New Jersey’s Prodigal Son:Finally Our 15 Minutes Of Fame by: Krusher Kronkite

New Jersey runs through me as the blood beneath my veins. My love affair with the Garden State is as pure as the driven snow that falls upon the crack riddled streets as the world is suddenly infatuated with a place I call  home. It is safe to say I'm biased when it  comes to my state's influence on the modern world and for better or worse we are fucking rebels and we will fight for what is ours and then yours. I find it quite odd that the media has suddenly transformed Jersey into a mill of reality shows that portrays us in all of our audacious glory but I beg to differ. You see I come from a place that created one of the biggest influences in the history of music with Plainfield "P-Funk" New Jersey being the birthplace of  George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic, DJ Cheese who was one of the first DMC mixing championship DJ's that toured with Run-DMC, and Jam Master Jay discovering home grown rap group Fam-Lee after watching them perform on the Apollo stage.

New Jersey has always been slept on because of its close proximity to New York and fortunately we march to the beat of a different drum including a multitude of singers, musicians,dj's and mc's.  The opening credits for "The Sopranos" continues to send chills down my spine as the camera travels down the New Jersey Turnpike bringing back the fond complexities of my youth and the virility of my naivety. When the towers fell, New Jersey witnessed its destruction as The Statue Of Liberty(actually located in Liberty Park, Jersey City) torch firmly stood through the plumes of smoke that polluted the sky on our side of the Hudson River with nearly a quarter of the victims of the attack were New Jersey residents.



The Garden State happens to be the mecca of the most diners, malls, largest seaport, and has the most expensive car insurance rates  in the country to say the least. Millions make pilgrimages as Trump makes millions in Atlantic City with the hopes of striking it rich, while others take advantage of us not charging sales tax on gas, clothes, and medicine. Not to mention allowing the New York Giants and Jets to play football in our own backyard and sadly watching our beloved Nets travel to Brooklyn without a championship ring, "thanks alot" Jay-Z. It would be an insult not mention the contributors that paved the way for multitudes to eat off of our grind and despite what you think about the city of  Newark being the former car theft capital we have a Black Mayor(Cory Booker) and a former gay one (Jim McGreevey, Whitney Houston, Redman, Queen Latifah,Naughty By Nature, Das-EFX, Bruce Springsteen, Lords of The Underground, Frank Sinatra, and one of Hip-Hop's first successful  rap labels (Sugar Hill Records) and rap song (Rappers Delight)  and who can forget about our Hockey Team (NJ Devils) that copped a few of those Stanley Cups?

Plainfiled New Jersey resident and famous author J.M. Benjamin

When Martin was assassinated we rioted with the rest of the country and regretfully harbored the co-conspirators in the murder of Malcolm X from Newark's Temple Number 25. "Divineland" Trenton, New Jerusalem gave birth to the gods Poor Righteous Teachers during an era Tisha Campbell, Westfield's Malinda Williams, Scotch Plains Star of Star & Buckwild,  local heros Harold Knight that trained former Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis and former dealer and convict J.M. "Squirm" Benjamin turned  author is a man I personally grew up around. Doesn't every city has its secrets and infidelities? Since the beginning of time  ancient cities such as Sodom and Gommorah are the modern and hedonistic cities of San Francisco and New Orleans. Jersey has always been a place that produced a bountiful harvest of talent including Malcom Jamal Warner, Keshia "Rudy" Knight Pulliam, Hollywood's Jack Nicholson, and  John Travolta.

We were right triaterally alongside New York and Connecticut experiencing the birth of Hip-Hop and becoming the oasis of leisure for many rappers of today and yesterday (Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Biggie, and Fat Joe) occupying our zip and area codes. Do you remember Plainfield's Total and racially charged 1967 riots that left a police officer beaten and brutally shot and killed him with his own gun? As a teenager I remember Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, and De La Soul performing at the Strand Theater and talking to former Net and local business owner Jayson Williams and former Chicago Bulls star Jason "Jay" Williams chillin in the 908.  Back in the day radio personality Ed Lover  and Missy Eliot frequented the Queen City while Jersey City's Peter Bond and Elizabeth's Bilal Pretlow hustled keys of coke on Jersey Streets.

Over the years i have lived abroad and it could be 3,000 miles away and I can still spot a car with a New Jersey license plate and run into old friends and former classmates that reunite on facebook and relocated to the ATL. New Jersey later developed a cult following for "Baltimore Club Music" and is the home to the notorious Central American MS-13, La  Cosa Nostra, and Bronx influenced( "Pistol Pete's") Sex, Money, Murder Gang in Trenton. The Garden State is the home of the coolest Italians and have the hottest strip clubs. Jersey girl Wendy Williams managed to claw her way to the top and shout out her state between every soundbyte. Isn't it exciting to see everybody hating on Joe Budden every time he bags a new Latina hottie and about to sign that deal with Slaghterhouse and Eminem?  How about getting that summer job at Six Flags Great Adventure where fellow Jerseyans Bon Jovi and Kool & The Gang performed on stage?


The Fugees made us proud while we rooted for the Outsidaz, Channel Live, and Artifacts to succeed just as well. Lady Luck got screwed by Def Jam while Serious Jones and Sam Scarfo is struggling to compete  in the world of Hip-Hop. Didn't we love Rah Digga as an actress in the horror movie 13 Ghosts? Shit I've done passed my limit on this subject but I just had to let you know that Dr. Dre and the entire West Coast have to give credit where credit is due when it comes to our claim to Funk origins. Shout out to the late Flip Wilson, Slang Ton,Apache, Garry "Diaperman" Shider, Pac recruiting several Outlawz, Paterson hip-hop producer Just Blaze and New Jersey having the right to claim Eddie Murphy, Martha Stewart, Denzel Washington, Danny Devito, Joe Pesci, and Steve Forbes to our illustrious list of citiziens so I think you better recognize the place that bordered North Africa 180 million years ago and originally settled by Native Americans and has the largest petroleum containment outside the Middle East, the most toxic dumps and the highest population density in the U.S. ultimately being from a state I am proud to call my home and able to ride the NJ Transit train and legally drink a beer on board and soon be able to visit my local marijuana dispensary to receive medication for my post traumatic stress disorder from living on these tough Jersey streets.
Krusher Kronkite
Jersey's Finest