I Am Not A Blogger

A few months ago I created a 30 Day Challenge for myself to write a blog post every day. It was a really REALLY important challenge for me because too many times I’ve found myself not following through on ideas. Long story short lol..I completed the Challenge and counted it as a big win personally. But noooowww another big win personally was turning the 30 blog posts into my 1st published book which was also a life long goal of mine. 🤷🏽‍♂️📖. Ok long story short fareal.. The book is titled I AM NOT A BLOGGER and it’s available on Amazon RIGHT NOW (E-book and Paperback Available). Feel free to support. Feel free to share. Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this journey. I’m just tryna do the all the things I wrote in my notebooks over the years. The people who’ve known me for years can cosign I never go anywhere without my book bag and notebooks.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this lifelong goal of mine. I’m really on a mission to empty out all the ideas from the notebooks I’ve stashed over the years. I’m really on a mission to inspire anyone who has followed my story from day 1 or from today to empty out their notebooks too. And people from Day 1 know my message has been consistent. Work on yourself every day. Work on your dreams everyday even if it’s just 1 thing to get you closer. Another Day Another Chance. It might work. It might not work. But I’d rather shoot 0 out of 100 then 0 out of 0. 🤷🏽‍♂️ . That’s a little what the book is about.

6 Years Ago Today

Stream Here

6 years flew. Sheesh. But this was a special night I celebrated with my friends. Broadway Empire Release Party – 1/3/13

If you never heard the album or wanna revisit it…it’s available on all platforms an I still have a few physical copies left

“I ain’t saying it was Illmatic/ But 20 years from now, when they play it I bet they say it was still classic”

Stream Here

Do More Everyday

Went into 2018 with no New Years Resolutions for the 1st time. Approached it with a lot of Optimism tho. It started off on the wrong foot like literally within the 1st 10 minutes ran right into a life changing situation..from there took small steps to get back to my core. I wouldn’t even call it Dream Chasing. More like a personal journey to live up to my potential. Some things worked. Some things didn’t. But I kept moving forward…I kept studying..I kept learning…I kept building…1st year married…1st year as a father…some big steps with music…some big steps with my passion project Vibes In The City ..forever focused on helping the youth…forever focused on living out my purpose and encouraging others to do the same…I’m excited about 2019. Do More. Everyday. Do More Everyday

Sense of Urgency

All the books…All the studying….All the challenges, goals, plans etc, will be all for naught if no action is implemented consistently. Information overload is a real thing. Sometimes we get so caught up in the meal prep that by the time the food is ready, those who were once hungry have settled on a different meal or lost the appetite for what you were cooking

What’s Next?

My 30 Days of Blogging Challenge is complete. I made it thru 30 days straight after taking years just to make my first post. Finally decided to stop it with the procrastination… finally decided to stop worrying if anyone would care to read it… finally decided to allow myself to be vulnerable through my writing. I’ve often allowed myself to be vulnerable through my music, but never through written form. But now, what’s next. I’m not sure if I’ll continue to post daily but I definitely plan to post frequently on here.

Something in me wants to continue daily blogging but I find myself asking should it come at the expense of tending to my works and projects. The 30 day challenge was very important to me so even on days where I lost control of the day or it just felt like I wouldn’t have anything to post, I dug deep and got it done, even if it took me hours to write, edit and share across my social media platforms. But the great thing about it was it being fun as well as a challenge. So now do I choose writing only when inspired since there’s no carrot in front of the rabbit, in the form of a challenge. Or do I write out of responsibility to myself. The only way for me to grow as a writer is to continue writing…right? Lol. If you have any suggestions or felt this dilemma I’m open to all ideas. But I am very excited and looking forward to seeing what’s next.

Never Forget Why

When I started making music, It was mainly a outlet for my passion of writing. It was the best way for me to express myself in the most honest way I can think of. And where I’m from, rapping was a easier sell to my peers than saying I’m a writer. From those passions, naturally I started to think of reasons of why I would want to be a successful rapper, artist or writer. Or why would I want to be a successful person in general. I had a few reasons that I wanted to “make it big.” One of the reasons was to start a record label and give opportunities to the people I grew up around because I felt they were just as talented as the artists who were all over the TV and Radio. Another reason was to help build a strong local music scene in Newark,NJ. Strong enough where we could create our own “Industry” similar to how they did it in Houston, Atlanta, and the Bay Area. But my main reasons for making it big was to provide opportunities for my family. Moving my Grandparents and Mother out of the projects was the BIG GOAL. But opening up a Restaurant for my Aunt Michelle was also right there in my top goals to do. I would always tell her “I’m a open up a Restaurant for you one day because the world needs to taste this cooking.” Lol. Especially the Baked Ziti. ESPECIALLY HER BAKED ZITI. 🍽. Wishful thinking of a 15 year old. But those were some of the reasons. That was part of the WHY. Build something for US. Take care of the people who took care of me, and create something that the family could own. Because if you don’t own something in the world, the world owns you.

Of course as a kid you’re gonna think of the material things you want too. But the things that you know deep down would make your soul happy are the things you never forget. Like helping to build a strong local music scene out of pure belief in the talent of my hometown. Like starting a family owned Restaurant because I, like every other person in the world feels like nobody can make that mac n cheese like my cousins 😋 or them yams like my sister. Lol. An if that’s not true, that’s ok. Hopefully it’s good enough and the story means enough to keep the business open for generations. That’s how one day you become Antoine’s Restaurant(New Orleans since 1840) or Jones Bar-B-Q(Arkansas since 1910) or a New Jersey staple like Hobby’s(since 1962). But this post isn’t about building a local music scene or a starting a family owned business. It’s about Purpose. It’s about WHY. Never forget your purpose or your why. It’s ok for the plan to switch up. It’s ok to fail and start over. It’s ok to fail again….and start over agaiiiiin. But don’t forget the purpose. Don’t forget the promises you made to yourself.

