Disclaimer, I did not proof read today’s lunch so bear with me friend. Time is limited and I didn’t want to miss our lunch date. So to the grammar and spelling police, take the day off while you are lunching with me.

Hey, 

Things have been very interesting in the Williams household. We somehow have been given a baby without any instruction manual. Like God just hands the responsibility of a human to another human with zero training or experience. He like, “Here ya go,” and be plop the baby on your chest nine months later. 

This shit is wild! 

Being a parent is no joke yo. I swear, some days, I am like, how in the world do people do this repeatedly. And then you look into their beautiful big eyes, watch them laugh, and obsessively stare at them when they are sleeping, remembering exactly why you wanted to become a parent and want more. 

It is an unbelievable beautiful experience that I am so very thankful for. And while I love my son with every fiber of my body, the boy is exhausting. So one of my topics today is dedicated to my baby, because listen… *that’s the sentence* 

Pull up ya chair. Let’s talk about The Witching Hour and chit-chat about some of the best and most rememberable one-hit-wonders of the 90s and early 00s with a dash of tea. 

The Witching Hour

In folklore, the witching hour is a time of night associated with supernatural events, whereby witches, demons, and ghosts are thought to appear and be at their most powerful. Definitions vary and include the hour immediately after midnight and the time between 3:00 am, and 4:00 am.

3am has often been known as an “evil” time of day. Old wives’ tales will say, if you keep waking up within the 3am hour, then you need to take your behind to church. And every single time I woke within that hour, I promise you I took my behind to church on that following Sunday. I was already going to church more often than none, but I made sure I was there front and center, clapping hallelujah during praise and worship. 

I also used to have this weird repetitive dream where sheet ghosts were chasing me around my grandma’s property, and house that would always wake me up in a startle within the 3am hour. I know a sheet ghost dream doesn’t sound too scary, but these sheet ghosts were scary AF.

One day, I guess I was over them sheet ghost messing with me, and I fought back and ended up snatching the sheet off the sheet ghost, and the MFs just disappeared. I never had that dream ever again.

And I kid you not, it wasn’t until I started going back to church consistently. Call me whatever you want, but I think there was some correlation to what the elders used to say, OKAY. 

And if you think about it, nothing good comes at 3am. If you out on the scene and it’s 3am, are you really making good decisions? I know my behind was not making clear-headed decisions at no damn 3am. 

If you are not on your way home at 3am, you are likely on your way to an after after or somewhere you're behind know you shouldn’t be going. Tell me I am lying. I’ll wait. 

While the witching hour has an “evil” connotation, the exact phrase also applies to newborns. The witching hour is usually in the evenings between 5-11p, when a baby is extremely fussy. 

Well, our son does great during those hours, but baaabbbbyyyy when that 11pm hits, we get an entirely different child until 3a.

It’s like he doesn’t know what he wants to do with himself. He will fall asleep and snore to wake up 20 minutes later like, “I forgot I was screaming and shit, let me get back to it,” which is a pattern we’ve been dealing with for the past week. 

What is sleep for 1000 Alex??

At this point, even if I can only grab 15-30min during those hours, I close my MF’ing eyes because I am exhausted trying to figure him out. 

My little panda bear sleeps excellent for the most part during the day, but at night, no ma’am—we on another level.

And for those that say “sleep when he sleeps during the day,” well it’s not that simple.

Bottles gotta be washed, the cow (me) has to be milked, laundry has to be done because 9/10 he has spit-up on the apparatuses he needs to get whatever little sleep he does get.

Then I gotta eat, find time to shower and brush my teeth, and then twice a month sit down and have lunch with you. 

During my random TikTok scrolls (these are very important to my mental health, I laugh uncontrollably watching my FYP page, and laughter is good for the stressed soul), I roll my eyes at every single “get ready with me and my newborn” video. Because bish that is NOT my life. As I am writing this (2:38p on Friday, April 1), I am still in the clothes I slept in with baby strapped down to my chest because this morning he decided he did not want to nap in his bassinet, so he is snuggling with me. *adorbs*

I haven’t showered nor brushed my teeth, but I have had coffee + a muffin thanks to Uber eats (yes I ordered this from Uber eats, judge me if you want), and I was able to make a sandwich and eat it while only dropping a few bread crumbs on my babies head. Now, THIS is what a day with a newborn looks like over here at The W. 

But even through all the nighttime screams, lack of sleep, and my zombie-like behavior, I wouldn’t trade any of it because I am obsessed with my baby. While this time in his and our lives is challenging, it is temporary, and he won’t be this small ever again. 

So back to the original topic, do you believe in the witching hour? 

*update* Sunday, April 3 @ 3:33pm (oh wow, see look at that. See that’s no coincidence). We’ve gotten 2 semi-good nights of sleep lately. JJ has not been screaming for 4 hours at night anymore. We are starting to get a good rhythm down and getting more sleep. 

One Hit Wonders 

I really feel like one-hit wonders are truly a thing of the 90s and early 00s. During that era, if you have a one-hit-wonder, your sound and song will probably live on for decades. 

Artists now that have one-hit wonders don’t have the same effect. I couldn’t tell you if someone was a one hitta and quitta today anyways.

One reason might be because there is just too much music out now because of how “easy” it is to push out music independently. Another reason (probably the more significant reason) is that artists and music are not what they used to be. 

In Vol 14, I briefly touched on a few one-hit wonders of the 90s, but let’s go a little further in the crates and stroll down music memory lane; listening to some of the best one-hit wonders of the 90s and early 00s. When we finish vibing out, let me know what’s your favorite. 

