THE SUNSET KID

WUSSUP PEOPLES...ITZ YOUR BOY...THE SUNSET KID...AKA STOAK BURNEM...YEA...THIS IS MY BIOGRAPHY...ACTUALLY, SINCE I'M THE ONE WHO'S WRITING IT, I GUESS IT'S REALLY AN AUTO-BIOGRAPHY...BUT WHATEVER. I WAS BORN IN NEW YORK CITY IN 1978 AND SPENT THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF MY LIFE WITH MY FAMILY IN AN APARTMENT ON OCEAN PARKWAY IN BROOKLYN, BEFORE MOVING WITH MY FAMILY TO 44TH STREET & 4TH AVENUE, RIGHT DOWN THE BLOCK FROM SUNSET PARK, ALSO IN BROOKLYN. I GREW UP IN THE BUILDING THAT IS CURRENTLY SERVING AS THE HOME OF ISABELA'S MEXICAN RESTAURANT, ON 44TH STREET & 4TH AVENUE, IN BROOKLYN. MY MOTHER WAS BORN IN PUERTO RICO AND GREW UP IN PROJECTS ALL OVER MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN. IN THE 1960S, WHEN MY MOTHER WAS JUST ENTERING HER TEENAGE YEARS, SHE MOVED WITH HER PARENTS AND SIBLINGS INTO A HOME ON 46TH STREET BETWEEN 2ND & 3RD AVENUES IN BROOKLYN, WHICH HER FATHER HAD PURCHASED. SOON AFTER, MY MOM'S PARENTS OPENED UP REUBEN'S UNISEX & SALON ON 57TH STREET & 4TH AVENUE, IN BROOKLYN, SOMETIME IN THE 1960s. MY GRANDMOTHER RAN THAT SPOT UNTIL SOMETIME IN THE 1970s, WHEN MY GRANDPARENTS SOLD THE BUSINESS AND OPENED UP A NEW SHOP KNOWN AS "THE BEAUTY CAVE", ON 44TH STREET & 4TH AVENUE, IN WHAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME THE HOME I WAS RAISED IN (YEA, THE SAME BUILDING THAT IS TODAY HOME TO ISABELA'S MEXICAN RESTAURANT). MY FATHER WAS BORN TO DESCENDANTS OF CHINESE IMMIGRANTS IN BRITISH GUYANA (TODAY KNOWN SIMPLY AS GUYANA) IN SOUTH AMERICA. HIS FAMILY STARTED COMING OVER TO THE STATES IN THE LATE 1960s, AND BY THE EARLY 1970s HAD SETTLED IN THE FLATBUSH SECTION OF BROOKLYN. SOMETIME IN THE 1970S, MY POPS OPENED UP A GROCERY STORE ON NOSTRAND AVENUE IN CROWN HEIGHTZ, BROOKLYN, RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE YARD OF MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE. SOME YEARS LATER HE ALSO OPENED UP A RESTAURANT CALLED "TRIPEES", A FEW DOORS DOWN FROM HIS GROCERY STORE. THE RESTUARANT SERVED TRADITIONAL WEST INDIAN MEALS. MY POPS RAN BOTH SPOTZ UNTIL 1989, WHEN HE WAS SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON, FOR "CONSPIRACY". ALLS I KNOW IS HE WAS SELLING MAD DRUGS AND MAKING MAD MONEY. IT ULTIMATELY COST HIM 9 YEARS OF HIS LIFE AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, HIS FAMILY, BUT FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME HE WAS LIVING IT UP, I GUESS. I DON'T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF DETAILS - - MY POPS WON'T TELL ME THE WHOLE STORY - - SO ONE DAY I'MA CHECK THE OFFICIAL RECORDS TO GET THE LAW'S VERSION OF EVENTZ. WHEN I DO I'LL FILL YA'LL IN. MY POPS WAS RELEASED IN 1998 AND WAS THEN DEPORTED BACK TO GUYANA. THAT IS SOME OF MY EARLY HISTORY. IN 1991 I STARTED WRITING GRAFFITI...MY FIRST TAG WAS "SET", BUT I CHANGED IT TO "STOAK" A YEAR LATER WHEN STARTING MY FRESHMAN YEAR AT JOHN DEWEY HIGH SCHOOL IN CONEY ISLAND, BROOKLYN. AROUND THIS TIME WAS WHEN I FIRST STARTED GETTING EXPOSED TO SOME OF THE