Agent of Change

A Letter to Lil' Wayne

2010-06-10T14:15:00.007-04:00

*Editor's Note: Stemming from my last post about how the hip-hop community has set a double standards as to what is "real", This is a letter I wrote and sent to the brother DeWayne "Lil' Wayne" Carter, who is currently incarcerated. I wrote this out of love for my community. Rather than be a pessimist and hate on those who look like me, I chose to reach out to him.
I hope that you all look at this and use this an example of how we can attempt to be more proactive and heal those who are not only hurting us, but our communities and themselves.

Increase the Peace.

Eliminate the Hate.

Peace and Love...
Varyus

Peace Mr. Carter,

I hope that you are doing well and that this letter of mine reaches you in good health. My name is Nick Florest but I also go by the stage name Varyus Waise (pronounced Various Ways). Yes, I’m a rapper but I’m not writing you to promote myself or my music. Instead, I’m writing this to you as a person who grew up in similar circumstances as you.

I understand that you get a lot of backlash and hate for the messages you promote in your music. Trust me when I say, I’ve seen it firsthand at shows how other artists will say something negative about you just because you’re “not conscious”, “put out music that reinforces stereotypes” or simply “Lil’ Wayne is wack”. I’m not one to judge because artist to artist, I respect your craft and the name you’ve built for yourself.

However, I do want to say that you do hold a great amount of power being in the position you are in as one of the greatest entertainers out today and there’s a certain amount of responsibility that you have to your listeners. I’m not saying that I want you to come out of your incarceration quoting Malcolm X in your songs. I like what you do already and wouldn’t ask you to make such a drastic change like that. Switching your style like that would be career ending and among all, corny.

What I would like, though, for you to think. Think more I should say. I’m sure I’m not the first person to write you a letter like this (at least I hope not) so you know already that there’s a lot of kids that look up to you. I would just like for you to use your influence for more positive, brother. As I stated earlier, I grew up in the ‘hood like you. I know how easy brothers and sisters can fall into lifestyles that aren’t productive. I also know how much easier it is when it’s being glamorized by someone you respect and look up to. That said, I do hope that you return that you think of the younger heads coming up who love you and idolize you. I know you’re an adult but I’m sure you also know that as a celebrity, the things you do reflect on the community and the youth, more than anybody, internalize and feed off that image. And all I’m asking if you to think a little more. I don’t want you to stop living your life. Do what you want but do think of those younger fans when you create your songs and how you would want them to live. Would you want them to live the “Pussy, Money, Weed” life or the life of education and prosperity?

I don’t doubt you don’t have an album like Me Against the World sitting inside you; something real yet thoughtful and introspective. That’s what I would like from you. As an artist, as a fan, and as someone who mentors youth and knows the effect you and others have on them through music.

To end, I hope I didn’t come off as condescending as that was not my intention. Whether you agree with me or not, I’m still proud of you and wish you nothing but the best. I sincerely hope you take my words… my plea and think of it the next time you’re in the booth. From reading your previous letters, I can tell you’re growing in a way you couldn’t on the outside. Continue that growth, brother. I would like for you to use it for more good for us.

Stay safe, may God bless you and your family and I look forward to your return.

Peace and much Love…

Nick Florest

Me and My Dumb Opinion

2010-06-02T20:33:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was told by a friend that I had a "dumb ass opinion". On what: what hip-hop artists I listen to. Turns out that I disgusted her to the point she couldn’t look at me because I told her that I like Nicki Minaj, Soulja Boy and Waka Flocka Flame. Yes, I like Waka Flocka Flame. I don’t own any of his music nor do I cosign his message of drug dealing but I understand and rock to it at times. Of course as a person who loves individuality and hip-hop music, I was pissed that she was so disgusted at me. You would think I told her I punched an old lady in the mouth by her reaction when I told her that I think Black Thought is a garbage rapper.

Now this isn’t the first time I’ve come up against people who thought I was wrong for having an opinion hold on scratch that… a real opinion on rappers. A few months ago, I said on Twitter that I think Black Thought is overrated after watching him perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live. For the record, I thought homie was boring since I first heard him in junior high. I got replies back from people I didn’t even know were following me. I had gone against the Holy Grail.

To everyone, I apologize that I’m an underground artist but don’t subscribe to a lot of other underground rappers because they’re lyrical or “conscious”.

