January 2010

As the news came out last week that Dr. Dre’s long-awaited album Detox was pushed back yet again, this time to 2011, hip-hop fans, myself included, experienced a few emotions.  The weary, brave-hearted Detox apologists said, “Oh well, we can wait. We’ve waited this long, it will be worth it.  Everyone who has worked on it said it’s going to change the game!”  The smug, arrogant brand of hip-hop lover who never really listens to Dr. Dre anyway looked down their collective noses through their oversized non-prescription glasses and said, “Ha! We knew it would never come out! And even if it does, it’s going to suck anyway!”

Editor’s Note: Normally, I would have tackled writing this story myself after an interview with the artist. But JC Poppe sent over this completed article that required so few edits that I decided to just run with it. It’s a moving story on how he created his acclaimed Sleep Therapy album amongst both beauty and chaos.

It was slightly after dinner that we would all receive the shock of our lives. My wife suddenly went completely white from a lack of oxygen. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She was suffering from the effects of having a pulmonary embolism. It was a blood clot from her hip, which was bothering her for a few days. The clot broke off and traveled through her heart into her lungs, making it nearly impossible for the oxygen and blood to properly flow through her body.

Editor’s Note: Normally, I would have tackled writing this story myself after an interview with the artist. But JC Poppe sent over this completed article that required so few edits that I decided to just run with it. It’s a moving story on how he created his acclaimed Sleep Therapy album amongst both beauty and chaos.

I am an independent hip-hop artist that is relatively unknown within the genre. Since Nov. 1, 2008, I have been a refugee from my home, the Milwaukee metro area, a place that I greatly miss. I have also gone through the processes of putting together my very first album, becoming a father for the first time, and dealing with my wife having a medical catastrophe. I’m not sure that this is the most exciting story in the world, but it’s something that I feel is worth telling.