost touch with photography for a while, forgetting about what it really meant to me.

It wasn't until I stumbled across Mel D Cole's AMAZING work.
Over this past summer I realized my obsession with music. I had opportunities to see things that I thought I'd never be able to. From being front row at Wale, Big Sean, and Mike Posner, getting dap from Kid Cudi, and dancing on stage with Pharrell Williams and Wiz Khalifa.
I'd have to say my life isn't looking too shabby at this point...

Back to my main focus, my discovery of Mel D Cole shook me to the core.
Mel is one of the most well known hip hop photographers in the country.
He's known for his powerful black and white captured moments of artists like Kid Cudi, P. Diddy, Lil Wayne, and Kanye.
The thing that inspires me the most about Mel, is his story.
Not only is he a native of cusetown (which makes him extra baller) but he didn't even get started with photography until 29. (Which means it's NEVER too late!! Come on ppl dang, don't give up!!)
He says it all started at SOBs in NYC where ironically this was the first time I heard about him.
And it was the Big Sean/Mike Posner show where I began to take pictures.

He used a Rite-Aide disposable 
((hey we all gotta start somewhere)) to take pictures of Common.
And it wasn't until 4 years later that he was able to get a legitimate camera for these types of events.

I soon realized it was time to get back on my photo grind.
So the next concert I went to, I told myself I had to take pictures.
Lucky for me my dad is a photographer so I didn't have to wait to get my camera, I've got a few hand me downs. So here it is...
Again ironically my first chance was at a speaking... and Common was the speaker.

No, it's not perfect.... but It's a start. And for everyones information, Common does actually glow.
Like I was fortunate enough to meet him, and there is a halo like light that beams around his glossed up head. And his eyes sparkle, I suppose it's normal in most...

So I'm back on my grind, conserving my life's moments at its finest.
And I owe it to my man Mel. It's thanks to people like you, that people like me can remember why I want to preserve my story.