Straight Outta Quarantine: My Birthday 2020
Truth of the matter is… It’s been a rough 3 years.
Shit just took a peculiar turn some years back. I found myself in a trial facing jail and financial ruin from something I knew nothing about. Once I had the initial information even to defend myself, it was too late and time to lawyer up. I’m gonna be vague. I’m not gonna tell my business, but this is for context. As a result of this situation, I had to hire two lawyers in two states for the same case… either that or join the Alabama prison industrial complex. I lawyered up and fought. Before I’d be a slave, I’d be buried in my grave.
I won. It was hard, but I won. I won the case. The collateral damage that it caused remains to be seen. There’s some work to be done on the forgive and forget front. There’s also some reaping for which my imperfect self has prepared a tub of popcorn. As bad as it may seem, at the moment, I wanna see this. Some people have caused harm to my family. It angers me.
Due to the system in which we live, there’s not much I can do about it. I’ve learned to woo-sah. I’ve learned the discipline to calm myself and meditate through my struggles. I’ve learned that it’s not about the problem, but about how I deal with the problem.
I’ve been dealing with the problem. After I won the case, I went to India to get closer to the kingdom. It was like I needed to reset and remember that my situation was not so bad. It could be so much worse. I saw that again and put it all in perspective.
Then I came home to a quarantine.
Who would’ve thought? Of all the things in the world… COVID-19 got real for Trisha and me in India. We couldn’t get a flight out. I had to watch the Superbowl from my hotel room in Delhi. It was terrible. When we finally got a flight, people coughed my whole way home. When I landed, two flights from China followed me. I knew we were in for some shit.
It seems like there’s always something. I didn’t bitch and moan. I just readied myself. I just had the feeling of “sit back and let God work.” I worried about my mom and dad for a short while, but once that subsided, I was fine. There has been a calm over me regarding Coronavirus. I’m not gonna overly stress myself. I’m also not gonna be a fucking idiot.
No turn up for the birthday this year. 2020 had been pretty trash thus far anyway. This year has taken a chunk out of my family. Even before quarantine, I’d lost multiple people. Add Kobe. Fuck this year. I was gonna sit in my backyard and smoke my face off.
Out of the blue, Moms called an end to our three-month quarantine.
“Son, we’ve been away from each other enough now. Come over and let me cook you breakfast.” Music to my ears. I haven’t been around anyone. Groceries a couple of times, gas station, home, and studio have been my only destinations. They’d definitely been keeping to themselves. I wanted to see them and wanted to squeeze Milan, who’s just growing like a pine. Birthday 2020 was looking up. My mom is gonna make grits, and I’ve been on this keto bullshit for weeks!
It’s a routine for my birthday. Asia and Europe are ahead of us, so my inboxes are full by the time I wake up. I’m not the guy to read his press, but I indulge for my birthday every year. This year was no different. I woke up, prayed, and got into my social media. Once again, my fans were going off.
They’d actually started the day before. It made me feel as proud as it has every year. I was trying to figure out a good way to respond to everyone. Due to our current situation and the things I’d personally been through, I really wanted everyone to understand my appreciation.
Little did I know that there was an organized, concerted effort amongst some of my closest peeps to make me the best birthday present I ever had.
My mom called me three times to make sure I had my Laptop AND my iPad. “Hey, bring your iPad too. I wanna check it out. I think I’m gonna get me one.” Now that I’m thinking back, that was kinda fishy, but all of the people that weren’t involved in the video had already done a great job of starting my day off with a bang. I was already on high. I was headed to get a high-carb breakfast from one of the best ever to do it. Quarantine is almost over. Hell yeah! I’ll bring the mixing board if y’all want!
I get to mom’s house and everybody is a little weird…
My mom is highly focused. She halfway wishes me Happy Birthday, but I haven’t seen her in 3 months. She’s cooking, but she has this abnormal interest in my electronics. Listen, my mom doesn’t get into this shit you dig? “Hey, get your computer out, son. You want some coffee?” Milan is blowing me off. Cluck is being sneaky. Something is going on here.
“Son, don’t forget your computer. I need you to look at an iPad for me.” I’m saying to myself, “Damn, can I get some grits and eggs first? Maybe one of these chicken wings? I’m starving! I’ve been wanting this woman’s cooking for three months! They weren’t trying to hear it. I look down at my phone, and Trish has been blowing me up.
On the way to mom’s house, I was having church. I’m moving and making some home improvements, so the day before I was replacing the corroded hinges on the shower door and it shattered all over me. I had to pick out the glass for two hours. I ended up having to get a couple of stitches, and I feel like I have 100 paper cuts everywhere.
I went for three months of quarantine to get to the night before I get to see my family, and I have to go to the fucking hospital. It could’ve been so much worse, trust me. So, as I’m driving, I’m not paying attention to my phone or anything else. This life could be so much worse.
So now, Trish is sending me a zoom meeting invite, so I understand that something is going on. After about 10 minutes of tech difficulties, I’m now accepting that I will not be eating grits or chicken wings in the immediate future. I was instructed to set up my iPad AND laptop and watch this…
The greatest birthday wish of all time.
I’ve said it before. I wanted my music to touch people the way my favorite music moves me. Like Bob Marley said, “When it hits you, you feel no pain.” At least for three minutes… The crazy part of my music experience is the opposite effect. You guys validate my original point. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. It makes me feel good in a “job well done” sense.
I write from the heart for my albums. If you receive the music in the same place, we have a connection that will last forever. Every time you hear that song, its gonna hit you the same way. That’s that magic. That’s that thing that makes me an addict for making music.
The birthday video was the opposite effect. My fans validated me again. My friends made me remember the journey to get here. My family made me remember the type of stock God gave me the privilege of being from. Nobody knew about the last 3 years… at least not everything. When life is beating you up, the human in you just wonders why its happening. Like, what did I do that was so wrong, you know? Why do I deserve what is happening to me? I don’t know. I do know the thing that has helped me get through…
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Thank God for bringing me through the toughest stretch of this life so far. Thank you all for Sunday morning.
I love yall. My birthday 2020 was fucking awesome.
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-TQ
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One comment
Amanda
May 28, 2020 at 8:45 pm
Love you your my fav so glad your on here
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