Ellington

I remember making my transition from doing music full time to more community-oriented exploits. I like to categorize it as maturation. It was about seven or eight years ago, and I decided to dust off my writing talent and get back into print. It had been a while; I left a cushy Associated Press job to dive into the music business. But I felt the writing bug again and wanted to share my stories with a new audience.

At the time, a reporter at The Clarion-Ledger had heard of me through some of my more popular songs. She interviewed me for a story, and upon learning my desire to begin writing again, she helped to get me a small column in the weekend section of the paper.

Thankfully, I gained a little ground. Folks began to read my column, and it was reassuring to find folks who recognized me for my writing and not my music. But alas, all wasn't roses. The higher ups at The Clarion-Ledger had a different idea for my column's content. They were more interested in album reviews and party promotions. An editor there even said that folks "don't want to hear a 'rapper' talk about politics." They would rather I just stay in my box and keep my mouth shut, unless of course I was writing about how cool the new Snoop Dogg album was. Never mind the cum laude degree. Never mind the Associated Press credentials. Never mind the national bylines.

"You, sir, are a rapper," they seemed to say. "You can't possibly have intelligent thoughts."

Needless to say I didn't last long there. Then, a new name from a fairly new publication gave me a holler. Her name was Donna Ladd and she offered to give my musings and me a platform—no restrictions, no censoring, no limits, no topic too risqué or too taboo. No official would be immune, no institution safe. In fact, outside of a few grammatical tweaks, she gave me the green light to write about whatever I want to. And the rest, as they say, is history.

It's been nine years since the Jackson Free Press launched, and dare I say it's made quite the splash in this little pond called Jackson. Whether you agree with it or not, what you must acknowledge is the fact that JFP has made itself into a major player in the news game here.

I'm proud to say that my columns grace these pages. Here, you guys have seen me grow. You've seen my better days, my worse days. You've seen me laugh; you've seen me cry; you've seen me at least "begin" to smile. You've seen my career soar, and you've kept reading as my family has grown by one. Dare I say no other publication would have had the guts to give me this kind of platform. But the JFP did, and I thank them.

In a way, I'd say our journeys have been similar. No one gave the JFP a chance, either, when it stepped on the scene. It was pigeonholed; it was ostracized; it was told it couldn't grow. But it has done just that and, like me, pissed off a lot of people in the process while helping to change the status quo.

Like us or not, you have to respect us.

So, cheers to you, JFP, and the JFP nation that supports you. Congrats on nine years, and may you have many more. In a day when media is shrinking all around us, you guys are slowly gaining. We may not always agree, but at least I know you guys will shoot straight.

What is it you say? Do the right thing and wait? Yeah. I like that.

And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.