The First Time I Fell In Love With New Edition.

“Candy Girl… You Are My World”

The Weekly Journey:

Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio wasn’t easy. There was so much happening around me — crime, people making bad choices, and an environment I was always trying to escape. I was searching for something more. Something that felt like joy, like freedom, like possibility.

And then one day, it happened.

I was watching TV when a video came on, and the best sound I had ever heard came out of this fine young guy’s mouth:

“Candy Girl, you are my world.”

I jumped. I screamed. I called all of my friends in the neighborhood and said, “You’ve got to watch this!” We gathered around, and in an instant, we all fell in love with New Edition.

Memory Lane:

From that day forward, we were the Candy Girls.

We each picked our favorite member (though I’ll keep mine a secret for now 😉), and we lived and breathed NE. Since I was the tall one, and the best dancer of the group, I took the lead when it came to choreography. We’d plan weekly or monthly talent shows at school and in our neighborhood, just so we could put together our dance routines, outfits, and hairstyles.

We didn’t just admire New Edition… we embodied them. They were our soundtrack, our identity, our joy. And here’s the wild part: we weren’t the only ones. Across the country, in neighborhoods just like mine, other girls were doing the exact same thing: calling themselves Candy Girls, picking favorites, rehearsing routines.

It was a shared experience we didn’t even know we were all living together.

Lesson of the Week:

That was the first time I fell in love with New Edition. But it was also the first time I understood the power of music to unite people, to create community, and to give you a reason to dream bigger than your environment.

For me, Candy Girl was more than a hit song, it was a lifeline. It was hope. It was the beginning of a love that still fuels me today, now as the filmmaker bringing If It Isn’t Love to the world.

Call to Action:

NE4Lifers, do you remember your Candy Girl moment? The first time you saw or heard New Edition and knew it was forever?

Drop your story in the comments below — let’s celebrate our shared memories and keep the Candy Girl spirit alive. 🧡