From Tuesday on, last week was a record hottie for the time of year, but politicians still had occasion to gather. Here are three such events. The picture of the three mayors, unfortunately blurry in resolution, still depicts a highlight moment at the James Lee House in Victorian Village, one in which, reportedly, there was palpable tension between the mayors on far left and far right.
“I moved to Memphis from Louisiana in 2018 mainly for the music scene,” says Chris Hamlett. “I immediately knew I had made the right choice. Venues were willing to put me on shows with some of my favorite artists. Then I met Mike Hewlett & the Racket. We put out a split vinyl together, and we all thought we’d be able to tour behind it. Then the proverbial rug got pulled out from under everyone.”
The pandemic was (and is) hard on everyone, but musicians had a particularly difficult time. Not only was their livelihood tied to live appearances, but it’s the human connection of live music that motivates and inspires musical artists. Hamlett’s 2020 experience may sound familiar. “I spent the lockdown drinking way more than anyone should, wishing I could get back on a stage. The song ‘Wasted a Whole Year’ is a double entendre, referring to not only drinking my way through the pandemic, but also feeling like I (and everyone else) was robbed of that entire span of time.”
Hamlett recorded the song with Hewlett producing and playing percussion, and Ethan Baker on violin. Shane Ellis directed the video, which was shot in the Midtown music mecca of the Hi Tone. If you like what you hear, Hamlett has a Kickstarter project to crowdfund his next record. So check it out, and be generous to the music makers who are still recovering from their wasted year.
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
I’m coming to realize that when viewing a play, I often start out tepid. I think this might be an effort on my part to remain objective, to let go of any preconceived notions and simply take in what’s about to unfold. If Playhouse on the Square’s Smokey Joe’s Cafe found me lukewarm at the top of Act One, then know that by the end of Act Two I was fully in love. This is a production that will win you over entirely.
Smokey Joe’s Cafe is a revue, and in case you’re unfamiliar with the theatrical term, let me explain. A revue has no plot or storyline. There are no characters to follow, no dialogue to keep track of. Smokey Joe’s Cafe is a revue that feels as though your favorite golden oldies playlist manifested itself onstage in a perfect paracosm of feel-good music. The music, all works by Jerome Leiber and Mike Stoller, is the central theme running through the show. Rich ensemble harmonies and outstanding solo numbers are rife throughout, and as an audience member, there is nothing asked of you except to sit back and experience pure, unadulterated entertainment.
The music in the show is what my parents would have grown up listening to on the radio. During intermission, my friend, Maggie Fyfe turned to me and said, “My mom would love this.” Because I grew up listening to ’60s hits, the songs were almost all familiar and comforting to me, as well, despite my millennial age. The general feeling in the audience was one of joy. I often found myself smiling underneath my mask, and every time I glanced around, everyone else was grinning as well. The occasional breaking of the fourth wall invites the audience in, and the atmosphere this show creates as a result is convivial.
I typically admire dressed-down set design, and Ryan Howell’s scenic configuration was no exception. By the second half of the show, where the cast really seemed to find their stride and turn up the energy, I was admiring it because it stayed out of their way. The elements of this show — the costumes, the live band onstage, the giant neon sign bearing the title of the play — come together seamlessly without distracting the viewer from the true point of the show: the musical performances.
Each member of the cast had an opportunity to shine, from Kylan Owens’ taking the spotlight in Daniel Stuart Nelson’s choreography, to Breyannah Tillman belting out “Hound Dog” like you’ve never heard before in your life — even in Memphis, Tennessee. Maggie and I paused on our way out after seeing the show to hash out our favorite moments. At one point she asked me, “Are you just gonna write about how sexy it was?” While it is difficult to refrain from gushing over Cleavon Meaborn IV crawling downstage during “Little Egypt” for the rest of this column, I will do my best to remain professional. (I think it was “Little Egypt.” I was so absorbed that my note-taking admittedly began to suffer.) Memphians will be pleased to note that the several Elvis songs throughout the show are performed without feeling campy or impressionistic, with each performer bringing distinct personality to the numbers.
