Chapter 1 Music Money & Murder
I was born March 13, 1984 in Waco Texas. My cousin Tony Thompson set the stage for me before I even was aware of it. In 1984, he started singing solos in the local church choir at the age of eight. He then started singing in local talent shows. Local talent and up-and-coming artist William Walton reached out to Thompson in hopes of making his music dreams a reality. He was noticed by the first R&B group signed by Jive Records, which consisted of Toriano Easley (who is the only other native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and was later replaced by Treston Irby), Marcus Sanders, Russell Neal, and Roderick "Pooh" Clark who were also from Waco. Taking the name Hi-Five, the group signed with Jive Records in 1990. The quintet's self-titled debut album went platinum and produced several hits, including "I Like the Way (The Kissing Game)", "I Can't Wait Another Minute", and "Just Another Girlfriend".[1] In 1992, the group released their second album, Keep It Goin' On, with "She's Playing Hard to Get" and "Quality Time". Their third album, Faithful, was released in 1993.
Tony Thompson pulls up in a black BMW smiling as the whole family cheers for him. I was only 8 years old when I saw my cousin Tony on top of the world with the platinum selling group Hi Five. I knew from that moment anything was possible and I wanted to be the next celebrity in the family. Around 1993, it was basically a miracle to make it out the streets of Waco in a positive way. The drug trade controlled and dominated the entire city. The murder rate was at a all time high. Besides the Mt. Carmel situation with David Koresh or the city under watch because the killer and rapist Kenneth Allen Mcduff, Drug wars were the main topic and problem that the local police, FBI and DEA had to deal with.
In 1995 I stepped up to the plate and began singing in choir at North Waco Elementary. "Okay students I will call the male students first to try out for solos and after class I will be selecting students to sing in the Honors Choir. First up all the boys to the front who will trying out for solos in our upcoming program." Says the Choir teacher as all the boys line up to get ready to perform. I was shy and and a bit timid but I also knew that this is something that I wanted to do. I guess my motivation was the ambition and I felt it wasn’t any turning back and all I had to do was do it. I sung “Silent Night” and completely blew my teacher away, I could even sing opera songs, pop, rock n roll you name it. I ended up with five solos and a spot on the honors choir. Now the honors choirs was something totally different and a great experience. We performed with the Middle School and High School choirs, the best of the best.
I was 10 years old and had a interest and talent in music. Not any specific genre but if I could choose a favorite I picked Rap, particularly Gangsta Rap. I was a fan of everything from 2Pac, NWA, Geto Boys,Master P, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, Bone Thugs N Harmony, you name it me and my older brother Steven was jamming it. Steve started writing songs with my older cousin Travis whenever him and my Aunt and other cousins Lil Chris and Pervis would come to Waco from Ft. Worth to visit. I wanted to also make music and after my Uncle gave me a keyboard that is when it all began.
