BRPP MagazinePromoting Artistic Expression

Issue 9

Welcomes

YouENTER & EXPLORE

BLAQRAYN2012@GMAIL.COM

ERICCROW

DRAVENMYLASTWRITES.ORG

BE ON THE LOOKOUT

THEYARE COMING SOON!!!

WELCOME THE LEGEND NATHAN P.TO THE BRPP FAMILY

Chalklines on Black Asphalt

Make sure to checkout his

HOTTT CDChalklines On Black

Asphalt. It hassomething for

everybody and it issure to please.

No disappointments inthese awesome

tracks!!!

To obtain your copy of thisawesome, chilling CD, contact

Nathan @npearson31@hotmail.com. Youdon’t want to miss out on this!!!

IT WAS ONMY MIND

UGLY

While reasoning with a youngbrother yesterday after work, hiscellphone rang. He answered, talkedfor about thirty seconds and thenreturned his attention to me. Inoticed an underlying smile andgleeful spirit had arose so I asked,"A female?"

"Yeah, one of my lil breezes."Ismiled at him. A tall, handsome,dark skin brother from NY. Smooth,a work in progress but has a goodheart and willing to listen."Shewanted me to stop by.""Oh yeah?"

"Yeah but she said she's on herperiod."He frowned."And?""I toldher I would see what's up."

"Oh, you're not going because youcan't get none?"He smiled. "Hereyou go. I know you got something tosay about that. Let me hear it.""I'mjust saying, if you really want toshow her you care, go and chill withher, show her she's worth more thansex.""I'm saying though, shorty ain'tall that. She's kinda ugly, somethingI just smash...”

"Ugly huh?"

"Don't start Muh."

"I'm just saying, just a few decades ago most people would consider YOUugly based solely on your dark skin."

"Shit, that's they problem."

"And this brother, is YOUR problem. You're allowing society to provideyour standard of beauty."

"Man...you always-"

"Now would be the time to listen youngin..." He smiled and shook hishead."Go head Muh."

"When you got off the phone you were smiling and glowing. Ugly doesn'tproduce happiness." His eyes tightened in curiosity.

"Pretty is...as pretty does. If a female makes you feel good, makes yousmile and anticipate her, she's pretty. But society has poisoned you into amisinterpretation of beauty. If you continue to allow others to define yourperspective on people, a great deal of happiness God has in store for youwill escape you."

"So you're saying I should ignore the fact she doesn't look good to me?"

"She looks good enough for you to lay down with."

"She's got a fat ass though."

"I can guarantee she has a few more assets youngin. Problem is, shedoesn't fit the image of the people whose opinion you value. An evenbigger problem is, the opinions you value are based on superficial shit.The mind is powerful. If someone convinces you that something is ugly,that is how you will see it. Why don't you try seeing her through your owneyes, based on how she makes you feel."

"I'll admit...she is a down ass chick."

THIS IS HOW IT STARTS. Talk to our youth. Have something to say.Walk the walk...and with consistency, they just may listen.

Muhjahid Qahhar

Featured Author

Tonya Barber

Tonya M. Barber, also known asLady T, currently resides inNewark, New Jersey with herthree children. She has beenwriting poetry since the age of 12.

A number of her poems haveappeared in anthologies in theUnited Kingdom, and she alsopublished a limited edition poetryaddress book and a poetry diary.

Her recent works include AJourney Through The Windowof My Soul, The JourneyContinues, Drama in the Bricks,The Other Side Of Me,ChangingThe Game 1,2,3, Misty's Bluesand I Can Love You Past YourPain.

BOOKS by AUTHOR TONYA BARBER

New Releases By

Author Tonya Barber

Jayson thought he had left his old life behind him. He movedon. He was a changed man. Going legit was the best decisionhe could have ever made.

The time he got to spend with his family was priceless. He wasliving the life he'd always wanted but it wasn't long before thestreets started whispering his name calling him back into thewild.

When his wife's cafe was destroyed due to arson and her bestfriend was injured in the blast, he knew could not sit on thesideline and let it go. He was determined to find out who wasresponsible for it and when he did he was determined to makethat person pay, with his life.

Jordan thought Steven was the love of her life and looked forward to a futuretogether. That is, until the unexpected happened and things changed like the wind. Awanted pregnancy brought an end to what she thought was a forever.

After much consideration, Jordan decides to take on motherhood despite theobjections of the child’s father and even though her decision led to the destruction ofher love life, she made a conscious decision to move on and forget about Steven.

What was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of her life became the mosttragic, leaving her bruised, broken, and discouraged, swearing off love forever. Thatis until she meets Elijah Roberts who turns her world from upside down to right sideup, but will Jordan trust her heart enough to let love in again or will she let her fearsof being hurt sabotage her chances at true love? Find out in this riveting tale of love,betrayal, and heartbreak.

www.outskirtspress.com/dramainthebricks www.outskirtspress/andthejourneycontinues

www.outskirtspress.com/tonyabarber

The Tantalizing

Tina Wright

Open your mind andimagination so you can takea walk with this wonderfulErotic Poet on the other side,

where fantasy becomesreality and desire fuels its

own fire.Available on Amazon and

Createspace for Kindle & inPaperback!

The Companion CD with 5 mindblowing tracks from the book that aresure to tease and please. Get your copy

today on Amazon, CDBaby orCreatespace!

2014

Natio

nalPoetry

Award

s

Poet

Auth

oroftheYear

AUTHOR/POET

ERIC CROW DRAVEN

CONGRATULATIONS

AUTHOR & POET

JAMES COBURN

Words are like precious drops of rain,quenching thirsty hearts and minds.

Available on Amazon andCreatespace for the Kindle and in

Paperback.