The most powerful moment of the night, in my opinion, took place in Act Two. The female members of the company came together to sing “I’m a Woman,” and, being a woman of child-bearing age in the midst of current headlines, this one hit different for me. Brooke Papritz in particular took no prisoners, her voice ringing out with rage, passion, and pride. There were several times that Maggie and I glanced at one another with the raised-eyebrow expression that universally translates to an impressed, “Damn!” “I’m a Woman” contained one such moment.
Personally, I needed this show at this time in my life. Not every play or musical can offer you a chance to truly turn off your brain, forget your stress, and be uplifted. Smokey Joe’s Cafe offers up comedy alongside performances of some of the biggest hits of the 20th century. I walked out in a better mood than when I went in, which is the best praise I can give.
Smokey Joe’s Cafe runs through Sunday, May 29th, at Playhouse on the Square.
I arrived in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1991, precisely a decade before the Vancouver Grizzlies became the Memphis Grizzlies. I enjoyed those first 10 years in the Bluff City, and as a man whose life has been wrapped in sports from the get-go, I found plenty of fun in this town. But nothing like the 2021-22 Memphis Grizzlies. Not even close. Not in the Nineties when I was a young man, and not since, as the years have carried me into middle age. I suppose all good things — even great things — must come to an end, as we’re taught early. But I’m not sure the 2021-22 Memphis Grizzlies will ever end, not for the bar they’ve set for professional basketball in the Mid-South, and not for what they achieved, even falling two rounds shy of the franchise’s first NBA Finals.
In a league celebrating its diamond anniversary, the 2021-22 Grizzlies put a sparkle on the sport by becoming the youngest team in NBA history to win 55 games (average age: 24.4 years). In so doing, the Grizzlies tied the franchise record for victories (56) and won their first Southwest Division title. (Banners are hung for such. The Grizzlies must raise one at FedExForum.) This young, effervescent squad pulled off a trifecta of sorts, leading the NBA in rebounds (49.2 per game), blocked shots (6.5), and steals (9.8). And look at those statistics: Each of them is an effort stat. The fact that Memphis topped all 30 NBA clubs in effort . . . well, that shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched as many as five or 10 games over the last seven months.
Alas, the NBA is a league of star power. Teams win championships with the celebrated, the marketed, the first-team All-NBA selections. For all the blue-collar strength the 2021-22 Grizzlies exhibited, they also featured Ja Morant, a young athlete — he’ll turn 23 in August — unlike any other this city has seen. (This city has seen Reggie White and Bo Jackson.) The NBA’s 2020 Rookie of the Year, Morant somehow claimed the league’s Most Improved Player Award two years later. His scoring average did leap from 19.7 per game to 27.4 (a figure that would have ranked sixth in the league had Morant not missed 25 games with injuries). But numbers won’t be what Morant leaves basketball fans at the end of what we hope is a long career. He’ll leave the “Did you see” conversations, stacked upon one another as hyperventilating children might do at a circus gone wild.
“Did you see Ja’s two-handed block?!?”
“Did you see Ja’s dunk?!?” We’ll have to be much more specific with this one.
“Did you see Ja’s wrap-around pass?!?”
“Did you see Ja’s buzzer-beating scoop?!?”
The Grizzlies have the superstar they’ll need to win two more rounds in the playoffs. It’s now just a measure of (1) keeping Morant healthy and (2) accelerating the team’s learning curve for postseason basketball. The Golden State Warriors — a few of them, at least — knew enough to earn a call here or an uncontested shot there, and that was enough in a best-of-seven series.
The great thing about young teams (if coached right, and thank you, Taylor Jenkins): They get better. The Grizzlies’ roster is in the hands of the NBA’s Executive of the Year (thank you, Zach Kleiman), and will surely receive a tweak or two before the 2022-23 season tips off. But you can count on Desmond Bane (future All-Star) returning. You can count on Jaren Jackson Jr. (future All-Star) further developing into the league’s best shot-blocking-three-point-shooter. And you can count on the memory bar climbing even higher for Memphis, Tennessee’s lone big-league operation. If you’re new to town, count your blessings for choosing this city and the basketball it delivers. If you’ve been around a while like me, adjust that memory bar one more time. But leave a higher slot or two.
