One Hootin Post at a Time: Hip Hop found me!

More on day 6's nudge.

The day Hip Hop found me, the shy, band nerd, went in hiding, and arose a beautiful grinding woman. Hip hop, in Mobile Alabama, was The Last Mr Biggs, Little Jon and the East Side boys, all the port city boys and more. I worked with a friend of mine from high school at Captain D's. She and The Last Mr Biggs are two of my haunts that I talk about in my other post, that I write about a lot or art thinking of them. She passed away with Leukemia at a very young age. He just passed away a few years ago from a hard life. So, how did hip hop find me at Captain D's?

Names here in this blog are given by The Last Mr Biggs. He was one of my favorite customers that would come to Captain D's. She, was named Xtini, and I was named Britney with glasses, by him. These are our true names he gave us, when he would come through the drive through to get food. Xtini, was close to him before me. She would call him and tell him which of his 7 cars to bring to Captain D's when he came to visit. It wasn't until she passed that he and I became greater friends trying to keep Xtini's memory alive as long as we both could.

We both happened to be at the same Chevron gas station, the night Xtini died. I was able to tell him to come to her funeral. And that bond between us was never broke from that day forth. He actually came to the funeral. I actually heard snickers in the background of rude classmates of mine from high school, wondering what on Earth I was doing there with Mr Biggs.

Lil Jon had trial coming in California, and we were all cutting up trying to make him forget about his trial. We knew it was him when they came through the drive through. As a joke, Xtini dared me to say, "please pull through the window!" So, I did. And we cracked up laughing. Lil Jon was laughing when he pulled up at the window. Years later that song everyone knows, "GET LOW..." was written. And I had Mr Biggs tell my husband one night we gave him the hook for it. Actually' after that I gave him plenty of hooks for his songs. My husband even gave him a few as well! And my really good friend who introduced me and my husband recorded Mr Biggs and was PCP records.

We would have long in depth conversations about life and death, after Xtini left us. He eventually started calling me his daughter. He would always say I love you when we got off the phone. Sometimes he would call me back twice just to say it again. There was a bond that we had that we never broke. I would even get asked to come over and punish his son for skipping school. We would bring him dinner over, and we would pray over every meal together.

But, he was also one big believer in my photography. I went to several of his shows, and took pictures for him. He always tried to pay me. The first few times I did accept the money. After that it kinda felt odd. But he kept me busy. I have taken pictures of some famous rappers in my life time because of him. Through his contacts. He brought out another me. A hard working woman. He saw my dream, and I saw his.

When he died a few years ago, I really haven't picked up my camera much. But, I dove more into mixed media art. I miss the long nights we would sit on his front porch and talk and eat red beans and rice. He used to call his mom and say Britney with glasses is here mom, she wants to talk to you. I'd actually talk to his mom, talk to all of his kids. We were family. The day hip hop found me, I found a new family.

When I talk about where I come from, I must always give him credit. My mom and my father know this, and still can't get passed his stage persona. But, I know his heart. I can talk for days about him. He was so special to me. I can tell you about the day he almost died on us, but came back to life with a diamond in his eye. One scary night. I can tell you about his watch, his cars, which I rode in one of them... and a few of his hideout homes. But, I will keep those things close and dear to my heart <3

Me, his baby girl and my Daddy. I still Love you Daddy!