DJ Vietnam Drops My Life #DetroitSunshine - Mary J Blige feat. Esham

    Who ever wouldn't have thought that two artists from different sides of the game would make a historic mark in urban music. W2TT/ Coast2Coast turntablist, DJ Vietnam took two classic masterpieces that he grew up listening to in the Motor City and created the DetroitSunshine version of Mary J Blige's My Life song. While digging in the crates, Vietnam discovered some quite interesting facts about this Heaven & Hell collaboration. Journey with us as we break down the different sides of the game.
     The Queen of R&B, Mary J Blige (MJB) begin her career as a background singer with Uptown Records in 1989. Detroit's own, Esham entered his career when he was in Middle School (1988). Ironically, these two artists dropped legendary albums in the 90's about a year apart. Around the time when there were cassette tapes, Esham released his junior album Kkkill The Fetus in 1993; while MJB released her sophomore album My Life in 1994. Both born in two different boroughs of New York, Mary J is from the Bronx and Esham (Long Island) but raised & resides in Detroit, Michigan. The cover song from the My Life album contains samples the all-time pre-Neosoul classic from "Everybody Loves The Sunshine", performed by Roy Ayers.
    In "Sunshine", Esham described his dark realities of everyday life in the D from relationships to surviving in the streets. During this time, Mary was battling with addiction and engaged in an uproarious relationship with K-Ci from the group Jodeci. Even though Mary J is R&B, the elements in this songs coincides with the grittiness from Esham's lyrical testimony.  "When you're feeling down, you should never fake it"... as you can see that Mr. Negativity is not afraid to show his true emotions towards life through his music.



     Even though you would think that Esham is a horrorcore artist, he created a genre of his own called Acid Rap; which is now followed by artists all over the world.  From age 15 all the way on, Esham was quickly labeled a devil worshiper due to his dark content, but that wasn't his specific direction. "I've never worshipped the devil... I underestimated the reaction my music would evoke. I was simply trying to recreate the feeling you get while watching a horror movie", Esham stated. As an artist, it's a must that they express their true feelings... otherwise, those words will build up inside and create a reality that no one should ever experience.



"Say what's on your mind
And you'll find in time
That all the negative energy
It would all cease
And you'll be at peace with yourself
You won't really need no one else"

Lyrics Courtesy of MCA/Uptown Records.

    Through faith & spirituality, music talks to the soul and can heal any affliction caused by any living creature. As mortal beings, we are taught to believe none of what we hear and only half of what we see. It is up to you to determine your own realities in life. LOVE, PEACE & ALWAYS SEEK! Available on Mixcloud | Mixtape Dynasty | TweetMySong