Why do you want to be successful?

For so long we have been taught that once we become “successful” or once we “make it out the hood” that we’re supposed to take that time to acknowledge the “haters” and kick down the people who we assumed were doubting us. It’s been a while since I started to disagree with that message but I remember when that harmful way of thinking was relevant in my life. But as I get older and maybe a little wiser, that approach doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not interested in “making it big” with the intentions to look down an say I PROVED THE HATERS WRONG. I’m more focused on making strides and pulling people along that want the extra pull. If we spend more time on that and less time on trying to prove people wrong, I believe our potential to really REALLY impact society will be infinite. An while I don’t expect anyone to pull me along on their journey, it would be nice to know that we’re all rooting for each other Wholeheartedly. The odds have already been stacked against us so if and when you win, I’ll celebrate you like we all won. An if I win, I’ll make sure to send the invite for us all to celebrate. And the invitation wont be sent with the intentions to boast and say AHA…I won..You didn’t. The invite will be sent with the goal to inspire. The invite will be sent with the goal to influence. Doing things for the right reasons should be the way. In my opinion. I don’t see how kicking your peers down can be helpful once you’re in position to bring them up. But if it was that simple, I would’ve needed something else to write about today. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Lead with love. Our service in the world is just as important as our breathing.

What if I walked from New Jersey to California?

You are your own biggest enemy. That’s not a myth. That’s not click bait. It’s a hard thing to admit to ourselves but it’s very important that we acknowledge it. WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES. Now that we got that out of the way, let’s have a conversation.

Is it harder for some of us to become successful with our gifts? Yes. Is it ways to at least make it a little bit easier? Absolutely. Only if we would just get out of our own way. Figuring out how to make it just a little bit easier every day is better than being stuck forever.

If I wanted to walk from New Jersey to California, would it feel like forever? I’m pretty sure it would. Just the thought of it would feel overwhelming. But if we know our destination and plan accordingly how to get there, eventually we’ll make it. Even if it took years, the goal and the purpose needs to keep us motivated. Yes a bike would be a little faster. A car or train would be a whole lot faster. An of course a plane would get us there in a few hours. But if all we had at the moment was our 2 feet, should we sit there and wait or should we start our journey on our own?

Once we get started you never know what will happen. Worst case scenario. WE WILL DIE. But we knew that already. Best case scenario. We get to our destination and find out for ourselves if the journey was worth it or not. The main thing is to start moving. Maybe someone will see you and offer to drive you a few miles. Maybe even a state or 2. Maybe someone will offer a train or plane ticket. Maybe. MAYBE. We’ll never know if we never put that first foot in front. The only thing we do know for sure is we won’t live forever. But hey, we can just sit here and play it safe. That’s 100% our decision. Or we could decide to take a risk. We can decide to take a chance. But 1st we have to stop being our own worst enemies. Trust yourself for a change.

It took me 10 years to read the Bible

For the past 10 years one of my top New Years Resolutions was to read The Bible from front to back. TEN YEARS. Each time ending in a failed attempt. And that wasn’t the only failed New Years Resolution. Almost every other resolution ended prematurely. But this year I made a commitment to myself. Honestly, the commitment was made in late September, Early October right around my Birthday October 6th. A commitment that saw me cut down on alcohol consumption, a 30 Day Cold Shower Challenge, a 3 day water fast and finally reading The Bible from front to back. I’m not the most religious person by any stretch but I do believe you can build a closer relationship with God. So reading The Bible was a personal goal for me that always was supposed to be one of the highlights of my New Years Resolutions.

Year after year. Notebook after notebook. 1st page with bold letters. NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS. And like clockwork, somewhere in the top 3 read something like ..”Read The Bible Completely.” Somewhere in between “Write a song everyday” and “Spend more time with my sisters.” The song everyday was wishful thinking but spending more time with my sisters has been happening throughout the years. Not as much time as we could, but always enjoying every moment.

After many years of starting and stopping in my attempt to read The Bible completely, and some years not even starting at all, this needed to be the time it all changed. These last few months I’ve been really working on my discipline and mental strength, so this was important to complete and avoid disappointing myself again. Most days I would wake up at 4-430am so I can read it without distractions. Usually stopping once I had to wake up my Wife and Kids to get ready for their days. Even on the days I didn’t get up that early, I would try to get at least 15-20 minutes in. Some days I got ZERO minutes in but I didn’t let it stop me from getting back to it. I started in the beginning of October an I probably would’ve finished sooner but I was taking notes as I was reading. A lot of things that were Eye Opening. A lot of wisdom. A lot of knowledge. But the main thing is I finally read it in full. An it only took 10 years lol 🤷🏽‍♂️. 1 day at a time. 1 chapter. 1 verse. Early morning. Midday. Night time. I just kept going. Then, this morning, I got to the Proverbs and started to get excited. It felt like a big monkey was coming off my back. These last few months have been so motivating for me to see what I can accomplish once I commit myself. Only time will tell if it becomes more transparent in my life.