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Written by Street Line

New blogger. Nina Fayli

STREET LINE

Hi my name is Nina Fayli I’m a new blogger for Street Line. I’m an actress/model. I’ve been in Law & Order SVU, Gotham, Blue Bloods, billions, The Get Down, PPRESSED.  I’ve modeled for African American Brides, and Permission to name a few. Follow me @NinaFayli on TWITTER and INSTAGRAM

The King of Pop: Happy Birthday Michael Jackson

They call him the King of Pop, they call him the greatest entertainer to ever walk the planet earth, he touched hearts all over the world, he made women faint at his concerts, he has a huge catalog of music that goes back to the 70’s and his name is Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is an iconic artist that inspires a whole lot or artists that exist today, not just in singing and dancing but entertaining period. Every Black household, cookout, birthday party, wedding, has Michael Jackson’s music, whether it’s “Thriller”, “Off the Wall”, “Dangerous” or even music from The Jacksons like their “Destiny” or “Triumph” albums. When you’re listening to a Jacksons album or song or a Michael Jackson album or song, you can’t help but to mimic Michael’s mannerisms and dance moves, especially the classic Moonwalk dance that he premiered on Motown 25 while performing his smash hit “Billie Jean” in 1983. Let’s not forget the classic bio pic movie about the Jacksons starring Angela Bassett, playing Michael’s mother, Katherine, in 1992. Angela, as usual, does an amazing job playing that role. Growing up, my mom would play The Jacksons while she cleaned up around the house, their music was from the 70’s and 80’s and here I was, a 2 year old running around singing these songs. Til this day, their music is still amazing to me and I always loved their harmonies and how instrumental it was. “Destiny” is my personal favorite Jacksons album but my all time favorite Michael Jackson song is “I Can’t Help It” from his 1979 album “Off the Wall.” Also, how incredibly dope Michael Jackson music videos were? Off the chain yo! I personally didn’t care for the extra long concepts and short films and stuff, that was annoying to me, except “Thriller” but when the music finally comes on Michael is doing his thing. Another magical thing about Michael were his live performances. His live performances were just as dope as the music videos. We didn’t know what to expect so you couldn’t miss a Michael Jackson performance. Now music, we would be here for days talking about his catalog. “Off the Wall” was very disco-ish but a classic, “Thriller” was more on the pop side, the early MTV days when they weren’t playing music videos from Black artists and I believe “Billie Jean” was the first music video played on MTV by a black artist. “Bad”, Mike had a new image, people found out he had a skin disease called vitiligo. It’s when the skin loses it’s original skin color but in blotches all over the body. Michael was still loved though, he had the same spark and magic. Then there was the 90’s and there was “Dangerous”, which is my favorite Michael Jackson era. That “Remember the Time” video is my all time favorite Michael Jackson music video. I loved the whole Egyptian ruler theme where Eddie Murphy and beautiful model Iman were the king and queen and Magic Johnson was one of the servants. That choreography was bananas yo! I try to learn that whole dance til this day. LMAO! Then we have the “HIStory” Michael. This was when Michael became more political and was speaking about the injustices and his unfair treatment in the world by the government and the media. “Scream” with his sister Janet is too legendary. That’s another favorite Michael Jackson video of mine. Me and my sister always acted like we were in that video, jumping on the furniture, dancing everywhere, we pretended to have an audience and everything, that’s the Michael Jackson effect right there. “HIStory” is my favorite Michael Jackson album because the songs were powerful, unapologetic, strong, emotional and raw all at the same time. Michael didn’t give a fuck! That’s why they banned the “Scream” video back then. Songs like “Tabloid Junkie”, “D.S.”, “Earth Song”, “Money”, “Stranger In Moscow” and the best song to me on the album is “They Don’t Care About Us.” These songs were the answers to everything. Michael was giving it to the people raw and uncut and of course there was the remix album in 1997 called “Blood On the Dance Floor: HIStory In the Mix.” Me and my sister ran that CD to the death! Those remixes had a flavor of hip hop, R&B, pop and dance and the entire thing was banging from beginning to end but after that, nobody heard another album from Michael until 2001’s “Invincible.” To me that was his last REAL album because the posthumous music wasn’t all that. They should’ve just left it at “Invincible.” I remember when “You Rock My World” came out. They ran that video to death on MTV. Chris Tucker foolish ass was his hilarious self as usual in the video and of course in classic Michael Jackson fashion, it was a short film and lots of dancing all over a woman he was chasing, just like “The Way You Make Me Feel.” Let’s not forget about the remix featuring Jay-Z. When you live in the hood where people are selling bootleg CD’s off the street, you come across some underground dope shit and I loved that remix. I personally liked the remix better. That was a street joint only found on mixed CD’s provided by DJ’s. Songs like “Butterfliez”, “Cry”, “Heaven Can Wait”, “Break of Dawn”, “The Lost Children” and “Whatever Happens”, this was another dope Michael Jackson album but it’s underrated to me, people didn’t appreciate this joint. It’s been seven years since Michael passed and we all still feel the pain of his loss. It’s like a cut trying to heal but it’s healing incorrectly. It gets re opened on the day of his death and his birthday but we all love Michael very much. He’s moonwalking and singing in a new and better place. Happy Birthday and rest in peace King. We love you and miss you. Hee Hee!


