Hey Fam!

I am shaking as I write this.. But if you know me..then you KNOW that I am a HUGE Jackson family fan.. yes.. the ENTIRE family from Joe and Katherine down to Prince, Paris, and Blanket.

Well, Tonight.. I met Joe Jackson.

*drops mic and moonwalks and poses*

blink. blink. blink.

*picks mic back up*

Yes.. Meik Meik FINALLY met the man behind the Jackson 5.. Mr. Joe Jackson.

How did that happen Meik?

Well.. I'm glad you asked and let me preface this with this lil disclaimer: 1. I am NOT a stalker, and the folks saying the ish can kick rocks and kiss my grits 2. I am a journalist that goes after the interviews she wants 3. I wasn't about to let an opportunity pass me by.. got it? Good. Let's proceed.

So..for the past year I have been on a mission to interview Joe. The man gets such a bad rap and for once, I just wanted him to tell his story as I do with every interview. Anyway,earlier in the day I kept seeing people tweet that Mr. Jackson was at South Park Mall, now, I live on the opposite side of town and I said to hell with that, gas costs too much for me to drive all the way over there looking for that man.. whatevs.. then I thought well wayment.. WTF is he doing in Charlotte of all places anyway? So one of my friends then informs me that she forgot to tell me she had heard he would be at this restaurant doing an appearance.. I mean..how you just forget to tell ME this?! You know I love me some Joe and 'nem?!!!!!! Antyway.. after making my rounds and realizing nobody wanted to roll out with me to the restaurant.. I make the decision that I'm going solo and I am going to ask Mr. Jackson for an interview. Bold as hell ain't I?

Sooooo I get to the restaurant, walk right on in, ask the nice man at the front where Joe Jackson is and he informs me that he's upstairs and if I want to meet him I better hurry up and get up there.

Now.. let me pause for a second and let's discuss one lil thing.. 1. WHY in the hot hayle is Joe, at 80 something years old, hosting/making an appearance and it's 10pm at night? Shouldn't his old tail be in the bed? Granted, this is the east coast so maybe he ain't sleepy yet *shrugs*..

I digress.. so I walk up the stairs, and I don't see him. So I go stand all awkward at the bar, rummaging through my purse, pretending to be busy looking for something.. "get it together Meik..you didn't come all the way here to stand here looking crazy.." .. So after my lil pep talk I look around and notice a familiar looking hat over top of one of the booths.. So I push my boobs out and cat walk it over to the security guy..

Heyyyyyy Sir... I'm looking for Joe Jackson.

Him: He's over here..

Me: Can I talk to him? *bats eyelashes*

Him: umm yeah go ahead..

Now what if I was really crazy? smh.

So Joe is sitting there with photographers taking pics all around him.. I walk up to him and get right in his face so he can see me under that darn hat..and say "Hey Mr. Jackson.." He says hello back.. I tell him that I write for Soultrain.com and I ask if I can sit down. He looks me up and down and lingers on my legs for a minute and then he says yeah sit down.

*takes a deep breath* here we go.. don't f this up Meik..

Now Mr. Jackson isn't the most talkative person, but just looking at his face, you know he ain't about games, and doesn't wanna waste time.. so I just dive right in and ask him if he'd like to do an interview with me sometime, and he says sure, but I can't do it for a couple of weeks, and he tells me who to give my info to and then we take a couple pics.. I even tried to make convo with him about how he liked Charlotte and if he liked the mall blah blah..asked about his artist, and dang it I forgot to ask if he'd sign me to his "reca label.."

whew.. that wasn't so bad.. So I tell him it was nice meeting him, and he shakes my hand then somewhere deep inside my soul I decide to get extra bold and say "Mr. Jackson, now I know you can do better than that and give me a hug"

blink. blink .blink.. *looks around* WHO SAID THAT? F. I think I just said that ish out loud. oh jeezus..he finna curse me out.. ohhhhhh jeeezus.. ooooooooh jeeezus..

This mofo.. leans over like here you can hug me but I'm not hugging you back. LMAOOOOOO ok kool I'll take it! So I give him a half hug and tell him thank you for chatting with me..

I have to say this.. that man has some pretty eyes tho.

So I get up and I can feel his eyeballs still on my legs.. so I cat walk it over to the person he told me to set up the interview with and I'm so glad I didn't trip or anything crazy..

So as I'm talking to the manager, Joe manages to slip off down the steps without his security and lawd jeezus ..the commotion to get down the stairs after him.. I'm just thinking to myself..that man is ready to go to bed..he is not here for all this loud music and these pictures.

Anyway, I follow em on downstairs.. he just went outside for some air. So the manager is introducing me to the owner of the restaurant..and I say, "I'm Shameika" and before I can finish..here comes Joe.. "She works for Soultrain.com"

me: blink blink blink.. lemme find out I need to hire him to speak for me. LOL. Thank you Mr. Jackson, but I got this LMAO ( you know dayum hell well I didn't say that ish out loud lmao)

So I finish my convo and tell them I work at a local station in the area.. Mr. Jackson butts in again " YOU LIVE HERE??!!!" sigh.. Don't he see grown folks talking? LOL. (again, I'm sayin that in my head.. I ain't crazy).. I say yes sir, I do. So I tell Mr. Jackson that I'm heading out and it was an absolute pleasure to meet him and I've meet a couple of his grandchildren and interviewed them as well and they are very talented.. he says with a twinkle in his eyes, " Don't you do anything that I would do, because I do it all, but then again, you look like you would too"

OH MY GAWD LMAO did he just say that to me?!!!! I can't do anything but laugh my face off and say "well sir, I'm actually very innocent" (don't y'all say a darn word.. lemme have my moment) and he says, "sure you are".. and on that note, I tell the security guys and the managers thank you and my nice to meets etc.. and walk my happy arse off into the moonlight praying my ankle doesn't give out in the f'n shoes I just had to wear tryin to be cute.

I can honestly say, meeting MJ's father was pretty awesome and you guys stay tuned for the interview. I can't wait.

The lesson here is this.. if you want something you have to go after it and not let an opportunity pass you by. I missed out on an opportunity before with meeting and interviewing some artists, and I learned then, don't wait on your friends, or this person or that person, go after it..and sometimes, if you can't get an answer from a publicist, manager, assistant or whomever.. you just have to take matters into your own hands and go straight to the source.. If I listened to half the insults people throw my way about the artists that I interview or the fact that I love the Jackson family and their contributions to the music world, I'd be sitting at home, missing out on ish. So Stalk that. Mofos will NOT ruin my excitement about meeting the legendary Mr. Jackson. *drops mic*


Until Later..
~Meik..