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Have you ever wondered what happened to Dave the Dope Fiend?

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Along with the infamous jester Boo Boo the Fool and the greatly despised slave master Willie Lynch, Dave the Dope Fiend is arguably one in all Black America’s most iconic fictional characters.

Inspired by a single mention in Slick Rick’s 1989 hit: “The story of youngsters”, the name itself has aroused admiration and audience participation in nightclubs and parties for generations. Although the iconic song about a young person whose decisions get him into trouble with the law stays a part of the hip-hop canon, unanswered questions have been circulating in the minds of hip-hop fans for years.

Did he really not know what soap and water meant? How did he start smoking drugs? Why would he offer a spanking shotgun to a whole stranger? Most importantly, what happened to him and the kid he helped?

Well, we found the answers.

Everything hidden?

Here we go.

Once upon a time, not way back…

Not only has Dave the Dope Fiend never used drugs, perhaps greater than anyone in America, but he knows the importance of soap and water.

Born in 1975, David Darwin Dauphin was a straight-A student who spent his early life trying to escape poverty. Before crack hit New York, Bronx River Housing was a spot where people wore pajamas and lived slowly. Dave was the quintessential “magic kid” that everybody in the neighborhood protected.

He was going to win the 1984 Bronx Science Fair.

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In a college that gave birth to nine Nobel Prize winnersThe Bronx Science Fair for High Schools is one in all the best competitions in the K-12 academic community. Inspired by the bullying of his classmates, Dave created “So Fresh, So Clean” – a proprietary chemical process that allowed poor people to clean their bodies, even without access to soap and water. All he needed was a way to pay for the tests and supplies.

One day, a stranger approached Dave and offered him a job as a chemistry tutor for adults. It appeared like the perfect way to support his family and would actually help him win the science fair.

Growing up in an environment where people wore pajamas and lived slowly, Dave had no concept that he was actually teaching drug dealers how to cook crack. In his naivety, he tutored children who were as fascinated with chemistry as he was. Every day, Dave would go to the trap on the top floor of an abandoned constructing and explain chemical reactions, acid-base solutions, and the way to use Bunsen burners. He spent the remainder of his time in a well-equipped laboratory, studying, perfecting his invention, and preparing for the science fair.

On the day of the big science fair, Dave stayed up all night perfecting his project. He already had all of it found out. He didn’t even hassle to shower before his big presentation. Everything at the science fair went perfectly. (Except that the panel of judges asked him to compare the cost of Daves Dry Wash to the price of soap and water, which caused one in all his classmates to shout, “He doesn’t know what that is!”).

Dave’s Dry Wash took first place thanks to a landslide.

Dave didn’t even wait for the trophy. He ran to the trap to tell his “employers” that he was retiring. The drug boys were overjoyed that Dave had fulfilled his dream and was finally “out of the mask.” After a couple of minutes of celebrating, they left Dave alone to get his equipment. He had almost finished packing all the pieces when he heard a knock on the door.

Dave assumed that one in all his former employers would come to retrieve the shotgun that the “security guard” had left in the corner of the trap door to protect the “lab”. Who else would run up the stairs to the top floor of an abandoned constructing? Dave opened the door without even searching through the keyhole.

It was you, Stickup Kid.

The little boy misled

Tyson James, a shy but athletic third grader who mostly kept to himself, lived across the hall from Dave. Because Ty struggled with dyslexia – a diagnosis he discovered while in prison – he learned to struggle at a young age. That’s why his elementary school bullies knew higher than to retaliate when Tyson intervened in the frying of his third-grade classmate and neighbor.

“His name is (smack!)… David (smack!)… Dee (smack!)… Dauphin (smack!),” Ty announced, slapping his schoolyard bullies in the back of the neck with an open hand. “It’s Dave, the drug devil.”

Connected by proximity, poverty and a desire to escape the smaller of the Americas, the boys quickly became best friends. They even swapped clothes to make their wardrobes look more diverse. After Dave transferred, Ty was recruited by the midfield crew. When Dave came upon that his friend was robbing old people and running away, Ty left the crew.

“I would never be stupid enough to rob an undercover DT,” Ty said, using a standard term for an undercover detective. “I left this life. It wasn’t that I could not stop or that I got sick. Instead, Ty claimed he was framed and attacked by a corrupt police officer.

“He grabbed my arm and told me not to move; there was no need for interference,” Ty explained. “I was going to comply, but he punched me in the stomach and spanked me, so I escaped and ran around the block.”

