True Beauty of a Woman

Beauty is truly within the eye of the beholder, and honestly that beholder is you.  We live in a society where people have tried to define beauty and tell us what beautiful looks like, when in actuality there's no standard of beauty and there are no limitations on what can be perceived as beautiful.  The whole idea that man can define beauty is impossible, and this is simply because beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and looks.  Every woman on this earth has been born with the tools to be beautiful on the inside and out, the person she sees when she first wakes up and looks in the mirror is love.  Kendrick Lamar echoes this in "Poetic Justice" when he spits the line "I mean you need to hear this, love is not just a verb its you looking in the mirror." Women must understand everything about them from their complexion, to their hair, to whatever God has blessed them with that makes up their differences as an individual is true beauty.  True beauty is not what you see on the cover of the magazine or on your TV screen, true beauty is the image that appears when you wake up in the morning and you understand that no matter what you're the most beautiful piece of art crafted on this earth. The confidence a woman has in herself is what makes her sexy, its not arrogant and it can't be measured by anybody else other than you.  I must admit the sexiest thing in the world is a woman that not only embraces her outer beauty, but one who's inner beauty radiates on the outside.  Any secure man could tell you how much we appreciate a woman who is confident in the tools she's been blessed with, because that confidence should never wane no matter the circumstance.  As we must do a better job at empowering our women, just make sure that first and foremost you empower yourself.

Currently Jamming Dirty Projectors- Stillness is the Move

My 10 Commandments

This is in no particular order but here's a list of 10 important commandments I follow.

10. Mind your business- You can't progress worrying about the next person, get money focus on you and yours.

9.  Find something to believe in- Everybody needs a set of guidelines and beliefs that guides them to where they want to be.  Find something.

8.  Believe in you- Nobody can do it but you, might as well believe you can achieve anything.

7.  Practice what you Preach- if you're going to say it, either you've done it or its about to happen backup the way you talk.

6.  Be loyal but don't be too loyal-Be loyal to those who you know would do the same for you, being down for everybody only gets you taken advantage of. Everybody is not your friend you can usually count your friends on your hands.

5.  Try things-  Routine things are boring, go out and experience life if it doesn't get you in a jail cell or dead see what its about so you can formulate your own opinion.

4.  Respect Yourself- I'm not going to respect you if you don't respect yourself.  Respect is earned not given

3.  Monogamy isn't real- Monogamy isn't real until there's a ring on somebodies finger, man go out and enjoy this one life you live. If you find something worth Monogamy then more power to you but we young outchea.

2.  Do your homework- Before you speak on something know what your talking about or leave it alone.

1.  Find your happiness- "Your life, Your happiness", can't please everybody, but you sure as hell can please yourself

Time

As a young black man I never really understood the value of time.  Time is our best friend, yet our greatest enemy because ultimately we have no idea how much time we have left to complete our personal agenda.   When it's our turn to go, its our turn to go there's no looking back and saying holdup, I'm not ready, when its your time there's nothing you can do, everything is in the hands of whoever your higher power may be.   2012 happened to be one of the better years of my life, because in 2012 I grew the most as a person. The trials and tribulations that have marked this past year, forced me to step up and the adversity this year presented made me stronger.  Ultimately I've had a lot of time to think and reflect on what's truly important and where I want to be personally. With that being said, tomorrow "Christmas Day" marks the one year anniversary of losing one of my brothers, Shane McCullough and I can tell you first hand death puts a whole new perspective to life. My bro Shane was one of the better people I've met in my life, he felt so much pain but never let people know it.  No matter what he was going through he never let people see him sweat, and could brighten up and change the mood in a room with one of his crazy stories.  Boy did he have stories man, some of the funniest "What the hell were you thinking" type stories I've ever heard.  His passing taught me a lot about myself and a lot about what's truly important in life.  Don't waste your life looking to be something your not, stay true to yourself  that's really what's most important.  We were all created as individuals and we all strive for something greater, its up to you to decide where your purpose truly lies. Our time here is short, so every day we can breathe, talk and see is a chance to strive for more and attack our goals. It is our obligation to make what you can out of YOUR life there are no excuses, and no shortcuts. My mother always taught me excuses were the tools of the incompetent and lord knows I wasn't raised to be incompetent.  Value the time you have here on Earth make the best out of it, be yourself and make decisions that don't sacrifice your integrity or what makes you, You. Remember you weren't born to impress anybody the only person your here to impress is yourself.  Love is looking in the mirror, find love in what you see.