Audio Book of “Words of Rain” alsoavailable on itunes, Amazon and

Audibles.Companion CD available on Amazonand Createspace for your ultimate

listening pleasure.

1. How long have you been a part ofthe industry/business?

A. Well as independent artist, I havebeen doing music going on 4 years, butI wasn’t as serious about my craft until2 years ago.

2. How did you get your start?

A. I’ve always had an ear and passionfrom music. However, I started offwanting to be a ghost writer. I wouldactually write songs for my sister and afew others that wanted me to, but iteventually became boring and Iwanted to come from behind the scenes.The first thing I picked up was rap. Itwas nothing new to me at all. I feltvery comfortable being heard with myown words, rather than having otherssay what I had to sayFor me.

3. If you will, give me one pro and onecon you have found in this industry.

A. One pro is that I have discover newfans that had listened to prettyeverything I’ve put out so far. And onecon would be that is very difficult to.Becoming a super star is not easybecause there are so many peopledoing the same thing, it’s basically as ifI’m competing.

4. Has this always been a lifelongdream or something that happenedunexpectedly?

A. This was totally unexpected. I’vealways known I wanted to changethe world. I never knew how, but mygift had revealed itself when I was16. Since that day, that’s when Iknew this is what I’m suppose to bedoing.

5. With whom have you had thepleasure of working?

A. My recent feature with Senica DaMisfit from Baltimore. I had thepleasure of working with him. He istruly a hip hop head and thinks thesame of me!

6. People see the glitz and glamour,but how hard is the work?

A. I work hard, especially for mymost recent mix-tape. There aretimes where I may stay up until 4 inthe morning writing a verse becauseit has to sound perfect. I work tohelp fund some of my own things. Iinvest in myself.

7. If you weren't doing what you do, what do you think would be yourchosen profession?

A. I’m currently in school majoring for computer information andscience. So I would probably do something with computers. I think I’m a

tech nerd.

8. Who and what inspires you?

A. Everyone inspires me. Most of all, my parents. As I stated before I’vealways wanted to change the world, but

Without people there would be nothing worth changing, thereforeeveryone inspires me.

9. What is your advice to anyone trying to succeed in this industry?

A. My advice to anyone would be to always stay focused! It a party ormovies is more important than mastering your craft then you won’t

succeed. It takes dedication, determination, and consistency to succeed inthis industry.

10. Any words of encouragement or shout outs you would like to add?

A. I want people to know that there are flowers waiting to blossom. It’sup to them when they will begin the process. I would also like to shout

out my parents, my sister, the rest of my family, my friends in Baltimore,my three best friends, and a guy that’s as cool as me; Rokie.

Photographs courtesy of Aaron Davis &Brianna’s Management Team

Make sure to check out Brianna’s newMix-tape “Brianna Exposed” on

Amazon!!!

EL~SHABAZZ ( The Falcon )

Born May 11th 1972, in Los Angeles Ca &raised as a Fatherless Child in theUncertainties of Black Life in America.

Christian by Faith but not by Practice, Raisedby his Mothers Family in the Streets of LongBeach California, Moving with his Mother,Her New Husband and Younger Sister to TheAntelope Valley to start anew.

He soon found himself in trouble with the Law,a Disciplinary Problem in School, and a RunAway, a Petty Criminal, who became Homeless.In and Out of the Juvenal Counts, and StateFacilities,

At the Age of 13 He wrote his First Poem in aBoys Home, and would forever be know to hisFriends as POET, Soon becoming an Emceewhile Embracing Hip Hop in its Youth andInnocence ...

At Age 19 He Embraced Islam, while serving a 3year sentence and became a Muslim byFaith and Practice.

Has a Son name Jihad by age 26 and Devoted histime and study to Islam while breaking away byfrom old destructive behaviors.

Finding His Voice in Poetry,Reading and Writing and best of All Questioning,Finding his Redemption inPoetry, Family , Faith and never forgetting wherehe comes from, Giving back in Soul and Ink.

A Pan~Afrikan Muslim Poet,Who Writes to Breathe,Til Words are FREE....

~El Saqr

The words of El~Shabazz, thismost fluent and unique of Poetscan be found in his new release“SOULTRAVELS: My Journey

in My Words”.Available on Amazon and

Createspace, for Kindle and inpaperback.

Ratings 5 - Steam Room Black

R. Angel is a new author and I am looking forward to reading all shehas to offer, she is offering a fresh look on Romance, love andrelationships with reality right at the front. Keith and Jasmine are ayoung married couple working on their first business venture untiltragedy, madness and murder, not to mention some real crazy dreamsstep in to interfere.

Found out in this fast pace thriller what happens when beauty andbananas mix! Everything that looks good just might not be good foryou!!!

4 ½ Heat’s Desire

HD 1 also has crazy looking at youstraight in the face from the beginning.Moniq is a beautiful, educated womanwho has had a hard live, crazy relativeand lots of deep dark secrets. Heat Mosscomes along and he also has somequestions in his live about love, trust andwomen. These two come together andunexpected moment and sparks fly.Passion, heat and powerful sex rocks theirworld. There is one problem, remembercrazy. Well it comes in the shape of arelative. This person comes back intoMoniq’s life and it is disastrous. Troubleis brewing and it is not good.

Heat’s Desire II: 41/2Well let me first remind you to read Heat’s Desire 1. This will give you thefoundation for this dangerous, passion filled part 2.

Desiree is not able to escape her crazy cousin Malcolm. He is back and as crazyas ever. Malcolm is determined. This non-stop, action filled novel will keep youtrying to figure out what, when and how. Some new characters have beenintroduced and yes I am one of them... (Jeanette is an older sister). How far willsome go for love, passion, desire and obsession? Pick up Heat’s Desire 2 and youwill get some answers and a strong dose of reality!