In late 2001, a song was released called Peanut Butter and Jelly by the musical duo The Buckwheat Boys and the producer Chipman. In 2002, the song took the internet by storm. Perhaps it provided the comfort people needed in a post-9-11 world. The song's popularity came from a viral video of a flash-animated banana dancing to it. And I sincerely apologize if you've spent the last 22 years trying to get that song out of your head.
But you probably don't know that it was actually a nuanced political commentary on the military-industrial complex, with the peanut butter symbolizing the US government and the jelly being Lockheed Martin. I'm kidding, the song was pretty much meaningless. But it has maintained a strong legacy over the years, appearing on Family Guy, being featured in several ad campaigns, and now even influencing a skin in Fortnite. Unfortunately, the peanut butter and jelly in question comes with a glass of deeply depressing milk.
And that's because in late 2002, the singer of Peanut Butter and Jelly died in a police standoff. The Buckwheat Boys originally consisted of Jermaine Fuller and Marcus Bowens, with two other members later being added. Here's a picture of the two founding members, and here's a picture of Jermaine Fuller, the subject of our story. And I'm sorry that these are some of the lowest quality images you've ever laid eyes on, but I guess the song wasn't called Peanut Butter and High Definition Cameras.
Our story starts on a warm August night in Las Vegas, when a man flagged down a police officer to tell him that he had just been confronted by another man wielding a gun. The gun wielder was Jermaine Fuller, who had fired a shot at the guy but missed. Based on the description of Fuller, another police officer recognized him at a bus stop and got out of his car to talk to him. But Jermaine Fuller whipped out his gun and shot the officer in the head and chest.
Thankfully, the first bullet only grazed the side of the cop's head, while the other one hit him in a bulletproof vest, rendering the officer virtually unharmed. Meanwhile, another police officer pulled up to the scene, only for Fuller to shoot at him as well. This time, the bullet went through the car's windshield and across the officer's shoulder, reportedly shredding the fabric on the cop's uniform but leaving him untouched. So, with all three people he fired at being completely fine, it's safe to say that Jermaine Fuller wasn't exactly a sharp shooter. I guess they were right when they said he was a one-hit wonder.
Anyway, Jermaine Fuller then made his way over to an apartment complex near the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He forced his way into an apartment and took the two men living there hostage. And I can only assume it was an extremely traumatizing experience for the two hostages, although probably not as traumatizing as attending UNLV.
Once the cops realized where Fuller was, they evacuated the entire complex and sent in a SWAT team. And I'm sure everyone living there was thrilled about having to get out of bed in the middle of the night on a Monday because the singer of Peanut Butter Jelly Time was holding their neighbors at gunpoint. And this was when the standoff began.
The police surrounded the apartment, but Fuller refused to exit peacefully. After about an hour, the two hostages managed to escape by diving out a window. Although they were on the first floor, so let's not give them too much credit here. Even with the hostages being gone, the police still couldn't enter the apartment because Fuller was in there firing shots. He even moved furniture to barricade himself inside.
A police negotiator tried convincing him to surrender, but it wasn't working. As strange as this whole thing might seem, it hasn't even reached its weirdest moment. At some point during the standoff, Jermaine Fuller contacted a local TV news station, perhaps assuming that his story was receiving coverage.
But considering this was in Vegas, it probably wasn't even in the top 10 most interesting things happening at that moment. Still, he told the TV station that he had a famous relative who he wanted to talk to. That relative was his brother-in-law, Calvin Brodus. Also known as Snoop Dogg. That's right, Snoop's wife Shantae is Jermaine Fuller's sister.
And Jermaine decided to turn to Snoop in his darkest hour, like so many of us have. And the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department decided to roll with it. They reached out to the LAPD and requested help with this odd situation.
So in the middle of the night, the LAPD sent someone to Snoop Dogg's house to ask for his assistance. And Snoop was reportedly very willing to help. presumably after he had finished frantically hiding several ounces of weed. The LAPD put Snoop in touch with the police negotiator, who asked Mr. Dogg to record a message urging his brother-in-law to surrender.
Snoop did exactly that, reportedly telling Jermaine Fuller, Do what they say. We've got lawyers to take care of you. this, we'll take care of it.
And the police did manage to get the tape to Fuller, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to convince him to surrender. Although I don't know what he expected the tape to say. Maybe he thought Snoop would tell him to sneak out the air vent or something.
Around 10am, the SWAT team entered the apartment with tear gas and flashbangs, only to find Jermaine Fuller dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. And I'm sure the residents of that apartment were thrilled to be let back in after they had been held at gunpoint, and... escaped through a window, had their walls shot up, had their furniture used as a barricade, and then had someone shoot themselves inside the apartment. Not to mention that they were still students of UNLV. The sad passing of Jermaine Fuller also marked the end of the Buckwheat Boys, who split up instead of carrying on without their bandmate.
Truly the Led Zeppelin of their time. There's very little information about the other members, but the archive of their now extinct MySpace page. reveals what happened to them. According to the bio, the band's co-founder Marcus Bowens, quote, found God, turning into one of Gumbo, Alabama's most respected gospel artists. As nice as that sounds, I can't find any record of Gumbo, Alabama being a real place, so maybe he found God in an alternate dimension.
Dougie Williams, the drummer of the band, quote, turned his pain inward and took it out upon himself. His lust for women and drugs grew threatening to his health, and on November 14th, 2003, was admitted to a shelter for drug offenders. Jeez, I guess it wasn't always peanut butter jelly time for these guys. But to end on a nice note, the MySpace page said that the keyboardist J.J.
O'Neill pursued his dream for music stardom and found his way on stage. J.J. is now headlining his local theater's rendition of Cats. Ah, the paths of life. They may be windy, but they always guide us forward.
May we all end up in the places we most belong. May we all one day find our local theater's rendition of Cats. Now please consider subscribing, or you'll be automatically enrolled at UNLV.