And so it goes. The Grizzlies’ season has ended with a Game 6 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the semi-conference finals.
Normally this is where I would have written out a recap of the game, but I am not doing that today. If you’ve been following this team, you already know how Game 6 turned out. There will be plenty of time to second guess decisions and criticize playmaking down the stretch. *cough* Dillon Brooks *cough*
Now feels like a good time to reflect on a historic season instead.
It was a record-breaking season regardless of how you look at it. This team broke franchise records and league records alike. They had individual players leading the league in several categories. They tied their franchise record for most wins in a season with 56 wins.
We saw developmental leaps for Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr., and league-anointed Most Improved Player Ja Morant.
This squad didn’t get as far as they would have liked, but they got further than anyone predicted. The hunger to win a championship is strong with them. The championship window for this team is officially wide open and will be for the foreseeable future.
There are no moral victories and close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. But no one can deny that this young Memphis team had a hell of a run this season. Far outpacing expectations and having shown they can go toe-to-toe with any team in the league, there should be no apologies and no hanging of heads. Chins up and chests out.
Just because the season has officially ended does not mean that the players or the front office intend to spend the summer resting on their laurels. Rookie forward Ziaire Williams showed lots of potential throughout the regular season and the postseason. Williams stated in his exit interview he was looking forward to putting in work in the offseason and playing in the Summer League.
There are still decisions to be made regarding free agency, the specifics of which cannot be legally discussed at this time, but Grizzlies general manager and 2022 Executive of the Year Zach Kleiman has alluded to having no worries about finances hindering them. During end-of-season media availability, Kleiman stated “we are not going to have any issue paying anyone we want to pay.”
It is my sincerest hope that includes Kyle Anderson and Tyus Jones, who will be unrestricted free agents. Memphis also holds a team option for Brandon Clarke, one they would be wise to exercise.
In other free agency news — Ja Morant is eligible to sign a rookie contract extension when free agency starts in July, which he has emphatically affirmed that he would be signing. Morant is eligible for a five-year, $181 million max contract.
In closing, my advice is just this:
Run it back and let’s do it again next year.
UPDATED: According to confirmed sources, John Ryder, one of the most formidable and respected political figures in Memphis history, and one who made his mark nationally as well, has died. Word is that the family has asked for privacy.
Ryder, 72, was chairman of the board of the Tennessee Valley Association until August 2021, and served on the board through the end of last year. That was only one of the weighty positions he had ascended to through the years. He was general counsel to the Republican National Committee in 2016-2017, and had been a committeeman of the RNC from Tennessee from 1996 to 2016, with the exception of the years 2004-2008.
In 2010, Ryder chaired the Republican Party’s National Redistricting Committee and was as instrumental as anyone in devising the strategies that earned the Republican Party unprecedented victorious outcomes that year in Tennessee and elsewhere.
Ryder served many years as an assistant county attorney for Shelby County, and had also been a delinquent tax attorney for the county. From 2000 on, he was a member of the Harris Shelton law firm, specializing in bankruptcy, commercial litigation, and election law. For many years he was litigation counsel for the Shelby County Election Commission. Ryder also taught election law at Vanderbilt University.
Ryder had ambitions to serve as an elected official himself, but was foiled in his one try — a race for the Shelby County Commission in 2002 — losing to fellow Republican Bruce Thompson in the GOP primary.
Despite his committed life-long work for the Republican Party, Ryder had many friends across party lines and participated in numerous civic activities, serving, for example, on the Board of Governors for Opera Memphis.
“John was a friend and mentor to me and the people of Shelby County,” said longtime EC president Robert Meyers.“He was cornerstone of the party and of the community,” said current Shelby GOP chairman Cary Vaughn. State Republican chair Scott Golden said, “His unmatched legacy and resume will never be forgotten, and I am fortunate to have called him a friend and mentor.”
