Greatness By An Even Greater Person ~ The Cold Case Files - Darien Brockington

So my boy, Darien Brockington released his mixtape, The Cold Case Files on Dec 29th. Is this a big deal? Of course it is! It's been 3 years since Darien put out anything. His first album, Somebody To Love came out in 2006. I've already written my professional review of the album so this will have a more personal touch. Before I get into it though, let me share that review with you: click here. Doing that was a huge deal for me. I've honestly been going through a really rough time personally and haven't been motivated or felt creative. I actually thought my creativity was gone because I was really down. Well, I learned that the creative me is stronger than I thought. Many assumed that it was easier to write it because I know Darien so well but in all actuality, it was that reason that made it even harder for me! To not write in first person was difficult as well because I'm so used to here where I don't really have any boundaries. I also was worried about sounding biased because so many people associate me with Darien now. When I did publish it, D asked to see it and when I sent him the link, I thought I was gonna be sick! I'm extremely protective of my writing so I was nervous and even more so because the article was about him. He LOVED it and I was so relieved! The more and more feedback came in, the more at ease and proud I felt. The first time I read it on the site, I actually thought, "Wow! Did I write that?" Lol, silly, I know! Then Eric who runs Soulified.com tells me that the amount of traffic and registered users increased because of my post! WHAAAT? I couldn't believe it...then when I went into the admin page, I saw this image:


Now I assume my readers are smart and can figure out that the highest point on the chart coincides with the date of my post, right?? Okay, good! Lol! Huge shouts go to Eric, thanks for being understanding and giving me the opportunity to post on Soulified.com! :)
Okay, now back to the music!

Making the assumption that you read my review already, what else can I add to it or say that I didn't already? Knowing Darien personally gives me a different perspective, I think. He had gone through so many ups and downs since he released his 1st album. The Cold Case Files takes you on that journey and is really personal. I'm so happy (I'm sure his fans are too!) that he finally came around and release something.
I'm not going to do a full review but breakdown the tracks I have in heavy rotation right now.

• Meet Me In Paris - So it's a few days before the release and I get the zip file from D and I'm all excited. I get to this song and at first I was like, HUH?? Lol! After the initial shock of hearing Darien sing over this guitar driven track, this song ROCKS! Pun intended! It quickly became one of my favorites.
• Compass - There is just something about this song that is so sexy to me. I can barely explain it. "I'll Use Your Body As A Compass"...I mean, c'mon on!!! The beat is heavy yet smooth at the same time, it's just lovely.
• It's Over - My boy, E. Jones produced this track. E also produced most of Somebody To Love. This beat is rich and heavy as Darien sings this breakup track. "There Can't Be No You & Me. It's Not What It Used To Be. I Hate To Be The One To Say It's Over..."
• Girl It's You - Some may be familiar with this track. I actually gave it out as a free download to the D-Brock Facebook Group a little while back. To me it's reminiscent of the times when I first fell in love with the "slow jam"...y'know back when things were just sexy not raunchy but suggestive? This is # 3 in my top 3 D-Brock slow jams, # 2 being I Miss You from Somebody To Love...stay tuned for # 1
• I Don't Miss You No More Featuring Sincere - I love the concept of this track. It's a continuation of I Miss You from Darien's 1st album and it even has the same sample that was used. Two guys telling the story of how they were lied to by the same girl and how she's trying to get back. "She Had My Heart, She Had It All But We Couldn't Be Cuz Her And Me Became Three..." I enjoyed this duet. Their voices complimented each other very well.
• Beautiful - This track is #1 in my top 3 D-Brock slow jams. Fans may also be familiar with this one as it's been floating around on the net for the last few years and previously unreleased. This song is a classic slow jam of a man professing his love to his lady. It truly lives up to its title. I feel it really showcases his talent in range and sincerity. And hearing Darien sing it live??? Phew, it's truly a treat!! Don't take my word for it, see for yourself! Don't forget to pause the mp3, before pressing play!