PS:  To my brother Shane, I love you bro, each and every day I'm here I'm going to honor the pact we made .  Even though we won't be able to physically watch each other's personal success know that I promise to fulfill my side of the bargain.  We gon make it swon and I hope your enjoying being back with your Mom, continue to watch over me I got this.

10/21/91-12/25/11 R.I.P. Shane

Currently Jamming:  Dom Kennedy-She ain't in love

Positive Words

This is going to be a shorter blog post than most but I just wanted to share something with you guys.  At the end of the day value what you have, everybody struggles, everybody hurts, everybody goes through things.  No matter what it is keep fighting, keep living strong and remember it can always be worse. There is always somebody out there struggling just like you, pain is not exclusive and strength lives in each and every one of us.  Life isn't easy, but don't ever let life defeat you and don't ever let anybody tell you, you can't do something, only you can stop yourself man can't stop you.  Strive for more, never settle and love the person you see in the mirror.

Ps:  Spread love, and spread positive feelings.

Currently Jamming:  Chief Keef ft Young Jeezy-Understand Me

The BasedGod of Hip Hop

The world wasn't ready for the impact of the BasedGod, but Lil B is one of the most revolutionary artist in Hip-Hop today.  People can say whatever they want about the aforementioned Brandon McCartney affectionately known to his fans as Lil B the Based God, but one thing you can't call him is dumb.  Through the use of the Based/Cooking music Lil B has forever changed Hip-Hop spreading love through positive music, catchy beats, a creative dance that has become the most popular celebration in the NFL in the last year and a half; a lyrical style that has never been seen but, has been copied by a variety of other rappers such as Soulja Boy and Riff Raff and genius social media tactics. All these attributes have lead to Lil B having one of the more loyal followings in Hip-Hop, he is the undisputed king of Hip-Hop social networks, and his following is represented well through all forms of social media. Is his style unorthodox?  Hell Ya! Does he come out with tracks that make you question why anybody would consider him a good artist?  Debatable to each is own, but for every song you may consider a joke, he has a song with a real positive social message.  His outlook on life is remarkabale and spreading that knowledge in hip hop is not only a rarity but it's a gift that few artist have ever given hip-hop fans.  Here's a few songs you should check out to get a full fledged perspective on the positive energy and message Lil B brings: Based 4 ya face, I've Got Aids, Birth of Rap, Thank You Basedgod, Times Blue, this goes without mentioning both of his albums I'm Gay (I'm Happy) and Illusions of Grandeur.  Questioning Lil B's merit in Hip-Hop to me is ignorant,  if you do you most likely haven't checked out his catalog and really listened to some of the things he says in his music.  What he brings to the table is a lot more than some of his more popular songs like, Wonton Soup or the Grove St. Party remix, (which I have to say was an epic verse by the BasedGod)suggest.  But I have some questions for the non-believers, for one answer this, how many rappers have been asked to speak at NYU?(which I might add was a brilliant speech, I think everyone should listen to).....I'll wait. How many rappers have rapped over the same instrumental that was used as the theme for Oscar winning movie Titanic?.....again I'll wait.  BasedGod's influence on popular culture can be seen outside of  hip-hop and has even entered the sports world, and other social arenas.  His social versatilty and the many backgrounds his following comes from I believe attest to his living greatness, only biased opinion can make you too blind to see it but, he has forever made a social statement that will forever change Hip-Hop. I mean the man actually named his album I'm Gay, which challenges almost every social stigma tied into Hip-Hop that's brilliant and bold not to many people would take that risk.  If you go off work alone Lil B is the hardest working artist in hip-hop he once dropped a mixtape titled Free Music:  The Myspace Collection which features all the songs off of his 125 Myspace pages in total that's a mixtape with 676 songs on it (to be honest that's funny as hell) but what rapper can you name that has done that?  If you want to look into his credibility the BasedGod has made songs with Lil Wayne, 9th Wonder(in my opinion one of the top 4 greatest producer to ever live), Phonte from Little Brother has been cosigned by Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Raekwon, and even Jay Electronica has said he wants to collab with Lil B in the future.  Are those cosigns from non-credible people in hip-hop? For the third time... I'll wait.  Lil B's marketing ploy is bigger than most could even fathom, the man is a genius and with an ever growing loyal fan base; whether you like it or not, there will always be a seat for Lil B at the hip-hop round table.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRryyRFXqbc

Frank Ocean

Music is an umbrella of expression, this metaphorical umbrella has been used to harness an art form that has nurtured so many different schools of thought, while allowing different cultures to mesh and coexist through the relation of song.  With the multitude of genre's music presents, different ideas and forms of expression have been able to spread to the masses. These ideas and expressions have a lasting impact on society because in one way or another, no matter the differences we share everyone can relate through the expression of music.  I'm not an artist so in actuality I haven't been able to express myself through my own music, but I've been able to relate to how artist express themselves, while also being able to apply the wisdom used in many songs to my own views on life's situations.  In my opinion music is sanity, and without music the world would be a much crazier and more confused place than it already is, so in essence I view music as not only a healing of a nation but the healing of the world.  I may seem like I'm rambling so let me get to the point. One lesson music has taught me is to accept people's differences. I've learned not to judge people on their personal lifestyles but to accept an artist for whom they are and judge them by the body of work they put out. I find it important to understand that even though we may share some differences on the surface, through music we all can relate.  I'll use the recent coming out of R&B singer Frank Ocean, who a couple weeks ago announced his bisexuality through a post on his Tumblr page as an example.  When I was younger and immature I might have focused on his sexual orientation and used that as a base to write off his music, but as a 20 year old man I see things differently, the veil of ignorance that once clouded my judgment has been lifted.  As a musical artist he is not defined by his personal choices but by the quality of his music and the messages that his music displays. I may not agree with his lifestyle or practice a similar lifestyle but who am I to judge, I am not God and only God can judge us. With that being said personally I think Frank Ocean is a musical genius, a man who makes beautiful music and tells stories of love and life that can translate to anybody, it just so happens in his personal life he is bisexual. That hint of his personal life has no real connection or affect to the personal lives of anyone else but him, so why should it matter. Through music Frank Ocean spreads his soul, and his soulful sound and creative lyrics are in my opinion second to no one in  any category of music you may try to place him in during this musical time period.  Even though that's a rather broad, bold statement, his music does not fit into a category or genre so for me to even call him an R&B artist is a stretch because his style incorporates influences from several different genres of music. To simplify it, you just can't fit Frank's music in a box.  I've already ran this blog long so I'll finish by saying this, ignorance allows us to judge somebody off of things that make no difference in our personal lives.  Personally Frank Ocean's sexual orientation has no affect on me or how I live my life however, his music serves a purpose in something I believe in and I salute him for not being afraid to be himself.  


Currently Jamming:  Chief Keef ft. Fat Trel x Russian Roulette 


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Born to Win Built to Succeed

"No matter what, there is no excuse for letting your past dictate your future."  I honestly can't give one example of where this statement doesn't apply.  In life you make mistakes; that's all apart of the process of growing up, what happens in the past stays in the past, the goal is to learn from your mishaps and move on. My pops once told me, "The only thing you can't fix is death, everything else in life you can overcome and make positive."  Those words will forever stick with me, because that's what I believe life is all about:  being able to live, make mistakes, learn and then using adverse situations as added motivation to succeed.  Letting your past affect you  negatively is choosing to lose, and we were all born to win, so why inflict added injury on something you can't change.  Adversity is a part of life, bad decisions are a part of life, regret however is not, life is way too short for regret and everything you go through ultimately helps shape you into the person you become.  Even though this may be taken for granted, the ultimate gift is being able to see another day, another day of life is a clean slate, and an opportunity to be better.  The value of making every other day equally as good or better than your last has no price on it,  its a gift.  With that being said enjoy and love the life you live because at any moment it can be taken away from you, make mistakes don't let mistakes make you.

Currently Jamming:  Black Faces x Childish Gambino ft. Nipsey Hussle 

PS:  Shane you helped me see life differently, the world lost you before it was ready to but at the same time I know it was your time to join your mom up in the sky with the big guy.  I'll never forget all of the memories we made in such little time and I was listening to Kid Cudi Mr. Rager the other day and I swear on everything I love you were in the car telling the story of the song, that song was made to explain you.  Death isn't a fun thing but accepting that its apart of life allows all of us to grow.  Thank you for being a part of my family gone but never forgotten can't wait to see you in Heaven bro I love you.

Love,

Uncle Rob