Groupie Luv

Sunday my friend told me that I am a Beyonce groupie…

And I fear that she is right.

I flipped through the stations on Sunday evening, and happily saw that E!'s THS of Beyonce was beginning. I had catalogued it in my mind to watch, but it was up to fate for me to really remember. So I settled in and began to watch the life story of your girl and mine, Beyonce.

I've heard the story before. The girl group Girls Tyme, singing in the hair salon, Matthew quits his job. However for some reason this show put their hard work in perspective. I never truly realized the fact they were performing wherever they could at the age of 13…I thought, "wow, they WERE serious!"

As they began to highlight they different singles.. From "No, No, No" with Wyclef to the mega pop hit "Independent Woman," I began to realize why I was such a groupie.

You see, I wasn't always a Beyonce lover. When they cut Latavia and LeToya from the group, I believed it was her family's selfishness that drove them away. Matthew was too controlling, Beyonce had too much shine. I still liked the group, but kind of was a … Beyonce hater. Yes, drinking that cup of haterade, aching to get my hateration on whenever the girl was brought up. Much how I regard Angelina Jolie now.

Sometime after Bootylicious and before the solo album, I started softening. Hooked up with Jay-Z.. I was fine with that. Then she did the damn thing: Crazy in Love. The song -- off the hook. The video -- dignified her a true diva DOIN THE DAMN THING.

But again, as I watched the THS, I realized why I truly was a fan. DC, and B by default, had always been in my life. "No, no no," was a song I bonded over with with my sisters, significant because I had just started high school and my sister was away at college. The Writings on the Wall album was the official road trip song for rides to Greensboro. "Bills" "Bugaboo" "Say My Name" were all belted off tune on rides to football games. "Independent Woman" meshed with me at the tender age of 18, as I began to view myself as a woman. Dangerously In Love, the album… summer 2003.. Wilding out with friends, with my sisters. I'll admit, I learned the dance sequence at the end of the "Crazy" video.

But basically, I can look back and remember almost a decade's worth of GOOD TIMES. If that is groupie luv… then so be it.