Do you remember the first CD or Tape that you purchased? Do you remember the reasons for your purchase? Do you remember the other tapes that you were debating on whether or not to purchase? I do, and I am haunted by my decision every single day of my life.

I remember my first Tape buying experience as though it was yesterday, it was a hot July day, I was 8 and I was going to the mall with my sister with money that we stole from our moms. We decided to split the 30$ we stole and were going to the mall to spend it. My sister was a Tape slut, she had all the classics: Color Me Badd, Tone-Loc, Kris Kross and Vanilla Ice just to name a few. Unlike my sister, I had never bought a tape before and was nervous about my first time, I didn’t want to screw it up and buy into something too quickly only to regret it later.

After cruising through my options I narrowed my selection down to two final picks:

MC Hammer: Hammers lyrical genius is really what stood out to me at that time:

I told you homeboy (You can't touch this)
Yeah, that's how we living and you know (You can't touch this)
Look at my eyes, man (You can't touch this)
Yo, let me bust the funky lyrics (You can't touch this)

I loved MC Hammer, and at that time he was my Tupac, but I had not yet really stepped into my full G status until my later years of 13 & 14 which brought my second choice into play.

Wilson Phillips: yes indeed, Wilson Phillips, their single “Hold On”, really gripped me at a time when I was facing some hard knocks:

I know this pain
Why do lock yourself up in these chains?
No one can change your life except for you
Don't ever let anyone step all over you
Just open your heart and your mind
Is it really fair to feel this way inside?

I could not answer any of the questions above, and somehow thought that buying the Tape would help me find the answers and help find the answers that I was looking for.