This was the starting of one in all the most iconic chases in hip-hop history.

Ty also says that Dave was just in the mistaken place at the mistaken time. When Ty knocked on the trap door, Dave just smiled and said, “I won the science fair.” He expected Ty to be as completely happy as everyone else, but he immediately sensed something was mistaken.

“I need bullets,” Ty replied. “Hurry up, run.”

Dave didn’t even move. Instead, he quickly showed Dave to the back door and handed Ty the shotgun. The police rushed in, threw Dave to the ground and handcuffed him. Just a few minutes later, in the middle of this madman’s sleep, Dave heard gunshots.

“We shot a kid,” a voice announced on the police radio. To this present day, Dave can still hear the screams.

“Just to be clear, it wasn’t Dave’s shotgun or his bullets,” he added. “First of all, I didn’t even shoot at them! According to police reports, they dispersed after I got the tattoo. However, during the trial, the jury discovered that that they had simply made this part up! Shotguns don’t even save.

Ty was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for assaulting cops, armed robbery, resisting arrest, automotive theft and reckless endangerment. Because prosecutors alleged that Dave was Ty’s accomplice, he was charged with the same charges as Ty, in addition to RICO charges for the drug operation. “I don’t blame Ty,” Dave explained. “My life is the results of the decisions I even have made. I made a decision to work in a jail. I made a decision to tell Ty where the gun was.

While Dave had come to terms with the idea of ​​spending the remainder of his life in prison, his cellmate, Ty, was preoccupied with overturning his conviction. They got a second likelihood thanks to his friend’s commitment to true justice and each men’s commitment to sincere reparations.

Until Lakisha showed up.

This is not only one other mistaken path story

The statement continues:

When attorney Lakisha Holmes received a letter from inmate Tyson James, she immediately recognized the story. She knew all the details. The undeniable fact that she grew up in the Bronx River Homes had nothing to do with it, nor did the undeniable fact that Lakisha graduated from Bronx Science before attending Spelman and Howard Law School. Her birthday was the spark.

On April 21, 1988, lower than six hours after David Dauphin’s triumphant victory at the science fair and the life-changing abduction of Ty the Stickup Kid, “Jane Doe” welcomed her recent daughter into the world.

Lakisha all the time thought her mother was joking when she insisted she was the “pregnant lady” from one in all the most played songs on Black radio. Dave’s letter was proof that her mother was telling the truth.

Lakisha called her mother, who revealed that she never identified Ty as her kidnapper and, in fact, never implicated Dave. Many witnesses testified that only people on the town called the Dauphin “Dave the Dope Fiend”. Together they found the false police reports and revealed the truth. Lakisha’s mother even found her original witness statement, which supported Ty’s claims that he was unarmed when police shot him.

“They didn’t have to shoot that boy,” Doe said in her original statement. “He knew deep in his heart that he was wrong.”

After thirty years in prison, the appeals court overturned the sentence. In its decision, the three-judge panel cited police corruption, falsified evidence and witness tampering. To settle one other federal civil rights lawsuit, the NYPD paid Dave and Ty $13.7 million for his or her wrongful convictions and agreed to permanently fund the mentoring program.

Today, Dave and Ty are co-executive directors of Knock ’em Out the Box, a free program offered by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. While programs like The Innocence Project and Project BUILD serve incarcerated adults, Knock ’em Out the Box is the first to offer counseling and legal justice to juvenile delinquents featured in hip-hop songs. Past participants include: Millie (accused of pulling a gun on Santa Claus), together with dozens of youngsters whom my parents just didn’t understand.

When asked in the event that they had any bad feelings, they each admitted they regretted it. “I’m sorry to everyone I’ve hurt,” Ty said. “I reached out to my sister and told her I was sorry I was aiming for her head – thank God I missed her. I sent an apology to the old man I knocked down – I swore I killed him. I wrote another and another, sister and brother.”

“I wish I knew that white people actually don’t know the importance of soap and water,” Dave lamented. “Let’s imagine that we gave Jason Kelce support agreement. Dave’s dry cleaning could have been huge!”

Good night.


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Whitney Houston’s Epic 1994 South Africa Performance to Be Released as Concert Film

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Whitney Houston, theGrio.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston The epic South African concert, which took place on the heels of President Nelson Mandela’s groundbreaking election, will hit cinemas this fall.

