AMY

A few weeks ago when I saw Sam Smith perform "Tears Dry on Their Own" at Outside Lands, it reminded me of how many hours and on several drives I listened to "Back to Black". So over the weekend I was hella excited to watch "Amy", a moving heartbreaking insight of the singer's life. The accounts from family & friends reveal the tragedies and her non-sobering coping solutions when dealing with fishbowl fame and male disappointments & opportunists. She once kicked it with Mos Def and asked if he mind that she got high in which he responded, "Amy, I don't mind you getting high, but I mind you getting high". Its just too bad that shady males took advantage of Amy's desire for a loving father daughter and inconvenient love, all for money and affording a drug habit. Life can be a such a bitch. 

As she sang her songs during scenes, it showcased pieces of her poetry. When the lyrics flashed on the big screen, it re-stunned me as I heard her unique ability to pen love pains, "All I can ever be to you, is the darkness that we knew, and this regret I've got accustomed to".What a fucking gangsta. So pure and real the emotions she penned. Tony Bennett even mentioned that a real Jazz singer only likes to perform to a small crowd. And from understanding the experiences that Amy faced, that kind of intimate attention catches all the sighs, the woes, the glossy iris, and the sincere vocals. 

Being able to watch "Amy" also reminded me of the same kind of love I have for Aaliyah as August 25th marked her 14 year since her last breath. I LOVE Aaliyah. She was real, polite, humble, herself, and had unique talent. And Amy Winehouse embodied the same traits as an artist too. She didn't sell out her creativity for corporate sponsors, and kept it 100. Like when she was nominated for a Grammy for record of the year against Bey, Jay, RiRi and Justin. She totally clowned when Justin's What Goes Around...Comes Around was announced as a nominee as she mocked, "his record is really named what goes around. 

When the movie ended I thought about her possibilities. If only her father gave a shit about Amy as his daughter and really valued the love she desperately wanted from him. If only her man loved her like the queen she was to him and didn't use her as his financial pusha. And if only Tony Bennett were able to tell when he had the chance that "Amy, you're too important to be doing this stuff", then maybe she could've sang longer in a jazz club "just 'til these tears have dried".