I cannot say enough good things about Darien as a singer and a person. I'm proud that he's back and doing things his way. The Cold Case Files definitely does the job in peaking your interest and makes you look forward to his 2nd album titled, Affected: The Story of John Doe due out this year.

To Listen And Download Darien Brockington's The Cold Case Files Click HERE!!

Foreign Exchange @ BB King's NYC

If you know me or are a regular visitor here, you know that this is not the first time I’ve had the pleasure of taking in a Foreign Exchange show. This show was extra special for me though. First, I was in a city that I’ve always wanted to see. Second, this was my first time seeing them since they added Carlitta Durand to the lineup and lastly, the show was at a legendary venue, BB King’s. When I’ve told people that weren’t necessarily familiar with FE that they were performing there, they were impressed. Everyone knows about BB King’s.
This show was slated to be a late show and boy, was it late! It was through no fault of their own though. Bobby Brown had the show previous to them and since he started late, it pushed everyone else back.Once the band hit the stage, it was OVER!

The first song was Nicolay’s lead single off of his album, Shibuya called Lose Your Way. Carlitta came out to start things off and was later joined by Phonte, Yahzarah and Darien Brockington.

Lose Your Way

The show was filled with good music and great vocals. Even though this was my 5th show (yes, 5th! Zo especially likes to tease me about that! LoL), each show I’ve seen had different elements. They performed Curtis Mayfield’s Give Me Your Love as Phonte introduced everyone on stage. A funny moment during this set was Phonte forgot to introduce Zo initially and Darien had to remind him. Zo playfully got up from the keys and threatened to leave!

FE Top 7 Give Me Your Love Countdown (Band Intros)

They had a little fun showing their dance moves during a reggae music set and expanded their “Ignant Songs To Neo Soul” bit which had everyone cheering and laughing. They were so excited about performing after Bobby Brown that they did a medley of his hits. Phonte also mentioned everyone's Twitter accounts then broke out into the classic house track Follow Me in a new follower campaign. I’m also so glad they added Purple Flip to their set which is a tribute to Prince that Phonte, Nicolay, Zo and Carlitta did with ?uestlove. It was great to hear that song live.

Reggae Vibes With The Foreign Exchange

Purple Flip


Foreign Exchange also had a couple of surprises up their sleeves as well. Rapper Big Pooh of Little Brother came out to perform Nic’s Groove and Life of the Party. It was great seeing Tay and Pooh together onstage again. It brought me back to the LB shows that I had been to over the years. This was significant too because apparently, there were rumors circulating that LB is done and even that Tay and Pooh were not even on speaking terms. Later on in the show, Joe Scudda graced the stage during Raw Life which was great as well because I had never seen perform before.

Life Of The Party With Rapper Big Pooh

Zo! & The ELs Interlude/Raw Life With Joe Scudda


Set list:

• Lose Your Way
• House of Cards
• Sweeter Than You
• FE Top 7 Give Me Your Love Countdown (Band Intros)
• Bobby Brown Medley
• Nic's Groove
• I Wanna Know
• Come Around
• Follow Me (Impromptu House Track)
• Daykeeper
• Take Off The Blues
• Valediction
• Zo! & The ELs Interlude/Raw Life
• Reggae Set
• Ignant To Neo Soul
• Purple Flip
• Life Of The Party
• Something About You/Step In The Name Of Love

My favorite moments of the show were pretty much mentioned earlier and the great thing is I have it all on video! I’ll post my faves here but as always, you can see the rest at http://www.youtube.com/ladyvee76. The pictures are a collection of shots from myself, Trelly and Ann Marie.

The Show Stopper, Yahzarah

Our Friend Will Getting Serenaded! LOL!

The Suave Darien Brockington

The Lovely Miss Carlitta Durand

The Beast On The Keys Zo!

The Mastermind Nicolay

The Frontman Phonte

The "Sangers" Doing What They Do

I cannot say enough good things about Foreign Exchange or seeing them live but at the same time, I have no words to describe how much you NEED to see them. You just really have to experience it yourself. Even if you aren’t familiar with FE…if you like to be thoroughly entertained and consider yourself a fan of R&B/Soul and Hip Hop, I guarantee that you’ll be a fan of Foreign Exchange by the end of the show.