Houston’s 1994 performance was fully remastered and released in cinemas under the title “The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban)” according to a press release released Tuesday by several associates, including Houston’s heirs, Sony Music Entertainment and Trafalgar Releasing.

The limited theatrical release will begin on October 23 and can include: a never-before-seen performance by the late singer from Durban, South Africa. The project will precede a brand new live album, The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) , which will probably be released on November 8.

“She loved South Africa, she loved the people and she loved Nelson Mandela,” he said. Pat HoustonThe singer’s sister-in-law and executor of her estate in Houston, who’s executive producing the concert film. “This concert is one of the most important concerts of her career. On this important 30th anniversary, we are thrilled to be able to share this film not only with her fans, but also with the people of South Africa and their next generation.”

In 1994, Houston performed three concert events in South Africa, including Durban at Kings Park Stadium, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Her performances took place within the newly unified post-apartheid country following Mandela’s historic election victory.

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The concert events attracted over 200,000 attendees in a show crammed with celebrations of freedom, hope and unity. Proceeds from her concert events went to quite a few local kid’s charities in South Africa through her foundation.

Houston’s performance has been remastered in 4K for the film, together with enhanced audio. The concert film will probably be shown in nearly 900 theaters in greater than 25 countries.

“It was my first time in South Africa, and I don’t think I was really prepared for how this trip would change me forever,” said Rickey Minor, a three-time Emmy Award winner who served as Houston’s musical director for 25 years. “The energy was electric and the audience was incredible as we celebrated the end of apartheid. Whitney shared her love and shone her light.”

Earlier that yr, Houston won three Grammy Awards, including album of the yr for the soundtrack to “The Bodyguard.” She won record of the yr and best female pop vocal performance for the smash hit “ I will always love you.”

Houston was certainly one of the world’s best-selling artists thanks to her effortless, powerful vocals rooted within the black church but made palatable to the masses by her pop persona. She sold greater than 200 million records worldwide over her 25-year profession and won six Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards and two Emmys before her death in 2012.

Houston’s live album will feature a few of her biggest hits from ” I need to dance with someone (who loves me)How will I do know?I even have nothing “And” The greatest love of all It will also feature the unreleased song “Love Is”.

“The message of hope and unity from the performance in Durban, South Africa, is still as relevant today as it was 30 years ago,” said Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing. “Fans will be thrilled to see how powerful it is on the big screen.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Yolanda Adams is still dealing with the blessing with ‘Sunny Days,’ her first studio album in almost 13 years

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NEW YORK (AP) — If happiness is a journey, not a destination, then Yolanda Adams has used her faith and smiles to sustain her spirits through life’s ups and downs.

“I think I was born with that happiness gene that people talk about,” the gospel star said. “I want people to leave here feeling like they’re better than they are… I’ve had days when I’ve been up, I’ve had days when I’ve been down. But at the end of the day, the one lesson I’ve learned in every single one of those scenarios is that this too shall pass.”

That theme continues throughout her latest album, “Sunny Days,” her first studio project in nearly 13 years.

“The way you look at anything has a lot to do with how you deal with it,” said the booming-voiced four-time Grammy Award winner.

The 15-track project was six years in the making, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and her role in the television series “Kingdom Business”.

“Sunny Days” is a piece written and produced by gospel music giant Donald Lawrence and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewiswhose work on Babyface also contributed to the delay. The album is promoted by the song “Church Doors”, which after only one week reached number 9 on Billboard magazine’s Hot Gospel Songs chart.

As he has throughout his profession, Adams uses his musical gift of encouragement on songs like the title track “Blessings” and “Powerful,” which has a spoken-word intro: (*13*)

“I try to be the best cheerleader I can be for everyone in my life,” the former elementary school teacher said. “You know how The Lion King says, ‘Simba, remember who you are.’ That’s what it’s all about: You are powerful.”

“When We Pray” – Produced by Jam and Lewis, who rose to fame after working with stars including Janet Jackson, Babyface, Usher and Mary J. Blige — it’s about putting faith into motion. Adams says she has a “lifelong bond” with the duo.

“We write together. We laugh, we cry,” said Adams, 63. “We talk about the problems of the world together and how we can create great music that can make people not only aware of the blessings of their lives but aware of the space they’re in right now.”

