Dre Day

April 1993

Jade POV

I'm at home, just with my bowl of cereal. Dre is with D.O.C. today. I have not seen T.A in a while. Last I heard, he and Dre had a little argument a while back and T.A basically told him to shove his promises up his ass and went to Atlanta for a while. I don't know what the two were arguing about or what prompted T.A explode and go. That was a little shocking on my behalf but Dre reassured me that T.A was just overreacting and that he will come around. I felt a little uneasy however as I feel that something more was going on between the two there. 

I switch on MTV and to my surprise I see Dre and Snoop in a video.

Hmm interesting..  I thought, I wonder what single is this?

Mista Busta, where the fuck you at?
Can't scrap a lick, so I know you got your gat
Your dick on hard from fuckin' your road dogs
The hoods you threw up with, niggas you grew up with
Don't even respect your ass
That's why it's time for the doctor to check your ass, niggaUsed to be my homie, used to be my ace
Now I wanna slap the taste out your mouth
Make you bow down to the Row
Fuckin' me, now I'm fuckin' you, little hoe
Oh, don't think I forgot, let you slide
Let me ride, just another homicide

I frown at the lyrics before the realisation suddenly hits me like my momma used to when she would catch me and Eric listening to her Bootsy Collins vinyls.

Dre was dissing Eric. Not just Dre but he bought Snoop on the track too.

Bow wow wow, yippy yo yippy yay
Doggy Dogg's in the motherfuckin' house
Bow wow wow, yippy yo yippy yay
Death Row's in the motherfuckin' house
Bow wow wow, yippy yo yippy yay
The sounds of a dog brings me to another day

I sigh both in disappointment and frustration. I get that dissing was a part of hip hop no doubt. But to see two people whom you were cool with feuding, it's so hard being caught in the middle of it all. I hear the phone ring. I zone out of my self-created trance as I hear the shrill ringing of the phone. Glancing around, I pick the phone up, my fingers nervously tapping against the phone, my heart pounding in my chest. The voice on the other end was unmistakable—it was my older brother, Eric, but the tension in his tone made my stomach churn with apprehension.

"Jade," he said, his voice low and heavy, "you won't believe what I just saw. I was watching that new music video Dre and Snoop dropped... they're dissing me, Jade. On 'Dre Day.' Can you imagine that?"

My mind raced, trying to process his words. Dre, my boyfriend, and Eric, my brother—two people I loved deeply—were now at odds in a very public way. I felt a lump forming in my throat as I struggled to find the right words. I knew there had been tension between Dre and Eric for a long time, dating back to the days when Dre left Eric's label, Ruthless Records. He felt like Eric wasn't paying him what he deserved and that Jerry Heller, their manager, was favoring Eric over him.

"Eric, I... I don't know what to say," I stammered, my voice barely audible. "I love you both, you're my brother, and he's... he's someone I care about deeply. Can't we find a way to work this out without tearing our family apart?"

There was a heavy silence on the other end of the line, and I could almost feel Eric's frustration seeping through. "Jade, you know why Dre left Ruthless. He felt betrayed, and Dre couldn't take it anymore. But dissing me in a song? That's a whole new level of disrespect, Jade."

I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breathing. I could hear the hurt and anger in Eric's voice, and it tore at my heart. "Eric, I understand your anger, I do. But can't we talk about this as a family? Maybe there's a way to heal these wounds without resorting to more pain and hatred."