University of Memphis law professor Steve Mulroy said, “I’m genuinely saddened to hear of John’s passing. While we were often on opposite sides, I always found him affable, professional, and honest, and I know many of my Democratic friends felt the same way. We had a particular bond as fellow scholars of the law, ones who took that profession’s ideals seriously. I respected his intellect and intellectual honesty, and he was genuinely fun to be around. Like many others, I’ll miss him.”
“I am so saddened to hear about John Ryder’s passing. He was a gentleman and was always lovely to me. I send my deepest condolences to his wonderful wife, Lain, and their family,” said Paula Casey, longtime political activist who chaired the Memphis Suffrage Monument committee.
He leaves his wife, Lain, and daughters, Reagan and Nancy-Kate Ryder.
Visitation will be Sunday, May 22nd, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Canale Funeral Directors. The funeral will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3245 Central Avenue, on Monday, May 23rd, at 1 p.m. followed by a brief reception in the parish hall.
Memorials may be sent to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Opera Memphis, or Wabash College (301 W. Wabash Avenue, Crawfordsville, IN 47933).
Hundreds gathered in the hot sun to rally in support of abortion rights on Saturday in Downtown Memphis. The crowd was protesting the anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision that would reverse the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade, the decision which affirmed women’s Constitutional right to abortion via their right to privacy.
A Planned Parenthood of Memphis and North Mississippi official declined to estimate how many attended the Bans Off Tennessee protest, beyond noting more than 1,200 had signed up for the event through the organization’s online organizing portal. The rally crowd spilled out of Ida B. Wells Plaza, dwarfing the dozen or so Proud Boys counter-protesters, who flashed white supremacist hand signs at the line of feminist protestors facing them across Beale Street.
Among the speakers at the hour-long rally were Tennessee House Representative London Lamar, scientist and Shelby County Democratic Party chairwoman Gabby Salinas, Planned Parenthood organizers Antoine Dandridge and Aerris Newton, Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, and candidate for Tennessee State Senate Ruby Powell Dennis.
After the rally, most of the attendees braved the heat to march down Beale Street, where tourists and revelers watched and took pictures of the throng. At one point, a street singer incorporated the marchers’ chant “My body, my choice” into a blues song.
The marchers turned onto Main Street, where their chants of “No justice, no peace” echoed through the urban canyons. While taking pictures of the crowd, this reporter almost ran over Congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis, who was cheering on the marchers from the south sidewalk.
By this time, the tiny counter-protest had melted away. Beyond the occasional thumbs-down along the route, there were few signs of dissent from the marchers message in support of women’s rights to make their own reproductive health decisions.
The energized crowd arrived for a second rally at the National Civil Rights Museum, where organizer Newton led chants. Cohen thanked the marchers for braving the heat and told the crowd he was with them “one million percent.” Volunteers handed out water bottles as the protesters mixed about, sharing their stories of experiences with abortion and their personal awakening to the cause. No violence or arrests were observed.
Wednesday night’s 134-95 victory over the Golden State Warriors demonstrated the Grizzlies’ “next-man up” mentality in face of elimination.
Ja Morant is doubtful throughout the remainder of the playoffs with a right knee bone bruise.
“I mean, this is definitely impressive, but to use our player’s phrase, we deep,” said Taylor Jenkins on winning without Morant. “I mean, we’re deep. It’s as simple as that. I think we say that, not arrogantly. We say that confidently because anybody that steps out on the floor can make an impact for us.”
Jenkins added, “A lot of different guys stepped up. It’s really impressive, no matter who’s out. Ja’s out, anyone else goes out, our guys rally and compete, and tonight was a big win for us.”
“Next man up mentality,” said Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks about playing without Morant. “We know how to respond. … We know how to play with each other better than any team in the NBA. We continuously find ways to keep up in our play. So, it’s just a fun style to play and it starts with the defensive end. Everyone bought in on the defensive end. Guarding, trying to get deflections, rebounding, and it builds into our offense.”
“It almost seems like whenever somebody thinks we can’t do something,” said Desmond Bane after the massive win, “we end up doing it. I never want to put a limit on what we can do, because anything’s possible.”