Named the #1 Gospel Artist of the 2000s by Billboard, Adams has produced iconic hits resembling “The Battle is the Lord’s,” “I’m Gonna Be Ready,” “In the Midst of It All” and “Be Blessed,” in addition to hits with Jam and Lewis: “Never Give Up” and “Open My Heart,” the latter from her Grammy Award-winning 1999 album Mountain High … Valley Low.

“Open My Heart,” which the late Luther Vandross privately championed when his record company desired to release a special single, reached unprecedented heights, crossing over to R&B radio and peaking at No. 57 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

“I was in the middle of making a business decision that didn’t just affect my family. It affected everyone on the road with me,” Adams said, reflecting on the inspiration for the song. “I’m sitting here today because I made the right decision.”

The Texas Southern graduate starred in the BET+ drama Kingdom Business, currently in its second season, as Denita, a gospel star and music executive determined to guard her family’s secrets. While Adams enjoys playing a personality who is very different from herself, she says it’s been a challenge for some fans.

“I lost a couple of fans who were like, ‘You didn’t have to swear,’” she explained that while she had no input into the script, her character is believable because churchgoers aren’t perfect. “When people are dealing with life, it can make you say things you wouldn’t normally say. And I really hope people take away from ‘Kingdom Business’ this: If you were the person you were trying to judge… how would you feel?”

Adams is currently on the 33-date Kirk Franklin Reunion Tour, which features fellow gospel titans Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp and The Clark Sisters. While gospel has all the time been her passion, she is open to performing a secular R&B song and has spoken to Stevie Wonder a few duet and helping him with a possible gospel project.

For now, nonetheless, she is focused on getting the message of her book “Sunny Days” across, but she won’t measure its success by the variety of copies sold, but by the variety of hearts touched.

“When I hear your testimony and hear how music was a part of your life, it just makes me more accountable: ‘Yes, I have to keep making this music! I have to keep making good music! OK God, give me some good things so I can keep blessing people.'”

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Janet Jackson recalls another major wardrobe mishap she experienced on stage

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Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation, Janet Jackson style, theGrio.com

Janet Jackson once almost showed her full moon to the Queen of England.

The 58-year-old music icon opened up about an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction she had within the ’90s, in addition to a few of her most memorable fashion moments. British Vogue. When the “That’s the Way Love Goes” singer stepped out for a photograph in her iconic “Rhythm Nation” jumpsuit, she said, “Funny story about that jumpsuit: I was performing for the Queen of England and we were playing ‘Rhythm Nation.’ And sure enough, as soon as I crouched down, my pants ripped right down my ass crack. And I mean that very seriously.”

Jackson was in disbelief, she said, adding: “I thought, ‘Oh my God.’ And then I started feeling air in there, so I knew it had actually happened.”

She coped with the style faux pas by never turning her back on the Queen. When the choreography required her to show, she said, “I just looked straight ahead.”

“Can you imagine what it would be like if I showed myself to her for even a second?” she asked.

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Elsewhere within the film, Jackson takes viewers on a journey through her childhood looks within the Nineteen Seventies to her more memorable stage looks from throughout her epic entertainment profession. She admits that she was a tomboy who often needed to argue her viewpoint when it got here to her mother’s clothing decisions. She preferred wearing suits and trousers, while her mother favored dresses and colours like pink.

But, Jackson noted with a sly smile, “I’ve gotten my way in a lot of cases.”

She added: “It was just about being myself and being comfortable.”

In another photo from her teens on the American Music Awards, she wears a red ruffled taffeta dress and a pair of hoop earrings, one in all which has a key hanging from it. She explained that since she didn’t carry a key chain, she needed to get creative when it got here to keeping her keys on her person.

“I was in charge of the animals, and we had animals: giraffes, mouflon sheep, pheasants, toucans, cockatoos, dogs,” she said, adding: “That’s why I kept the key there.”

She also noted that she hadn’t seen the dress for the reason that ’80s, when her older sister LaToya wore it herself.

“Sisters,” she said with fun.

The video ends with a scene from her current tour designed by Tom Browne.

“There are certain designers who are just brilliant to me. Thom is right up there. He’s a genius and he did this for me on tour,” she noted of the designer she called a friend.

“I think he did it, but he did it, and I did it,” she said of the tuxedo jumpsuit look.

Discussing the present tour and her fans, the music legend said, “You know, it’s people who have grown up with my music since the beginning and their kids. It just lets me know that my music has stood the test of time, which would be any artist’s dream.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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