Right now I have to acknowledge the memories of the people who inspired me to keep pushin to the finish line with this project and life in general. My Grandma Lowery, who passed just 4 days before I dropped EXCITING TIMES was definitely with me in spirit on Friday, March 6th. She was just 1 month shy of her 84th birthday when she passed after years of struggling with diabetes. My grandmother had been living with my mother in South Carolina for about a year, so I had gotten to see her every time I went home. She always asked me how my music was going and encouraged me to pray and keep working toward my goals. The woman who gave my mother life and who I spent all of my childhood summers with is gone. My grandmother lived a long life though. She leaves a long legacy as well with 9 children, over 20 grand-children and over 20 great-grand-children to carry on what she's taught us. It's been kinda hard to take in, but it comforts me to know that she is no longer suffering. I love you Grandma and we miss you very much.My Uncle Curtis, who was killed in a car accident last year is another source of inspiration in my life. I travel to Charlotte, N.C. a lot for shows and he was among the family that I have there. I just remember him as a positive person. He was always smiling or laughing about something. My earliest memory of him is riding horseback with him when my grandparents still had live-stock on there property, back in Eutawville,S.C. As I got older he was one of the men in my family that mirrored qualities of the man that I wanted to be. Uncle Curtis took care of his family by any means necessary. He was never in trouble with the law and was always respectful. And like my grandmother he was very interested in my aspirations as an entertainer. I would often stay with him and his family when I came to Charlotte for music. It was a shock to hear of his accident. He was only 44 years old. You can never prepare for the death of a relative or friend, especially a good person such as my uncle. Uncle Curtis you can be sure that your widow, your children and and grand-children will be taken care of if I have anything to do with it.JAX aka Chistopher Thurston was a staple in the Atlanta Hip Hop scene. He was the leader of the Atlanta based group Binkis Recs. I first encountered JAX around 99-2000 while he was working at Fat Beats record store during it's brief stint in the A. I would later encounter him again at underground spots like the Somber Reptile and MJQ. Being new to Atlanta at that time I always admired out-of-towners who came to this city and made a name for themselves. I was determined to do the same. I'm sure the other members of Binkis, Flux and Killa Kalm as well as JAX realize there influence in the A and if they don't I'll let them know. Myself and most other up and coming artists in the city looked up to Binkis. They were one of those groups that always had new music on the underground stations, they toured over-seas with big name groups like Tribe, they always had something new coming out and just stayed grindin. JAX did so many collabs it's not even funny. When he took it upon himself to come to me personally to let me know he enjoyed my music a couple years back after hearing The Last Dragon it was kinda crazy to me. From that point we had planned on working together and it was finally beginning to materialize when he unexpected passed away last November. He passed out during a performance. JAX lived the music and he died doing the music. You inspired me while you were alive and you inspire me in the after-life big bro. To my grandma, uncle and to
JAX. You are all sorely missed, but you'll never be forgotten.