Tonight the Grizzlies will face the Warriors in San Francisco for Game 6 and will be a must-win to avoid elimination. Here are some things Memphis should do to force Game 7 in Memphis:
Go big again
With Steven Adams back in the starting lineup, the Grizzlies dominated the offensive glass and outrebounded the Warriors for the first time during the series. Rebounding helped the team finish the regular season with the second-best record in the league.
Memphis’ +18 rebounding advantage (55-37) in Game 5 swung the game in their favor. As a result, they had a 24-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Prior to the last game, the Warriors have been winning the rebounding battle. Adams is a key factor for the Grizzlies both offensively and defensively.
“Steve-O [Steven Adams] will find a way to feed them in the paint,” said Brooks. “Same with Jaren, and once we get able to establish the paint, it’s easy for us to make threes. We relentlessly crash the boards. Relentlessly played off the catch and drag their close-outs.”
“Then, ultimately, it opens up the three, so we have a complete game tonight,” continued Brooks. “It lets me know we’ve got to bring that on the road and keep that same effort and energy on the defensive.”
Make JJJ the focal point on offense
In Game 5, Jenkins made it a point to go to Jaren Jackson Jr. early and often. He finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. JJJ converted on 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.
He’s been hearing a lot lately about how he needs to be more aggressive.
After the blowout win against the Warriors, Jackson told reporters, “Be aggressive. Take what they give me. Depending on who’s guarding me, probably depends on what I’m going to do. I mean, they want me to be aggressive, so I’m just doing me.”
Tyus Jones said, “It makes my job easy. I tell Jaren every night, dominate. That should be his mindset.”
Jenkins said after Wednesday’s game, “I want to get him going early in the game because I knew he was going to be a big factor early in the game, late in the game. He’s going to be a big factor for the rest of the series.”
“He’s the key,” Brooks told reporters after Game 5. “They got no one to guard him. No one to stop him. He needs to keep demanding the ball. The Warriors are going to have to adjust and double team him soon, and he’s going to have to learn how to pass the ball out to get his teammates shots, and that’s what he needs to do.”
Brooks added, “I try to tell him to stay aggressive, and you’re a walking mismatch out there for every single player that guards you. So just keep attacking.”
Jackson also needs to stay out of foul trouble.
Everybody eats
Jones and Bane must replicate their performances from Wednesday.
Jones ended the game with 21 points, nine assists, two steals, and zero turnovers plus he shot 4 of 7 from the three point line. Game 6 has to be the best game of his career as a scorer, passer and playmaker. He has run a consistent offense to avoid getting stagnant like it did late in Game 4.
“We’re hungry — we’re fighting,” Jones said. “We’re fighting because our season is on the line at this point. And so, you know, we’re just fighting. We’re going to need these guys every single night from here on out. Simple as that. They stepped up. They showed up for us. We’re going to need that again Friday.”
Bane finished with 21 points like both Jackson and Jones. He connected with 4 of 6 three point shots. The Grizzlies need him to shoot lights out like he did in the first round series against the Timberwolves.
The bench squad has to show up and show out. Last game Memphis bench outscored the Warriors reserves 52-35. Brandon Clarke and company must produce in order to extend the series.
Will these young Grizzlies continue to do the impossible? Will they upset the Warriors and advance to the Western Conference Finals?
Elvis — in a way — was responsible for Son.person meeting Justin Bieber, who was his idol at the time.
Son was around eight years old when he and his mom met Bieber backstage before the singer’s performance at FedExForum.
“I gave him an Elvis Presley clock,” Son says. “The one where Elvis’s legs move back and forth. My mom handed it to him and he started laughing and smiling and we took our photos. I was scared to death. All I said was I was wanted to do what he did one day.”
Son (a.k.a. Whitt Sabin) is now a 17-year-old singer-songwriter following in Bieber’s footsteps as well as the footsteps of many of his other heroes, including Tyler, the Creator. Son released his ninth single, Loved U More May 13th with a video to follow soon.
Son began making videos when he was a baby. “There’s videos you can see on YouTube. Me in diapers just singing songs.”