CREWS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD. FIRST AND FOREMOST WAS F.F.B. - - FOUR FOUR BOYZ - - "FOUR FOUR" IS A REFERENCE TO 44TH STREET, WHERE WE LIVED. IT WAS PRETTY MUCH JUST THE FELLAS FROM THE BLOCK - - OLD SCHOOL DUDES FROM THE 70s AND 80s, AS WELL AS A YOUNGER GENERATION WHO STARTED COMING UP IN THE EARLY 90s. THEN THERE WAS L.O.D. - - LORDS OF DARKNESS - - BIG SHOUTZ TO MY BOY LOU ROC...WHEREVER U AT. OF COURSE THERE WERE OTHER, MORE NOTORIOUS GROUPS WHICH ALSO HAD A LONG HISTORY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD - - ALL CITY CREW, DIVINE IN STYLE, NEW AGE KINGS, KILLEM, VANDALS IN ACTION, THE HARD PACK FAMILIA, FOUR-NINE POSSE, ROUGHNECK SOLDIERS - - AND THAT IS JUST A SMALL SAMPLING. CAN'T FORGET...THE OUTLAW NATION...RUGGED GUNSET NIGGAS... FROZEN INSIDE...SHOUTZ TO MY BOY DESE...THE UNFORGIVEN...HOLD YOUR HEAD DOGGIE...WHEREVER U AT. I STARTED WRITING RHYMES ON MY 14TH BIRTHDAY IN 1992, A FEW MONTHS AFTER I STARTED WRITING GRAFF. MY MOMS HAD GIVEN ME $20 FOR MY B-DAY, SO I WENT TO THE LOCAL HIP HOP RECORD SHOP WHICH WAS CALLED "THE MUSIC CENTER" AND WAS LOCATED ON 48TH STREET & 5TH AVENUE. I BOUGHT THE "HOW I CAN JUST KILL A MAN" SINGLE BY CYPRESS HILL AND THE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM BY NAUGHTY BY NATURE, BOTH ON VINYL. I STILL HAVE THE NAUGHTY BY NATURE RECORD, BUT MY BOY JULIO FROM 44TH STREET HAS THE CYPRESS HILL RECORD AND A BUNCH OF OTHERS THAT ONCE BELONGED TO ME. SEE, BACK THEN HE LOANED ME SOME OF HIS PLAYBOY MAGAZINES, AND I HAD LOANED HIM SOME RECORDS, BUT MY MOMS FOUND THE MAGS AND THREW THEM OUT, SO JULIO KEPT THE RECORDS. KINDA FUNNY RIGHT? I'LL TRY TO BUY THE RECORDS BACK FROM HIM ONE DAY. ANYHOW, BACK TO MY B-DAY IN 1992. IT WAS A WEEKNIGHT IN JANUARY, WHICH MEANS I HAD SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY, AND PLUS IT WAS RAINING OUTSIDE, SO MY BEST FRIEND AND I DECIDED TO STAY IN AND WRITE RHYMES, WHICH WE THEN SPIT TO THE "HOW I CAN JUST KILL A MAN" INSTRUMENTAL. AT FIRST IT WAS JUST MEANT TO PASS THE TIME, BUT I IMMEDIATELY FELL IN LOVE WITH THE ART OF WRITING AND SPITTING RHYMES AFTER MY VERY FIRST TIME SPITTING A RHYME I HAD WRITTEN. SINCE THAT DAY I HAVE NOT STOPPED WRITING RHYMES, AND OVER THE YEARS SINCE THEN I ALSO LEARNED HOW TO MAKE BEATZ. AND SO, FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER THAT FATEFUL DAY, I FINALLY RELEASED MY FIRST FULL-LENGTH CD, ENTITLED "STOMP AND CRUSH", ON MY OWN LABEL, WHICH IS ALSO CALLED STOMP AND CRUSH. THERE ARE 14 SONGS ON THE CD, ALL WRITTEN & PRODUCED BY YOURS TRULY. DIGITAL DOWNLOADS OF THE ALBUM ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON I-TUNES, NAPSTER, CDBABY, DIGSTATION, SNOCAP, AND PAY PLAY...YOU BROKE ASS / CHEAP ASS LADIES AND GENTZ CAN ALSO LISTEN TO ALL TRAX OFF OF THE STOMP AND CRUSH CD FOR FREE ANYTIME BY VISITING MY OFFICIAL WEBSITE - - WWW.STOMPANDCRUSH.COM - - OR RIGHT HERE THRU THE PLAYER BELOW. AND THATZ THAT...FOR NOW. WISH ME LUCK...AND THANX FOR STOPPING BY...COME AGAIN AND...HOLLER AT THE KID!!! .: ..