Calling all Go Getters!

Even though I have a 9-5 job now and am grateful for it, I know that it is only a means to an end. I think all of us are born with a desire to create our own legacy whether we admit it or not. I look foward to the day when I am able to fully fund the vision that God has given me. I am a natural entrepreneur. Even in my 9-5 I am finding creative ways to do things. I feel like this is now preparation time for when I employ myself and perhaps my friends and family. It is important for me to succeed at working for someone else so that I can excel when I am solely working for myself. The two go hand in hand in my opinion, if you have an entreprenuerial mind set.

I'm curious to know your thoughts...

50 Cent Vs. Rick Ross and the insight I have learned from this battle

Many of you know about the recent hip hop beef between 50 Cent and Rick Ross. I have been following this battle for about the past three weeks and to say the least it has been entertaining. If you have no idea what I am talking about, go to thisis50.com of hiphopdx.com to get the recap on how this whole thing started. As of now, 50 Cent has done a pretty good job of humiliating the "Boss" and doing what 50 does best, that is destroying other rappers careers. He has done this multiple ways, using music, videos, radio interviews, cartoon drawings, Rick Ross' baby mother, financial statements, and pictures. The biggest foothold 50 has stood on through this bout is that Rick Ross use to be a Correctional Facilites officer, yet claims that he was the biggest drug dealer in Miami. A lot of the information that 50 is presenting to the public is factual and has been proven to be so, which has further tarnished Ross' image and street credibility. It appears that Ross has not gotten the memo that he is losing the battle as many media sources, journalists, websites, and other rappers have endorsed 50 cent as the champ. Ross' new single "Magnificient" featuring John Legend has not been considered a successful record due to the fact that most of the attention Rick Ross is getting is tied to the beef with 50 Cent, not Ross' new album which is slated to drop in March. Everyone knows that 50 is a master at destroying careers, we have seen this in the cases of artists such as Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Cam'ron, and others. It seems that Ross has gotten in way over his head and really has had no decent comeback even though I think "Mafia Music", one of his diss songs is actually a good one. The fact is is that 50 Cent is filthy rich, connected to Dr. Dre and Eminem, intelligent, athletic, resorceful, and just plain ruthless. He is in a position of power that few rappers, if any are able to claim. Therefore it would be wise for a person like Rick Ross to realize this and stop throwing punches while he still can, this is simply a battle he cannot win. 50 is unparalleled when it comes to doing things like this. So here is my spiritual insight into this matter.

Many Christians are similar to Rick Ross. We have an image, talent, nice cars, clothes, some good things going for us that we take for granted, but with this we also have a past and hearts full of pride and arrogance. We trick ourselves into believing that we are something that we are not, or even if we are something it may not be at the level at which we think it is. This last statement leads us into trouble because we can become delusional and try to fight battles that we are not built to fight. Granted we be able to win some battles, but some foes are just out of our league, like the devil. Now I'm not trying to call 50 Cent the devil, I actually admire and like 50 Cent, but I think in this case, 50 Cents exhibits some characteristics in hip hop battles that the devil exhibts in spiritual battles. Again I am not calling 50 Cent the devil, I am simply recognizing how a believer can fall prey to the enemy due to the tactics he uses which parallels 50 Cents tactics in the battle with Rick Ross. So how does 50 Cent exhibit the qualities of the devil in this present case. Well for one the devil is tremendously wealthy, he has the whole world under his control (those not under the control of Jesus), which gives him access to vast resources. The devil controls the media, much like 50 controls his own media website which is extremely entertaining by the way. The devil is extremely intelligent, one of the wisest beings one can ever encounter. He's been around for God knows how long, and only God does know. So the devil has had some time to hone his military prowess. The devil also is not lazy, he is not a heavy sleeper, if he even sleeps at all. And lastly the devil has no conscience. The holocaust, apartheid, genocides, two year olds getting murdered in cold blood by their fathers, this is the devils idea of a picnic. He enjoys to see his foes destroyed, much like 50 does. With all of that said, you and I, still try to fight the devil in our own strength. We do this everyday that we do not earnestly pray to God, read our bibles, and put ourselves in situations that cause us to sin. Not to mention, we still have horrible pasts and things that haunt us from before we were walking with Christ. Lets face it, we are easy targets for the enemy, much like Rick Ross is for 50 Cents. We have no hope of defeating someone as powerful as the devil without the help of God. Yet day after day we try to spar with Satan using our human intellect and will, and this just does not cut it. The devil has too much dirt on us and will remind us of our past which will make us studder and stumble if someone asks us about it much like Rick Ross did when a dj asked him if he was a c/o on a Miami radio station. We just end up humiliated and looking dumb to those around us when we try to play with the enemy this way. We will get picked off every time. The only hope we have for defeating the devil daily is to rely on Jesus' power. He is the only one who actually beat the devil up besides, the acrh angel Michael. Simply put, we must rely on God to deal with the devil and we do this by earnestly seeking God's Son and asking Him to fill us with his Spirit so that we can take our stand against the evil one. In this case, The Lord is the only one who can probably help Rick Ross, but even then Rick Ross would have to surrender to God, which would be a whole other blog.

