In The Arms of Baby Hop
by
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Blom…. Blip…blapbomm… the sounds that crept into my tired soul as my sleepy 26lb pound body tried to sleep. I was only four years of age, and the year was 1980. I could hear my mother scream, “cut that music down Cent”, and my sister replying it’s not that loud mom”. “Boom clap”… I could now hear the sound of the music simmer down, and although I went back to sleep, the boom clap never fully died. My sister was sixteen at the time and had begun to hang with an ugly little girl with pigtails that was completely responsible for the loudness; after all it was her noise and my sister’s love for her that caused me many restless nights as a young child. I hated the girl because her noise seemed foolish and it kept my sister from playing with me as I had wished. The ugly girl caused my mother to argue with my sister as well for the loudness. And although I began to tolerate the little girl’s noise I could not appreciate her just yet. As time and the years flew by I realized that my brother was the match maker in introducing my sister to playing with the little girl who made loud noise, who now looked just a little better in my eyes, but still a nuisance to mom. She once took my brother to the Sugar Hill and later to Planet Rock. He was intrigued by her presence. She began to dictate how he dressed, acted, and even helped his mood swings, she was a calming mechanism for his early let downs. In 1982 she helped him to find a message from the Sugar Hill Gang.
By 1983 she had captured the heart of my brother, sister and many other members of my family. Still a young lad, I’d rather break up or play with my brother’s toys and write stories and besides neither my sister nor my brother would let me play with her or listen to her, claiming I was not mature enough to understand and “get the hell outta” here to follow…. Luckily for me He-man and the Master’s of the Universe were on television and breaking my brother’s G.I. Joe action figures was enough to keep my from crying due to rejection. Months went by, then years and finally in early winter of 1985, my sister promised me a chance with this ugly girl who was now somewhat intriguing to me. Although she was not a beauty, I wanted to know what was the mystique she carried that caused my brother to changeh is appearance and my sister to damn near drop out of school to ingrain her self in this ugly little girl’s culture. Of course my mother was really disappointed and at times would not allow my sister to hang with the ugly girl, while by now my brother and her (ugly girl) where dating full time. I thought he was a fool in love, as I would watch him literally cry when he couldn’t be with her. At times he’d planet rock until the sunset. My sister lied and I never received my date with the girl in the winter of 84, but after watching MTV I noticed that this ugly girl had many lovers and therefore, could never be in a monogamous relationship because too many people loved her even suburban men and women. By the summer of 1985 she was dating more than 1,000,000 men and woman (it seems).
She would be in cars, homes, bars, picnics, parks (doin it in the dark) partying and shaking with men and woman, who all treated her well and at that point everyone had a special relationship with her and looked beautiful with her, but when James Todd Smith began to publicize his relationship with her and changed his name for her, I knew she was the one for me as well. After she helped him realize that he couldn’t live without his radio and it was okay to rock bells, I wanted to be with her as well. It was safe to say that I fell into a deep like with her after he rocked her bells, made her scream, and gave her pazazz, enlightment, and pure unadultrarated love. Her pigtails had transformed into finger waves and sometimes pony tails (popular at the time). Her skin was hard, but quite eloquent, but her voice was most intriguing. I was only nine, but began to write sounds dictated by her voice, I had begun to understand why my brother had rather be with her than to eat or sleep. Her voice and presence demanded attention and her love was the kind of love you did not mind sharing, since there was enough for all. Thanks to my sister Cindy, my brother Kyle and now James T. Smith, I had found the love of my life.
Formats Book Details In The Arms of Baby Hop is a direct-no nonsense, but powerful expressive autobiographic collection of how hip hop music has shaped, inspired, redirected, and given strength to Mr. Kenny Attaway’s life as he writes “I fell in love with hip-hop in 1985, and the love is still strong, the bond still is. With the exception of GOD and my mother hip-hop music has been the medicine needed for many sick and cinematic nights. Over the last 20 years many situations have arrived and without GOD, mom, and the music I know I would not be here to be telling you shit. My music helped me to understand many of the unkind facets of life such as death, discrimination, low self-esteem, poverty and whatever else your mind can fester to throw in the melting pot. Hip-hop has helped me to remember to forget, accept my reality, change my reality, and inspired me to change the world in some aspects. Thanks to hip-hop, excuse me baby hop, I have inspired and been inspired to set precedence in taking part in some of the most amazing things ever. In baby hop, I found a voice, a stage, a shoulder, a goal, a friend, but most importantly I found a purpose. With this book, In The Arms of Baby Hop, I found the strength, courage, and inspiration to open up and write about some of the most interpersonal experiences and road blocks in life over the last 20 years. I also found a way to thank baby hop for inspiring me not only to get through the road block, but to gyrate, giggle, respect the power of music and rejoice along the way. In short, I deliver to you In the Arms of Baby Hop: the unrecorded double LP (the rappin book). Kenny “Attaboy” Attaway has currently written over 20 books, in which three have been published. His up and coming published works includes Emmaculate: Jane’s beautiful handbook (spring 2007) and A Nutt it Takes a Stone to Crack (fall 2007). He writes plays, movies as well, and works in fashion consultation and photography. Professionally he works a family therapist & mental health clinician, and is perusing a PHD from
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