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.

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 part 2 (Little commitments)

Never forget why you told someone you love them for the first time. Never forget the look in their eyes once they realized you mean it lol. Never forget why they believe in you if you told them they could believe in you. Never forget your influence. Especially if you have kids. Because at some point in their life, they will emulate everything you showed them, good or bad.

As I started to get closer to this 30th day of my 30 Days of Blogging Challenge, I realized what a special thing it is to have a person in my life who gives me the space to grow, learn, teach, explore, fail, win, fail, win. And not space in the sense of physical separation, but a peaceful space to operate. An I realize how special it is for us to root for each other and put that same energy into our kids. Celebrate the wins and learn from the losses. Never forgetting to inspire by example. 30 Days of my thoughts. No expectations. Just space. Mental space. Everyday life and responsibilities didn’t change around that but my new commitment to finishing goals are building some type of theme. There was probably only 1 day out of the 30 where I felt like I had nothing lol. And life was happening all around me. Wife and that “monthly” interruption…kid and school duties..baby sick…and being a ..well baby 👶🏻 and me?…ME?…just going thru the motions because everyday wont be bliss. But if I can’t get control of ONE DAY to handle my duties to myself and my family.. just ONE DAY.. how can I expect a whole wife and kids to trust me when I say “I got this just give me some time.” Little commitments have carried me the past few months.. but my biggest commitment will carry me forever. Never Forget Why.

Loyalty and Dedication

In January 2016, I finally decided to be proactive about sparking new energy into the local music scene in New Jersey. I had been rapping and building a steady fanbase for quite some time but I felt like opportunities to grow here were limited. Instead of keeping the complaining and frustration building, I figured why not build a infrastructure at home where the artist can have a consistent outlet that me and a state full of artist lacked. So along with a few good friends of mine, we launched Vibes In The City Open Mic Night. A weekly hub for local talent to come and build their network. A weekly hub for local artist to come showcase their skills and hone their craft. Polished Artists. Unpolished Artists. Seasoned Vets. Curious Newcomers. But what happened over the next 3 years came as a surprise. Over 150 produced shows, including 1000+ artists spanning from all over the globe, 1 awards show, several community give back events, an a slew of collaborations is beyond what we could’ve imagined. We went into this with no expectations. And some even said I was crazy for thinking a weekly Open Mic in Newark,NJ would work and last. They couldn’t have knew how dedicated I was to making it work. They couldn’t have knew how big of a fan I was of our local artists. Big enough of a fan to basically push my personal dreams of a artist to the side long enough to focus on building this platform. Long enough until I feel it has it’s own legs. They can’t know how dedicated and loyal my friends are. Dedicated and loyal enough to take little to no pay for 3 years and counting to help me with my passion project. It’s no way they could’ve knew. Honestly it’s no way I could’ve fully knew. But that’s the funny thing about momentum. Once you get the ball rolling, it’s hard to stop it from flowing. And after 3 years of building bridges and staying loyal and staying dedicated, we still know it’s a lot of work left to do. Not only am I looking forward to the next year, but the next 3 years and the next 3 after that. But not to just run a Open Mic. No No Nooooo. The plans have grown tremendously to exceed that. And as long as there’s enough dedicated artists looking to build, the plans will continue to grow.

#vibesinthecity #goodvibesonly

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.