And, he says, “My mom has a video of me in Wiggles pajamas and I’m doing Fireflies by Owl City over and over again.”
When he was about six, Son began studying at the House of Talent in Germantown. While his fellow classmates were tap dancing or doing theater music, Son was performing songs by Bieber and Bruno Mars. “That’s all I wanted to do. That age was around the time I discovered who Justin Bieber was. I loved his entire everything. I love the whole frontman appeal, like Bruno Mars and the older ones like Michael Jackson. Just being that guy up front and being able to entertain people. Making people happy is such a cool thing.”
Son began taking guitar lessons at age 7 when he went to study at the School of Rock Memphis. “I didn’t hate it,” he says, “but I wanted to be the guy up there shouting out loud. I just wanted to be up front, I guess.” So, shortly after the guitar lessons, Son began concentrating on singing and working on performance, and he credits the School of Rock Memphis for helping hone his skills.
Son used to just “stand still on stage and not move one bit. The change I’ve seen in 10 years has just been insane.”
On his cover version of Wild Flower by the Cult, Son says, “I was just standing there. I’m standing still the whole time. The guitar solo ends and I do one tiny jump. It’s so funny. “I would always try to move a little more every show, but I was very reserved, I guess.”
He decided to step up his game when his School of Rock Memphis house band went on a tour performing with School of Rock house bands from around the country. “That house band was like a light switch. That was the changing point for me. I just started moving around more. I started entertaining the crowd and speaking out loud. I used the entire stage to my advantage. I never stood still.”
Moves suddenly appeared. “It was like, ‘Oh, yeah. I’m going to moonwalk like Michael Jackson.’ I would just go up and move. If it felt good, it felt good.” And he’d do his own thing. “I started making songs my own.”
He also credits School of Rock Memphis for his range of musical tastes. “I would not have such a diverse music background if it wasn’t for them. I started off in Green Day. We did hits by Pink Floyd and Rage Against the Machine and even Muddy Waters. From blues to rock to jazz and pop music.”
Son developed “a deep love for hip-hop. I never used to love it. I guess it grew on me because of the feel. I like Justin Bieber and I like what I heard on the radio. The top 40 stuff. But I wasn’t really open to listening and branching out yet. But School of Rock pushed me to do that. And it really helped.”
Son began listening to performers, including the Beastie Boys, Tupac Shakur, and Grandmaster Flash. “The ’80s were so cool to me. The style and the esthetic of those eras were just so neat.”
Son’s clothing style also changed. “I started caring more about the stuff I was wearing. Someone who really pushed me was my grandma. She started taking me to Urban Outfitters. The whole street cult, Mean Streets wear. I started off with the red jeans and flannels to the vintage T’s. I would see stuff with (Notorious) B.I.G. or Tupac on it. The Nikes and Jordans and stuff like that. I think I’ve got 25 pairs of shoes. And I’m not the biggest sneaker head.”
Three years ago he got a pair of white Lebrons from Footlocker. “I always wear basketball shoes, but wear them as streetwear. And everyone called me out for them. These huge ass shoes on my feet. I love them. It was so cool. I love the ‘out there’ look. Things that make people look at you.”
Around the time he got the Lebrons, Son began asking himself, “What am I going to do with music? I was 13 and I started to really get into Tyler, the Creator, the first guy in hip-hop I idolized. He did such a cool fusion of pop and hip-hop and jazz music.”
Son saw Tyler perform at the 2018 Beale Street Music Festival. He thought, “This is the greatest experience of my life.” And when he heard Tyler was going to perform at a festival in Los Angeles, his mom got tickets and they went to California. “This dude has his own brand of clothing. Him and his team. The way he brands himself and having his own festival was insane to me.”
Son thought, “I want to do this.”
The day before the show, Son and his mom saw Tyler walk into his GOLF store, which sells a range of Tyler’s branded clothing and accessories. Later, at lunch, his mom pointed out “this tall guy in an alligator suit.” It was Tyler. “And so I walk up to him. I tapped his shoulder and I was like, ‘Are you Tyler?’ And he was, ‘Yeah.’”