Heaven Has A New Angel…Her Name Is Olivia

Olivia Ongpauco
May 2, 1937 – November 20, 2009

These last few weeks have been the hardest in my entire life...actually I take that back, this year has been the hardest in my entire life. I don’t even know where to begin with this. All I can say is there is a sadness and pain in my heart that I know will never totally go away.


My mother left us on Friday, November 20, 2009. She went in to see her doctor (my boss) for a check up in December 2008 and through his thoroughness, he found a spot that needed further investigation. I then arranged for testing ASAP and that was done just before Christmas. Our worst fears happened in January, she was diagnosed with cancer. Things were looking positive by end of spring. Mama had gone through radiation treatments with no major side effects and her scan showed that the tumor had shrunk. She was to relax, heal through the summer and come back for follow up in September. Unfortunately when fall came, we found out that the tumor increased in size and mama was immediately lined up for chemotherapy. Without going into too much detail, mama spent the last 2 weeks of her life in the hospital and continued to fight until she passed away peacefully while holding papa’s hand. The crazy thing is mama said that was the way she wanted to go even before she was sick. My parents were kinda playfully arguing about who wanted to go first and papa said he wanted to because he was older. Mama said, “No, I’m going first and I want to go by going to sleep with you by my side.” Just typing that sends chills down my spine because that is exactly how it happened.


Mama was an amazing woman. Oh gosh, it gets me teary saying “was”. Mama IS an amazing woman. I didn’t know all she had been through in her life but I know she had some hardships especially growing up…this made her as strong as she IS. During her hospital stay, she did manage to tease us and smile. I remember one time I was alone in the room with her and I was sitting at the foot of her bed, reading while she was sleeping. All of a sudden, she put her foot on my book, right in front of my face! Lol! When I looked up, she raised her eyebrows at me and smiled through her oxygen mask. I used to massage her legs and feet every day so I laughed saying, “What? You want me to massage you now?” and she nodded. That is one of my favorite last memories of her.



Through this difficult time, I’ve learned and discovered a few things:

1. There is such a thing as true love. My parents were married for 48 years. They had their struggles and fights but when it comes down to it, their love for each other was so deep and so real that papa has said that what they had was “beyond love”. I mean, their names even match, Oliver & Olivia! How crazy it that! While mom was in hospital, I’d peek into their room before going to bed to find papa sleeping but unconsciously caressing her pillow. When he was saying his last goodbye to her, I remember overhearing papa say, “I have no regrets”. While I am hurting myself, my heart hurts the most for him. I cannot even imagine what he is going through and I would do anything to take the hurt away from him.





2. It is just as important to take care of yourself so you can take care of others. Perhaps it’s my bad that I hold a lot in me, it’s what I always do. I may talk about it a bit to a select few but never fully open up. Because of that, I stress myself out to the point where I’d go without sleep for days sometimes, get sick to my stomach etc. I experienced my 1st ever full blown panic attack about a month ago as well. This year, I found comfort in traveling. I went on 3 trips: Chicago in January, North Carolina in April and New York in October. Before each trip, I felt unbelievably guilty to the point where I almost canceled. I also was at the brink of a breakdown before each trip as well, totally stressed with crying spells etc. Every time I felt the guilt, I was encouraged by folks closest to me to go saying that I NEEDED to go for myself, for my sanity. I’d always try to brush it off and was still torn whether to go or not. The crazy thing is that every time I got on a plane, I felt a release come over me. While I was away, I didn’t have to think of this, that or the other. I had fun going to new places and spending time with friends. When I came back, I felt renewed, like I can face the world again.


