JRoot
JRoot
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20 Years To The Day!
For about five years, which spanned my marriage and the birth of my first child, Soulstrut was my online home. The site I checked when I opened my computer, the site I refreshed to see how the latest geopolitical battle between Vitamin, Rockadelic, and MannyBolone was evolving, and the place I developed the only true online friendships I've ever had. Sounds corny, but it's true. This was in the days before the whole internet was in everybody's hands. (Who remembers when Cosmo started a thread titled "I'M POSTING THIS FROM MY PHONE" on some back to the future vibe?) Some of my soulstrut amigos have transcended to other platforms (mainly Facebook and Instagram), and others have transitioned to real life friends who I can text and call and ask for information and favors in cities across America and all over the world. You know who you are.
It's really impossible to pick a fondest soulstrut memory - it was a daily barrage of hilarious, insightful banter. Revisiting epic threads still makes me laugh to this day (e.g. in a thread about Israel, "Rock[adelic], I get the feeling that if it were up to you, you would have simply nuked the whole Middle East just to be thorough about it."). Anyone who checks the Temple of the Dog thread and doesn't LOL is not a friend to me.
The two best collective moments on the site were (1) SecretChimp finding Mingering Mike (both at the flea market and later IRL); and (2) the Hurricane Katrina auctions. The latter raised over $30,000 to support New Orleans and the former is now in the Smithsonian. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/mingering-mike-30363
My memories of Soulstrut are not complete without the legacy of our best beloved strutters lost along the way, including these three passionate and authentic visionaries:
DJ Stef - RIP 2017 https://soundcloud.com/mike-manewitz/dj-stef-hip-hop-94-side-a
Breakself - RIP 2011 https://www.soulstrut.com/Mixes/aaron-anderon-on-jazzman-radio
Matthew Africa - RIP 2012 https://www.soulstrut.com/Mixes/matthew-africa-dj-b.-cause-soul-boulders
If you didn't have the chance to know them, I'm sorry for you, and sorry for us all that they are gone. Listen to the mixes linked above and join me in wishing they were still with us.
Huge thank you to Raj for the vision to put this site together and the fortitude to KEEP it together. The world has changed quickly over the past two decades. Genuine community endures. Soulstrut por vida.
