Wow... I'm never usually lost for words when I'm writing, but... sh*t. Haha! This is definitely one of the craziest moments in my life. Yo Phil, when you told me to trust you, that everything was gonna work out, I swear a part of me was still like, "eh, we'll see...", but, its here! We made a f*ckin' album!!! and yo 'Laam, we did it, my n*gga!! Miss Kim!!! I'mma get you in that office we talked about if its the last thing I do!! Um, I guess I gotta start the thank you's so, first and foremost, I wanna thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. All things are possible through him, so thank you. I wanna thank my moms and my pops, for being them, and as an inquisitive kid w/ an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and betterment, you allowed me to wil' out and be me. Shoutout to my family, Lalee, Nia, Kodi, Ivory, and my big mentor, Nevy. WE did it, n*gga. Made something outta nothing. Big shoutouts to my big bros Omar, Jamal, Rated, Paris, Ice, Mike E., BoyBoy, Big Den (RIP), and Rome Black (RIP). Ya'll made me the man I am today. and I can't thank you enough... I wanna thank some of my biggest constant inspirations, Stapleton, Park Hill, Staten Island, just New York as a whole. I ran your streets, and your trials and tribulations I've been through because of it, molded me to take the world by storm. To my people over at BMI, uncle Malik, Wardell, and Miss Catherine, thank you for making everything go so smoothly. haha!! Thank you to my lawyers, Motisola, and Mr. Doug Davis. Thank you to my family over at ICM, Lorrie, Andrea, Robert, I appreciate ya'll on so many different levels, its not even funny. To my vocal coaches, Stevie Mackey, Craig Derry, and Pleasant Russell. Ya'll tuned this instrument. Thank you. A special shoutout to my homies Atiba Newsome and Matthew Henson, thank you for keeping my fashion mind so sharp... and we just getting started! I also wanna thank everyone who helped make this project what it is: Pete Rock, DJ Premier, James Poyser, Bink, my man Havoc, Mr. Fauntleroy, and my big bro Ne-Yo, Rico Love, Doug E. Fresh, and two men who watched me grow up, Raekwon and Method Man,,ya'll helped carve this masterpiece into what it is... To all the DJ's who believed me in the record, in the project... ya'll started it, and kept this train rolling!!! To my trainers, Mark Jenkins and Mike McKnight! Ya'll got me ready to face the world!!! thank you! To my boys Ryan and Gee, from the long hours in the studio, to the constant jokes, and the inspiration gained and giving throughout this entire journey... thank you for making this album sound as good as it does (and making sure we kept going until we got the best sh*t. LOL.) To Doug Morris, Julie Swidler, Bob Morelli, Wendy Washington, and the entire Sony/RED stuff, I honestly wanna thank ya'll for giving me this opportunity to put out some real music... And to do it my way. I won't let you down. Uncle Marcus!!!! We did it, baby!!!! Thank you for everything. You've been rockin' through hard times and good, but we did it!!! Teneisha, thank you for lettin' me to wil' the f*ck out in class to figure out who I am as an artist, and how I wanna show that to the people. To Salaam and Fa, the whole ReMiFa family, thank you. We finna show em how we do tihs, shun!!!! To my whole Team Mack, my managers on both sides of my artistic endeavors, my publicist, Miss Simone, and the whole SSPR team, thanks for being so understanding, and keeping me in check when I fall outta line. I wouldn't be with no one else but ya'll. Phil, Marcus, Pail, Gabby, Oronde, Maggie, Elise and Jeff, you guys are the one controlling this Voltron, so thank you for everything... and last, but never least, is my best friends, my brothers, my family, RareBreed and Company... From the days spend on the balconies rapping and singing together, to the fights we had with other cliques, we went through a lot, and we got a lot more to go through. So, this is just the beginning, my people. RAREBREED 'TIL THE END OF TIME
Oh yeah!!! And to you! Holding this album in your hands. Who's been rocking w/ me from the beginning. I love you more than I could ever express... Thank you
Peace
Mack