My “problem” is that I believe that everything has a place. Everything. So while I don’t cosign some of the messages in the media today, I understand and respect that people are allowed to express themselves however they want. This is something I would implore to any artist reading this. In fact, anybody reading this. Live and let live. Promote positive. If you don’t like, don’t support.

However, after having these experiences and others dealing with “real” hip-hop I must wonder where people’s priorities and minds are. On one hand, “real” hip-hop heads complain that mainstream music sounds monotonous and doesn’t benefit the community yet they’ll give props to someone because they’re “conscious” or “nice”. What the fuck does that do for the community? You think some kid who’s about to get their afterschool program cut is really going to care about the metaphors in your verse or how much you want your people to be free? But then what really pisses me off is when one of these artists who fit into this category of “real” hip-hop does some dumb shit like John Forte getting arrested for pushing coke, which more than likely would’ve been sold in a Black community, they roll out the red carpet. Now before you get riled up, let me state that I’m glad he learned from his mistake and is using his music as his way of redemption. But where was the love from the underground when Plies donated his money to health care and helping people in his community stay out of foreclosure? When I posted that on Twitter, I literally got one reply from one of my homeboys who said some dumb shit about him not being to spit. Seriously? Dude goes out of his way to give away his money for 25 days to people in his neighborhood for mortgage payments, doctor’s visits, school supplies… you know, things people need and all he could say is ‘he can’t rap’. So it’s ok for John Forte to traffic drugs, get pardoned by George W. Bush and redeem himself but Plies can’t rap about ‘hood life and then give back to his ‘hood? Hypocritical much?

I remember being at a rap show once where the main performer came out of his face and was like “X-person doesn’t write his rhymes and he’s nice. Lil’ Wayne doesn’t write his rhymes and he’s wack.” Then he reiterated it so the crowd could get involved. And this happens at so many underground hip-hop shows that I’m really thinking of giving up on hip-hop. My question is what does that do for anyone? All that hate. All that unwarranted hate. Then I have to ask honestly when was the last time you heard a mainstream rapper diss the practices of the underground? I’ll wait...

This is why I don’t subscribe to the notion of “real” hip-hop. It's a bullshit concept. What’s real for you is not what’s real for the next person so who are you to judge what’s real and who’s nice and then try to enforce that on others? The way I see it, “real” hip-hop is just another institution that keeps Black people at eachother’s throats. Crabs in a bucket. Plantation vs. plantation. Nigger vs. nigger. The saddest part about this is that I’ve seen the hate coming from people who talk about building up people. Do you even realize what you’re doing? Saying how much you can’t stand people.

Instead of bashing mainstream artists and what they’re saying, why not reach out to them and talk to them about what they’re doing to our communities with their music? What’s the worst that can happen? They’ll say “fuck off” and go back to doing ignorant music.

On that note, I’m writing a letter to Lil’ Wayne. Peace.

Making Black History... real

2010-02-26T11:14:00.002-05:00

I came across this article today... literally stumbled upon it on StumbledUpon and thought I should post it. The author, Sam Sanders, made some very good points about the validity of Black History Month and what we can do to make it a have meaning again.

Here's the link:

Taking Black History Out of the Peanut Gallery

What do you think?

Peace and Love...
VW

Blood, Guts and the American Way

2010-02-25T22:45:00.005-05:00

I just came home from a screening of The Crazies. The movie was eh at best but I guess it's partly because I'm past my popcorn movie days... somewhat lol.

...I don't know about the rest of you guys out there but I'm getting tired of the ultra-violence in movies nowadays. I remember being pissed off at the remake of The Wolfman when I went to a screening for it a couple of weeks ago because they over saturated the movie with gore and took a lot of the story away from it. I hope I'm not spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it but it was like every 5 minutes 'here's the Wolfman ripping out someone's entrails' or 'here's the Wolfman knocking someone's head off' and for me, it really bastardized the legacy of the original Wolfman films. I felt the same way leaving The Crazies today.

From jump I knew I was going to get an hour and a half of brainless violence but then I got military undertones on top of that. I remember having a talk with a friend of mine about violence in movies one day and his thoughts on it were that they're used to desensitize us to things and create more soldiers. He echoed something that I was thinking about as well but it wasn't until he mentioned the part about the soldiers that it all became clear. Most of the violent movies I've gone to see in the past have had trailers/commercials for the National Guard play before the movie started. I won't go into my dislike for the military and their practices. I do, however, wonder what these kinds of images in movies is doing to us as a people?
Even video games are starting to become overtly graphic. I remember seeing the cover to a game called Borderlands and thinking "wow, I'm actually disturbed by this" and I'm a fan of Manhunt... the video game that caused a huge stir some 6 years ago. (I'm not going to post it here just because I want you to do some leg work too lol.)