 

Orlando’s ‘Anti-Mall’ is Orlando’s Best Mall

 

In Orlando, there is a place where dreams come to fruition and become actual crafts. No, it isn’t your kid’s camp: it’s Artegon.

Artegon is a collection of artisanal stores where one can experience both zip lining and glass blowstreet lineing under the same roof.  Here, where artists can display their art or quirky crafts under their own store fronts, there appears to be a lot of freedom as to what sellers decide to sell. From drawings to hand-crafted soaps, Artegon offers a variety of items that you will not find in your average mall.  There were stores dedicated to boomerangs, hammocks, and even jerky (all three separate stores!)!  While wandering, I even stumbled upon a temporary but cool high school art exhibit.

At the entrance of Artegon lays a maze of ropes overhead.  Both children and adults are welcome to trapeze through the air (attached by harness, of course).  Zip lining and even a mini free fall is included in a very affordable package of under $30 per person. You can stay on the ropes for as long as you want and even scaredy cats will be encouraged by their fellow rope climbers. 

For food, I walked past a frozen yogurt place, a pizza place, and a Fuddruckers.  Each offered gluten free options (which I can truly appreciate). I decided on Fuddruckers myself and had a delicious gluten-free bison burger with onions.street line

Unable to complete this journey in one day, I made sure to visit Artegon’s comic book shop Gods and Monsters on another evening. It so happened to be an evening dedicated to Pokémon Go Pokemon hustreet line nting (the store is home to a Pokéstop and a Pokémon gym). The Pokestop had an ongoing lure that certainly baited customers inside. Gods and Monsters is one of the largest spaces I have ever seen dedicated to a comic book shop. This comic book shop, unlike many I have gone to in New York, even offered a lounge with alcoholic beverages. While your mileage may vary, my own experience was not entirely positive as the bartender appeared rather overwhelmed and kept forgetting my order along with my neighbor’s. A tiny bit of research revealed that the shop is relatively new, which may explain some lacking memorabilia or unique offeriyy2ngs.  Overall though, it was a positive experience and cannot wait to return to see some growth Artegon apparently has existed for a few years now and seems to be moderately popular, despite the dozens of outlet malls littering the area. With some hope, its hipster atmosphere could attract more millennials and hipsters and spread more similar malls along the East Coast. Otherwise the next time I am in Orlando, I will ensure I set aside an entire day to spend in Artegon!

Written by Fantasia Cordero

fantasia cordero

TITO ROJAS PERFORMS LIVE IN THE BRONX

City ParkSTREET LINEs Foundation Summer Stage has done it again! Date Thursday, July 14 2016. Time 7pm. Where? St. Mary’s park on 146 street St Ann. The park was full of concert goers eagerly waiting for Tito Rojas and his live band to take the stage. One woman was screaming “Viva Puerto Rico!” as the crowd enjoyed latin music that echoed through the park. The announcer introduced Tito Rojas as the crowd waited patiently. He begun his introduction by greeting the crowd. The massive crowd yelled back with flags and cellphones out. One man went on Facebook live and reported to his social media friends to get down there. “I’m running STREET LINEout of battery!” Tito Rojas had a band with every instrument you can imagine. He begun by singing his classic songs that made him a hit. The place was so packed you could not even move. Some concert goers managed to get in the spirit and dance. Everyone was either eating, singing or dancing. One man walked up to  me and said this is better than the Puerto Rican Parade. There was no fighting no pushing – just love. As the band played, Tito Rojas interacted with the audience, making them wanting more. At one time, the audience sang so loud it almost ended up drowning out the singer. His response back to the crowd was that he loved them. Body to Body, shoulder to shoulder, there was little space to move. Fathers had their children on their shoulders while the rest who were old enough to manage learned the history of their people.

It was a beautiful night in St Mary park, thanks to Tito ROJAS and Summer Stage and, of course, the audience.

 

STREET LINE Written by Vera Edwards

DJ KEYNOTE SPEAKAZ RISING UP!

Street LineWRITTEN BY JAY DOGGZ