Super Fan : Part I "How a 90's boy band inspired me to write my very first book at 13 years old."
From Impressed to Obsessed
I was thirteen years old when I wrote my first novel in 1993. It was titled "The American Dream." I remember it so clearly. It was handwritten in blue ink in three A5 exercise books. I had to sew them together with thick yarn to make one copy. My drawing ability came in handy, and I made a colorful illustration of the main character on white paper, then cut and glued it onto the brownish cover. Next, I wrote the title in fancy letters and covered the book in transparent plastic wrap, giving it a neat and glossy look.
The title could not be more cliché. What did an African teenager know about American life? Nothing, except what we learned from the media. We longed to live the American lives we saw playing out on television. The list was endless, from the Cosbys, Saved by the Bell, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, to Bay Watch and Melrose Place. The booming R&B and Hip Hop culture influenced our dressing and music choice. MTV music videos put the icing on the cake. We loved all things American!
The events that influenced the storyline and title of my book began five years earlier, in 1988, when I heard the song Dial My Heart by the R&B boy band of four brothers called The Boys. The song was at the top of our local music charts, and after I watched the four brothers dancing on stage in oversized tuxedos in the music video for A little Romance, I fell in love! I wished I could be one of the girls in that video. The Boys were not only handsome with cool haircuts, but they also had cool dance moves, and their vibrant energy was palpable through the T.V.
When my sister Rutendo saved her pocket money (allowance) and purchased the vinyl record Messages from the Boys, I went from being a fan to a super fan. I played the entire album back to back, repeatedly, singing and dancing to all the songs— every day for weeks. After that, I was officially an obsessed fan!
I studied the record jacket, front and back, and that was when I learned their names, Khiry, Hakeem, Tajh, and Bilal Abdulsamad. Then, I researched any information I could find about The Boys. What a task in 1989/1990! Without the internet and social media, my only source was magazines that were hard to come by and way too expensive for a nine or ten-year-old.
I can't remember how I finally got my hands on a magazine with a center spread of The Boys, including an interview and their background story. I was thrilled. I read that article several times over. About how they began singing for by-standers at Venice beach in California to raise money for a Father's Day gift. They earned good money and became so popular that they turned that one performance into a regular act and eventually got discovered and produced by Baby Face and L. A Reid and signed to Motown. The great American story—I was all in.
Of the four brothers, my favorite was Hakeem; he was my first celebrity crush. Hakeem was to me what Justin Beiber was to pre-teens when he first came on the scene. I came into possession of a wall poster of The Boys and couldn't stop admiring Hakeem.
My sisters and friends knew of my Hakeem obsession because I told everyone that I would go to America and find him, my true love.
Continue to Part II...
I was thirteen years old when I wrote my first novel in 1993. It was titled "The American Dream." I remember it so clearly. It was handwritten in blue ink in three A5 exercise books. I had to sew them together with thick yarn to make one copy. My drawing ability came in handy, and I made a colorful illustration of the main character on white paper, then cut and glued it onto the brownish cover. Next, I wrote the title in fancy letters and covered the book in transparent plastic wrap, giving it a neat and glossy look.
The title could not be more cliché. What did an African teenager know about American life? Nothing, except what we learned from the media. We longed to live the American lives we saw playing out on television. The list was endless, from the Cosbys, Saved by the Bell, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, to Bay Watch and Melrose Place. The booming R&B and Hip Hop culture influenced our dressing and music choice. MTV music videos put the icing on the cake. We loved all things American!
The events that influenced the storyline and title of my book began five years earlier, in 1988, when I heard the song Dial My Heart by the R&B boy band of four brothers called The Boys. The song was at the top of our local music charts, and after I watched the four brothers dancing on stage in oversized tuxedos in the music video for A little Romance, I fell in love! I wished I could be one of the girls in that video. The Boys were not only handsome with cool haircuts, but they also had cool dance moves, and their vibrant energy was palpable through the T.V.
When my sister Rutendo saved her pocket money (allowance) and purchased the vinyl record Messages from the Boys, I went from being a fan to a super fan. I played the entire album back to back, repeatedly, singing and dancing to all the songs— every day for weeks. After that, I was officially an obsessed fan!
I studied the record jacket, front and back, and that was when I learned their names, Khiry, Hakeem, Tajh, and Bilal Abdulsamad. Then, I researched any information I could find about The Boys. What a task in 1989/1990! Without the internet and social media, my only source was magazines that were hard to come by and way too expensive for a nine or ten-year-old.
I can't remember how I finally got my hands on a magazine with a center spread of The Boys, including an interview and their background story. I was thrilled. I read that article several times over. About how they began singing for by-standers at Venice beach in California to raise money for a Father's Day gift. They earned good money and became so popular that they turned that one performance into a regular act and eventually got discovered and produced by Baby Face and L. A Reid and signed to Motown. The great American story—I was all in.
Of the four brothers, my favorite was Hakeem; he was my first celebrity crush. Hakeem was to me what Justin Beiber was to pre-teens when he first came on the scene. I came into possession of a wall poster of The Boys and couldn't stop admiring Hakeem.
My sisters and friends knew of my Hakeem obsession because I told everyone that I would go to America and find him, my true love.
Continue to Part II...
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