Sometimes I just makes me wonder if people are right to blame the media for what goes on in the world today. I look at these movies and video games, listen to some of the music and can't help but think no wonder we have teens thinking it's ok to beat the hell out of each other on video. Are we becoming the apathetic society portrayed in movies like Idiocracy, The Running Man and Robocop? How long is it until shows like Death Race become a reality and we have mass murder happen on our doorstep and think nothing of it? Seems like we're already there.

Or maybe it's just me...

Peace and much Love to yourselves...

P.S. Check out those films... they're really deep when you read past what you're seeing but don't take my word for it.

What If Sarah Palin Was Black...

2010-02-16T11:06:00.002-05:00

I came across this article on Twitter today. I thought it was a really good read so I'm posting it for you all to see...

"What If Sarah Palin Was Black?"

Any thoughts?

Peace and Love...
VW

R. Me (Rebels Music Empire) - Still Untitled Til' This Day (LP)

2010-02-13T17:59:00.003-05:00

R. Me. Rebels Music Empire. Steph LV, X Maximus, Rashid Amir and Real. Four cool brothers from Brooklyn, who I know personally, who dropped an album that goes hard with the beats and lyrics and is very versatile.

One thing about me that I love are albums that tell stories: Biggie's Ready to Die, Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx... the list goes on. Still Untitled 'Til This Day is nothing short of a masterpiece when it comes to just that.

I've been playing it crazy since it dropped in December of '09 and I'm definitely going to rock with it for a long time after.

But I won't say anymore. You can check it out for yourselves (for $5) at www.rebelsmusicempire.com

Peace and Love...

VW

"Where The Ladies At..."

2010-02-05T02:20:00.005-05:00

It's almost 2:30 a.m. here in Brooklyn and I got back home earlier (had to stop and get some Popeye's for late night munchies before writing this lol) from the She's So Fresh III Showcase. It's a show, organized by a friend of mine Bless Roxwell and J.A.G. Music and Media and is hosted by an even better friend of mine Tasty Keish, where they feature all female emcee acts. If you haven't gone to one, you should definitely check out the next one. Hopefully, I'll stay consistent with this blog by that time so I'll have information up for you when it happens.

The ladies definitely shut it down and seriously repped for the other females in the rap game as well as in general. There was an overall feeling of support and comfort for women of all kinds but they definitely didn't make it a Man-Hating Event at all. The only time I felt like a male groupie at all was when Bless actually put the mic in my face when I was singing along to her song "Peace Love Unity" (I heart you, Bless for that LOL.) It was really inspiring for me to be around such great women who were doing something positive for themselves and made me want to go harder with my mission and do more to support causes backed by women and for women's rights.

That said, the one thing that bothered me as a guy was the lack of men in the event. It irritated me even more that I was like one of four male emcees in the building tonight. I mean as an underground emcee, you know about the lack of support of women in the rap game as a whole, unless you're rapping about sex and money and wearing less than nothing, so why not support a group of female rappers who aren't going that route and refuse to portray a certain image about themselves? And this isn't a random thought because I was at the last She's So Fresh Showcase and it was the same case.

Now before anyone catches an attitude and says, "I had other things to do and who are you, Varyus, to tell me what I should do with my life?" I'm going to make it clear that I KNOW that life happens at times and I'm not in anyway saying that you HAVE to go to every hip-hop event with or without a cause. Believe me, I sparingly go to events just because I choose to exercise that right myself. But I wonder why we, meaning male emcees, don't support our women counterparts more. After seeing women constantly come to our shows and support our music, I wonder why we don't return the favor, especially knowing the nature of the field of hip-hop and how it cannibalizes women.

Is it that they can't rap? Clearly they can. I caught myself and many others making the "oooh! that line was sick" face many of times while women were rapping.

Is it that we're afraid that they'll destroy hardcore rap as we know it and make it all "girly"? No. There's PLENTY of females making "I'll break ya jaw" music and not all of them are lesbians.

So what is it then?

Why aren't we doing more to change how women are viewed in hip-hop and how female emcees are treated? Why aren't we supporting them more?

