2004 - One Crazy Year

I know 2009 is winding down but I meant to do this sooner. 2004 might go down as one of the most interesting years of the decade. A lot happened musically, politically, athletically that we are seeing a lot differently with perspective.

Personally it was the year that I rediscovered Illmatic and the opening line of Nas' verse on "Life's a B--ch" that said "I woke up early on my born day, I'm 20 years a blessing, the essence of adolesence leaves my body now I'm fresh in." The fact I turned 20 that year made that song even more personal and I still have the mix CD I made my birthday dinner (the first one I had in San Diego)

It was the first calendar year I had the car for myself. Transitioning between sophomore and junior year meant I'd be in leadership roles at my school for the first time. And all that motivated me was Big Boi's verse on "Y'all Scared" from Aquemini, "Even though we're two albums in, this feels like the beginning," 2 years into college, I felt like I had a fresh start and ready to just be me without fear.

An added bonus was discovering a new rapper that I felt spoke to me. A smart kid who didn't always fit in and enjoyed carving his own map to success. And he dropped the perfect album for someone like me being in college. Enter the College Dropout - Kanye West. Funny how he turned out isn't it?

The Lakers dynasty

The infamous 2004 election swept our campus (and the Democrats were buzzing about some Illinois state senator who made a brilliant keynote address that I missed) and Usher had arguably the last great solo year that any of us will ever see in the music business.

I think maybe I needed 2004 after a sad 2003 of losing my Dad, adjusting to college life and realizing I had to grow up a lot faster as a man. That's probably why I remember it so vividly and it had such a big impact on me - that and being in New Orleans the year before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

Oh yeah, that was also the year a little thing called Facebook blew up. I actually remember the early template for it that looked amateurish and the fact you needed a college email for it. People tried to get me to join all these social networks I never heard of - mainly Friendster and Xanga.

I might challenge myself and do some posts on that year before 2009 ends. I usually do my year in review in January anyway...you know, after 2009 passes us by instead of waiting til the end of December.