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.

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.

This Weekend

Tell your friends you can’t go out this weekend. You’re working on your dreams. Tell your spouse “Let’s cook in instead of going out for dinner this weekend and start saving for our dreams.” Tell your kids to give you 10 ideas this weekend. Make that dream thing a family thing. Tell your job you can’t do voluntary overtime this week. You need this free time to work on your dreams. Tell your TV it gets no love this weekend. Falling down the rabbit hole of just FINDING something to watch is not an option. Nope..not this weekend. Tell social media you’re gonna need 2 days to lock in. Just 2 days. You’ll be back on Monday recharged. 2 Days. This weekend. Not next weekend. Not New Year’s Eve. Not the 1st. No New Year New Me. That way didn’t work the 1st 12 times. Well at least for me it didn’t. I dont even know if this new way of trying is gonna work. But the old way didn’t. And they say the first sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. As long as the purpose remains genuine, the plan should be flexible. But start NOW. Make this weekend be the weekend you decided to show yourself how important you are.

I Am Ishmeel (continued)

I Am Ishmeel Blakewood

I Am Broadway Blake

I Am The Founder/CEO of Vibes In The City LLC in Newark,NJ. Vibes In The City LLC provides platforms for independent Talent and Creatives. We launched in January 2016 and produced over 150 shows and showcased close to 1000 artists since launching. Vibes In The City is my Passion Project. I would probably be miserable without it lol. Seriously.

I Am a long time Wrestling fan. Long long time. My earliest memory is Wrestlemania 4. That’s when Macho Man won the tournament for the Heavyweight Title. I was a big time Hulk Hogan fan back then so yes a part of my childhood was ripped away when the tapes of him going on a rant of racially provoked language was leaked. I’m not sure if I fully got over that yet but it doesn’t really bother me anymore. Mid 90’s Wrestling is my favorite era. Hollywood Hogan. Stone Cold Steve Austin. Four Horsemen(Arn Anderson is so underrated) Black and White Sting. As I got older I gained more appreciation for Bret Hart. I do believe he is the GOAT. I’m still a fan of Wrestling today but I’m not nearly as invested as I once was.

I Am a Long Time San Francisco 49ers fan (Montana final years before the Steve Young Transition)

I Am A Long Time Ohio State College Football Fan( Eddie George Days)

I Am A HUUUUGE PENNY HARDAWAY FAN which lead me to be a Die-Hard Orlando Magic Fan(Nick Anderson 4 missed Free Throws in the Finals against the Rockets still haunt me. I was a kid what do you expect)

I Am A Long Time Seattle Mariners Fan(The Kid. Ken Griffey Jr. Days. Can’t forget Young A-Rod. Buhner. Edgar. Big Unit.)

I Am So Jersey but for whatever reason as a kid. I didn’t connect with the local pro teams. But I did fall in love with that 2001 Seton Hall Basketball Team that was led by Shaheem Holloway. And Yes I do fell like they would’ve made a stronger push to the Final Four if he didn’t get hurt. Even though Ty Shine held it down. I also Love Jersey Highschool and Youth Sports. If we can find a way to keep the talent home our College Programs will start to get mentioned with Duke, Alabama, UCLA, Miami,Texas etc.

I Am a Big Barry Sanders Fan an I think he’s the best Football Player to EVER PLAY. Just my opinion lol.

I Am A Big Hip Hop Fan. 2Pac was the 1st Rapper I felt a emotional connection with. Biggie, Snoop and Bone Thugs were the 1st Rappers where I realized how important Flow was. But Ma$e was the 1st Rapper where I said that right there is my favorite and that’s who I wanna be. Only as a kid though lol. Not now. I only wanna be the best version of me now.

I am a HUUUUGE fan of local music scenes an its something that I have studied and researched since I decided to be a artist. It’s a really big reason that I started Vibes In The City.

These first few Posts on my blog is me pretty much introducing who I am to people who don’t know me and even the people who do know me but don’t know a lot about me. But I’m looking forward to tell more stories about why my Goal was to aim for Russell Simmons, Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy status instead of Jay-Z and Nas. Of course over time Jay and Nas…especially Jay have become much more than Rappers since then. But Def Jam. Motown and just about EVERYTHING Quincy was doing was my initial aim.

I’m also looking forward to just posting random thoughts and experiences. It might turn into a daily blog. It might not. But I have a story to tell an I have stories to create.

Broadway

I Am Ishmeel

I Am Ishmeel Blakewood

I Am Broadway Blake

I Am A Father. I Am A Son. I Am A Husband. I Am A Brother. I Am A Friend.

I Am A Leader. I Am A Visionary. I Am A Creative.

I Am A Rapper. I Am A Writer.

I Am giving myself Permission to Pursue My Dreams. My Passions. My Purpose. My Goals. My VISION. My WHY.

I Am Accepting Responsibility that If I don’t Pursue those things with Persistence. With Perseverance. With Faith. With A Sense Of Urgency. Then My Time Here Was Wasted.

I Have A Story To Tell. I Have Stories To Create.

I wanted this to be my first post to always give myself a reminder of when I DECIDED to LIVE.

“The Saddest Thing In Life Is Wasted Talent” – A Bronx Tale

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