3. Only through your hardest times will your true friends be revealed. Plain and simple, point blank. Instead of going on about who added to my hurt or disappointed me in some way or another, I will go on about the 3 key people who are there for me. Don’t get me wrong, there were others (including but not limited to Jojo, Kam, Yahzarah, 9th and Amanda) but these 3 are on the top of my list…if I had to make one:

• Rica, All I can say is this: when I felt I didn’t have anyone here, you were there. Thank you for being you
• Ann Marie, we share so many things in common it’s unreal. Losing a parent is one thing I wish we didn’t share or have to go through. No one understands the way I’ve been feeling but you. I’ll be forever grateful to have you as my friend.
• Darien…wow, what can I say about you. Even though you’re far away, you were with me every step of the way. No one has been there for me like you have, supported me the way you do. I dunno what I did to deserve you but I’m sure glad I did it. I thank God every day for your love &friendship.

I wanted this entry to be a tribute to her but I am at a loss for words. I feel that what I write here is not enough. I’m glad that she’s no longer suffering and in pain. I’m glad she passed peacefully with the love of her life by her side but there is a huge selfish side of me that just wants her here. When I was at her bedside saying my last goodbye to her, I kept saying, “Wake up, mama. Please wake up” practically to the point of screaming. Another part of me still can’t believe she’s gone. Out of habit when I get home, I still go straight to the room to say hi to her like I would normally do and it kills me every time. I constantly have a vision of her in my head of when I came home from my trip to New York, I left my bags at the door and went straight to her room. She was napping so I slowly crawled in beside her and cuddled up to her. As soon as she opened her eyes and saw me, her face lit up and she said, “Oh, I missed you!” Well, guess what, mama? I suppose it’s now my turn to miss you and I will for the rest of my life. I love you….forever always.

Bobby Brown @ BB King's NYC ~Oct 23, 2009

Back in the day, I wasn’t the BIGGEST New Edition fan. I’m not saying I wasn’t a fan at all, I did like their music but I wasn’t “fanatical”. When Bobby Brown left NE to pursue a solo career, I was a big fan of his music. I remember playing his music a lot, learning all the dance steps in his videos especially for Every Little Step! When my friend, Ann Marie said that the one and only Bobby Brown would be performing at BB King’s during my visit to NYC, I was excited but more curious then anything. I didn’t even really know that he still performed! With all the turmoil in his life, I wondered if he could really pull this show off and how he would be vocally. As we made plans to go, Ann Marie and I agreed that the show would either really impress us or give us a good laugh.
We got to the venue at a good time which was about 7:30 or so and were able to get a good spot right up front. There was a DJ spinning while we waited and he entertained us for a while….actually maybe a while is an understatement. The show started extremely late. To our surprise, Johnny Kemp came onstage to bring Bobby out and end up singing his hit, Just Got Paid.
Johnny Kemp!

When Bobby finally hit the stage, the place erupted! I have to say Mr. Brown still knows how to put on a show. He was backed by a full band and they sounded great.

Set List:

• Don't Be Cruel
• Humping Around
• Get Away
• Roni
• On Our Own
• The Man
• Every Little Step
• Rock Witcha
• My Perogative

The most awkward part of the show to me was when Bobby decided to perform a country song. I didn’t know this but apparently he was a part of this country music reality show and had to write a song. He said he didn’t win but felt that he wrote the best song because of the emotion he put into it. The song was called The Man and packed with emotion it was. I just don’t think it was a good move on his part to perform it because as I looked at the crowd, everyone looked puzzled or bored for the lack of a better word. I did feel kind of sorry for him though because he did put a lot of emotion into the song.
The best part of the show was…well, it’s kind of hard to say. I loved seeing him perform all of his hits and play with the crowd. At one point, he even brought up a lady on stage for Roni.

I guess if I had to pick a moment, it would be during his last song of the night, My Perogative. I felt everyone was anticipating this song and at one point he brought his son up on stage to dance with him a bit.
I’m so glad I caught most of the show on video and I’ll share a few here but to see the rest, you can go over to my youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/ladyvee76. Because I was busy filming, I didn’t take any pics but I did post a few shots courtesy of my girls, Ann Marie and Trelly. ENJOY!


"Don't Be Cruel" Bobby Takes The Stage!

Bobby Slowin' It Down With "Roni"

"Every Little Step" Bobby Bustin' Some Moves

Finale! "My Perogative"