Son told Tyler, “The reason I’m so passionate about music and the reason I want to pursue this dream is because of what you do.”
Tyler laughed and began to leave with his friends. Son asked him, “Can I get a picture with you?” Tyler said no. “He doesn’t like photos,” Son says. Then Tyler says, “But I’ll shake your hand.”
Suddenly someone ran up behind him and snapped a quick photo with the singer. That was when Tyler says to Son, “You got one second.” He told him the photo had to be taken “super quick.” So, Son snapped a quick selfie. And then he said to Tyler, “You need to watch for me. I’m going to be in the very front. Don’t miss me.”
Son and his mom got to the festival at 9 a.m. the next day. Son immediately ran to the stage where Tyler was going to perform and stood in front of the stage for the next 11 hours.
What happened next still astonishes Son, who says this part of the show is on YouTube. Tyler tells the audience, “The craziest thing is like in this crowd right now, is somebody that makes beats or like rap or sing or just got ideas. And in four to five years he’s gonna scare me and be my competition. And I know that person. I shook your fucking hand. You’re somewhere in here, motherfucker.”
“When he says that line, he’s looking down. And from my perspective — we were on the railing — we looked at each other. It was like a moment of BAM. It was like chills.”
Son, who is convinced Tyler was talking about him, thought, “OK. That’s it. In four to five years, I’ve got to do this. That’s the point in my life I have to be an artist. I have to make this happen. I’ve got to get to a point where I can meet him again and ask him if I was the person he was talking about that day. This November will be four years from that date.”
He began working with School of Rock Memphis general manager Landon Moore on putting out a record. The music for his first one, Girl Like You, was written by Moore. “I told him the type of song I wanted to make and he wrote the instrumental for it.”
Son describes it as a “love song ballad.” “I based it off of the Notorious B.I.G. remix by Elijah Who, My Favorite Ladies.
In the Notorious B.I.G.’s song, he would try to the find the “perfect lady,” Son says. “There was always something that would keep her from being his perfect lady. So, I said, ‘I’m going to write this from a teenage perspective.’” The video shows Son sitting at the head of a long table with women seated around it. He recounts his past lovers.
“I like to make small stories out of my music. For every song that I write I really like to get some depth with it. And I like to visualize that. Especially in my newer works. I started releasing more short form videos as opposed to a single, long video.”
He describes his latest single, Loved U More, as “a message of honesty and torn emotion mixed with colorful sampling and roaring guitar loops.”
An ever-changing series of photos, statements, show dates, and videos appears on his Instagram page. “It feels like right now, especially with my goals and aspirations with music, I understand I have to give it my all. It feels like 100 percent of the time revolves around music. If it’s not me, it’s me helping someone else with their music.”
As for the big picture, Son speaks with confidence. “Elvis was two generations ago. Justin Timberlake was this last generation. When you think of the next generation of Memphis music, that’s Son.person.”
To hear Loved U More, click here: notorietymusicgroup.com/sonperson-links
Son.person will perform at 7 p.m. on May 27th at Mushroom Fest at Shelby Forest. Tickets for the four-day-event are $20 each day or a four-day-pass for $50.
The remaining crosswalks at the corner of Cooper and Young could soon get the same gay-pride-rainbow treatment as the one painted that way in 2019.
A petition to paint one crosswalk (the eastern side) with the design was posted to change.org in May 2019 by Jerred Price, a talk show host, entertainer, and president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association who was running for the Memphis City Council’s District 7 seat at the time. After a series of meetings, the project was approved by the council in September 2019.
Work was completed on the crosswalk — the first such crosswalk in Tennessee — in November. The paint faded on the design and it was repainted in June 2020 with a more-permanent resin material over it to protect it from weather and traffic. The $3,000 project was funded by private donors.
Price announced on Facebook Wednesday that he had completed and submitted the application for the second phase of work for the Memphis Rainbow Crosswalk.
“This will bring the remaining three crosswalks at Cooper and Young to life with new rainbow stripes!” Price said. “The original project called for all four sides. However, we had some trial and error to do. So, to play it safe, we started with the one.”