If you weren’t lunching with me when Vol 14 came out, you might want to go back and check that one out. The hyperlinks alone will shock you back to the best decade ever. 

The 1990s

B-Rock & The Bizz “My Baby Daddy” (1997) - Fun fact, Terius "The-Dream" Nash replaced T-Bird Maye when he left the group. Baby Daddy or not, you were singing this chorus with everything you got. (*sidenote* The-Dream had the late 00s music game on lock and key. Love/Hate & Love vs. Money are great albums.) 

Ahmad “Back in the Day” (1994) - This LA-bred MC would graduate from Stanford and become a sought-after public speaker. You can’t think of this song without thinking about the movie The Wood. A great Cali vibe. 

D-Nice “Call Me D-Nice” (1990) - D-Nice has been on the scene well before the 2020 Club Quarantine. He first entered the music scene in 1986 when he was in a group with KRS One. He released 2 studio albums, 1990 and another in ’91, but his clash with Jive records led him to stop making music.

He then became a web developer in the late '90s and started his own creative services company in 2000. He also began working as a photographer in the 2000s while still DJ’ing and photographed the album covers for Carl Thomas, Pharoahe Monch, and Kenny Latimore. He married actress Malinda Williams (🤯) in August of 2008, but they divorced shortly afterward in June 2010. For 10 years, this man was quiet but still making moves until the pandemic hit and things blew up. Now at the age of 51, he is living his wildest dreams. If this doesn’t remind you to never give up! 

Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz “Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)” (1997) - Did we know that Cory Gunz is Peter’s son? He did a verse on Lil Wayne’s 6ft 7ft and is signed to Young Money. And if you remember, we talked about Peter Gunz being the new host of cheaters. 

Camp Lo “Luchini AKA This Is It” (1997) - Not only is this one of the greatest songs of all times, but the album cover pays homage to the album cover of Marvin Gaye's I Want You, making it just as important to the culture as the song. Tell me you don’t smile big when you hear this beat drop. Do we even know what a Lunchi is? Lol

Mark Morrison, Return of the Mack (1996) - Did we know Mark Morrison is British? This widely popular song was first released in ’96 in the UK and made its way over to the states in ’97. Now a staple in the Black community.  

INOJ - Love You Down (1997) - This rhythm & pop singer got her one-hit-wonder on a fluke. So So Def asked her to sing vocals to the song for another artist. They loved her version so much that they released her version instead. Her video was one of the first that introduced me to Black Greeks at HBCUs. 

The 2000s

UTP “Nolia Clap” (2004) - *did you just do the clap in your head?* When Juvenile left Cash Money in 2002, the group UTP formed, originally consisting of him, Wacko, Skip, Corey Cee, Soulja Slim, and Young Buck. They dropped a few compilation albums before Buck defected to G-Unit, Corey Cee left the group, and Soulja Slim was killed. Now a trio, Juvie, Wacko, and Skip signed to Rap-A-Lot Records in 2003, and their single, "Nolia Clap," followed a year later. We all think of this as Juvie single, and IMO it is, but truly it belongs to this group. 

Sunshine Anderson - Heard it all before (2001) - I bet you still know all the lyrics to this anthem that the men hated. 

Young Gunz - No Better Luv (2004) - Ok so technically they had another hit, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,” but who remembered that one once No Better Luv hit the airwaves. They will forever be known for that song and that song alone. The way the song begins just makes me want to get up and dance! 

Lumidee - Never Leave You “Uh Ooh Uh Ooh” (2003) - This might be our generation’s (Millennials) all-time favorite dancehall one-hit-wonder. This song hits all by itself no matter the occasion, but it becomes the perfect combination when it is mixed together with Wayne Wonder’s No Letting Go (2003). It’s hard for me not to listen to one right after another. While Wonder isn’t a one-hit wonder, he is most known for this track. 

Philly’s Most Wanted - Please Don’t Mind (2000) - Yes, Cross the Border was their first hit, but to me, this song was the better bop. Word on the street is that Beanie Siegal has the group to thank for his Roc-a-fella career.

Apparently, PMW was in NYC to meet with Roc-A-Fella, hoping to secure a deal. But when a battle broke out in the studio lobby –– instigated by Dame, naturally, who had nothing kind to say about Philadelphia –– Beans caught the ear of the Roc-A-Fella, who liked him so much that they initially mistook him for a New Yorker. Beanie was there with a friend with who he “allegedly” was doing pitbull fights with. He encouraged him to follow his lyrical career when Beanie just wanted to collect his coin however he saw fit. At the moment, it was “dog fights.”

Truth Hurts - Addictive (2002) - Every girl wanted to be a Bollywood belly dancer after watching this video. 

Eamon - I Don’t Want You Back (2003) - The radio version did not do this song any justice. The raw and unedited version is something many motherfuckas have felt before. He is telling no lies in this song, ma’am/sir. And we were ALL singing these lyrics while driving down the street thinking about the MF who did us wrong. Am I right or am I right?

I am sure I missed some major iconic one hit wonders from these two decades, but during my nostalgic research I found out some juicy tea, and that deserves its own personal lunch date.

Keep showing up to lunch. You don’t miss any more one-hit-wonder tea. 

Ok, bye now friend. I gotta get back to my baby, who is probably going to wake up any minute from now. Then I am going to stop typing and go love on my panda bear to then forget what the hell I was typing to stare at my notes app for 10/15 minutes, to do it all over again an hour later until I am finished writing. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. 

See you next time…xo, Jemia