I woke up this morning with a song in my head—actually, to be more specific, I woke up with a line from a song in my head. Anyone recall a Brooklyn rap/reggae trio called Da Bush Babees? The group featured two rappers (Babe-Face Kaos and Mister Man) and a reggae singer (Y-Tee). They had a few hits in the mid-90s, including “We Run Things (It’s Like Dat),” “Remember We” and “The Love Song” featuring Mos Def. Well, the second song is the one that’s stuck in my head right now.

“Remember We” was about how people change and switch up how they treat people once they get famous. Each of the three artists spoke on their own experiences with pre-hater haters (meaning before whoever it was that made the term hater came up with it), but Mister Man’s verse always stuck out to me. I loved it when he said, “Back in the past, I used to be the wack ass/But now who’s the jackass, kissing my black ass/Girls never kissed me, always tried to dis me/But now it’s like if the whole world is hangin’ with me… I used to get rejected, neglected and dejected/Disrespected, treated like I was infected/But straight from the Black-a-lack comes the acrobat/And you was saying that I would never be phat—remember that?”

Now I’m not saying that’s how I feel now or right at this moment, but I definitely felt Mister Man on where he was coming from on this record. I was the ugly duckling, the chubby kid (for a year at least) with the S Curl and high waters in elementary and the kid with the zeked haircuts in freshman year of high school. So I understand what it's like to get “rejected, neglected and dejected—disrespected, treated like I was infected,” but that was then this is now. Not saying I’m a swan or anything like that (pause), but those days are thankfully gone.

I have no idea why that song or that particular rhyme is in my head right now, because I feel pretty good today. I guess this is where I’m supposed to flip all of this into some kinda message about how you shouldn’t worry about haters—present or pre-hater haters—because that only means you’re doing something right to warrant all that attention. Or, say how kids (and some adults) are cruel and don’t realize how they can scar people emotionally. But I don’t think I have to say any of that because success is the best form of revenge. Besides I’d much rather just watch the videos below and be like, yeah, I remember that.

—NWSO

"REMEMBER WE"

VIDEO BONUS: "We Run Things (It's Like Dat)"

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