A Greater Dependence on God

It has been a minute since I last wrote. My apologies to those who read my blogs. I just recently got married and am getting settled into married life, not to mention settling back into living in California once again. At the beginning of 2009, I wrote down some goals that I would like to accomplish before the end of the year and one of them was to get to know God better. My strategy to reach this goal is to spend at least one hour a day in prayer (communication with God) and by reading some selected books of the bible that I felt would be good to have in my heart. Praying everyday has not been easy. Many days it is a challenge because my mind is filled with so many other things such as bills, things me and my wife need, business ideas, career ambitions, lunch, and more. A lot of times I have to make myself think about God and how good he has been to me in my life and put in extra effort to focus on Him. It is so easy to get caught up in the affairs of this life that I can sometimes forget who is in charge of my life and my destiny. He already has a plan mapped out for me and all I have to do is talk with Him each day to know what it is. Every obstacle or problem that I am dealing with he has a solution for. Most times, if not all times when I try to figure hard issues out myself such as an argument with my wife, which bill in the budget should be considered most important, and other complex issues, I end messing things up even worse. But when I depend on Him and am honest about not knowing all the answers, he is then able to show me how to handle these situations. I think the reason a lot of times God does not give us the answer to a tough question we have is because we already think we know the answer and just want Him to agree with what we think is the right solution. I mean would you answer someone's questions or lend a hand to help them out if they kept saying "I got it" or when you give them an answer they never use it but insist on doing what they wanted instead. I think not. I guess the purpose of this particular blog is to let someone know that relying on God is the only way to be more than a conquerer in this life. He already has the road map of our lives prepared and is anxious to let us read it. We just have to depend on him to guide us and he will. Even though I may not get the answer when I would like to have it, he shows me what to do and what to say when it is most needed. So spend a little more time with God and rely less on yourself, it will probably a take a lot of stress out of your life.

New Routine

It's has been a minute since I last blogged. Hopefully I still got it. Me and my wife to be are just settling into our new life together in sunny southern California. It feels good to be back on this side of the rain clouds. I didn't realize how much I missed it out here. Besides the bad traffic, litter, and smog, I can say that I'm happy to be living here again. You can feel the opportunity surrounding you just when you step outside. With that said. I got a lot on my mind creatively and I cant wait until it finds itself on some paper in a song or some other creative expression. I feel like some masterpieces are on the way. I feel as though I have crossed the threshold of childhood to manhood officially. I got new muscles to prove it. Lol.


I GUESS I STILL GOT IT. More coming soon!

Change is Necessary

My father often told me when I was younger "Don't wear out your welcome". And I think I am just now starting to understand what he meant by that statement. In life, we tend to stay in places, positions, relationships, and mindsets longer that we are sometimes supposed to. In a sense, we wear out our welcome because we should be moving on to new experiences. A sign that it is time to move on generally is when things turn sour or dry up where you are at. We are to find new wells of water to drink from and new territory to build upon. People are terrified to death of change because it is uncertain and it forces them to adjust (into becoming a better person) and perhaps let go of something(s) that they hold dear. In this season of change in my life I have battled daily with overcoming fears that would try to keep me from venturing into new places and arenas. The truth is, without change there can be no growth. Another thing that I am learning is that in life, there is no such thing as security, only opportunity. Life was never meant to be bottled up and held in the same position forever. It was meant to take on new dimensions and depth. So as I stand on the horizon of change, I welcome it with open arms.

Long Over due...

Man I have been away from this blogging thing for a minute now. Life is so different not being in school and my schedule is way less structured now. For those reading this, I am happy to announce that I just proposed to my girlfriend last Friday at the I.T.M. awards. It's a good feeling when you know that you have found your soulmate. Me and my lady plan on tying the knot on New Years Eve. Honestly I can't wait. I am enjoying this manhood thing. In other news...

Have you ever had one of those nights were your creative ideas wake you up in the middle of the night. Well, I am having one of those nights right now. I tried to lay back down but so many ideas kept pumping thru my head that I had to get up and write something down. I hear this is the time of the day that God really can connect with man. I guess its because there are less distractions this early. I'm not sure but the concept is dope. Alright I'm going to try to get one more hour of sleep, then it's off to the gym for my daily workout. Peace.

Smarten Up

I got into a conversation with one of my relatives yesterday about some rappers that he knows personally. These rappers are considered to be legends in the genre of hip hop they belong to. The sad thing is that they are broke. Now that may not be a big deal to some people but it is to me. It is a sad day when you look back on your career, all the shows you've done, albums sold, autographs signed, etc. and don't have anything to show for it financially. All you have is name recognition and that won't hold long when the next cats get into the game and make people forget about you. I got the thinking, why does this happen to so many rappers. I'm sure there is a plethora of reasons. But one really stands out to me. Most artists don't plan for the future. Unless you are blessed with some kind of special power that keeps you young forever, you more than likely will not be rapping for the rest of your life. And who would want to? I certainly don't want to "have" to rap past the age of 32. And I'm definitely not going to be trying to rap (at least professionally) when I hit my 40's and 50's. With that said, it is important for today's 20 something year old artists to think and look past the microphone. Learn about investing, real estate, and other business ventures that will ensure your families financial security in the future when you call it quits. Don't be 30 something years old still chasing the dreams you had when you were 20. That day is gone. It's time to man up and go on to the next thing. I know that sounds harsh, but it is good advice. Take it or leave it.