I don't know.

Peace and Love...

VW

"So where the ladies at?/ Yo we chillin over here..." - De La Soul, Dinninit

Jus Mic - Poetry for Misfits

2010-01-05T10:14:00.006-05:00

Yo since, I've been making my way in the underground, I've been blessed to know a few heads in the scene who have put out some DOPE MUSIC!!!

Here are the link and a short write-up to the first one:

Jus Mic - I never met this Cleveland cat in person; I've only heard his music through his sister who is a good friend of mine. I was absolutely mesmorized by how honest he is in his music. He really gives me the feeling Joe Buddens did with his first album. Just real stories from a man you can tell is not afraid to be himself and give you his heart through song.

Download it here...

http://bit.ly/7AA55m

Peace and Love...

VW l8-)

Mic Check 4

2010-01-02T14:11:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all,

Check out this interview with me on my homegirl Malaya's blog and get to know a little bit more about me...

Mic Check 4

Peace and Love...

VW l8-)

Agent of Change Logo and Meaning

2010-01-02T13:40:00.002-05:00

So the reason why the logo is designed the way it is is because I wanted to be able to brand myself/ organization as something powerful and bold as you need to be in order to make positive change in this world. Every symbol in the logo symbolizes change which is why I chose them all; the circle, the triangles, the phoenix.

The Circle

The circle is a simple representation of life itself, infinity. Change is something will always exist hence being ever-lasting. I want that part of to symbolize how I want whatever I do to be positive to last forever.
Circles have also been known to represent females, while triangles represent males. They're both in the logo so as to show that they both work together.

The Triangles

The 12 triangles represent the months in a year meaning that I'm going to keep going on no matter what. No days off.
The triangle also represents trinities that brings life/ existence. Like Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Man, Woman, Child. Sun, Moon, Stars.

Triangles pointing up also represent Success. I want Success and for the people I reach to be Successful as well.

The Phoenix
I've always loved the Phoenix and what it symbolized; reincarnation, constant rebirth, (change... now you're getting it lol). I also included it because it also represents heat or fire. All living things born in places of warmth from children to plants. The cradle of civilization on Earth began near the Nile River where Nothing ever grows from the cold. I thought this is a perfect translation of how Agents of Change want people to grow and how we want to bring life to the dormant.

As I wrote this, I began to see A LOT more in it than I intended when I first idealized it but I'll hold off on that as these are the basic reasons.

Ok... I'll be posting some new blogs soon and start featuring some other heads that I've been "training" with lately...

Peace and Love...

VW l8-)

Welcome to a New Year

2010-01-02T13:21:00.002-05:00

Hello all,

I just wanted to welcome you all to a new year and new decade.

I'm going to start off this year more frequent posts starting this exciting post to let you know that the Agent of Change movement now has a face.... albeit a creepy one given all the Illuminati/hip-hop connections that have been popping up. Just letting you know though that I am NOT involved with that stuff, if it does exist. Least not that I know of Lol... anyway I'm posting the logo up soon... by the way if anyone knows HTML let me know how I can add it to my background. Thanks!

Peace and Love...

vw

Hiatus

2009-12-16T15:37:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all out there in non-Internet land,

I'm going to be taking an official hiatus as I have to get my netbook fixed before I can start posting the articles I was working on. Until then, please download Revenge of the Nerds mixtape and let me know what you all think.

Thanks for the support!

Peace and Love...

VW l8-)

Revenge of the Nerds Mixtape (2009)

2009-11-20T08:07:00.000-05:00

Feels so good to get this project out to y'all!!! I really hope you all enjoy it! Please leave your thoughts! We can only get better if we know what you think!

Thanks a mil!!

http://tinyurl.com/revengeofthenerdsmixtape

P.S. I'll be posting the links to the different artists' web pages so you can support!

RE: What's Wrong with New York City?

2009-11-10T14:59:00.000-05:00

Last week, a fellow tweep of mine posted a blog asking just what's wrong with NYC? In it, he talked about how corrupt New York was for pouring money into the new Yankees and Mets Stadium but still hadn't built anything in place of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.

As a New Yorker, I had to ask the same thing. Not because of them not building anything new where the Towers were but I'm looking at it from the perspective of the homeless. Every morning as I get out of the Broad Street train station off the J line, before I hop on that boat to Staten [Island], I always see homeless people sleeping in the station. In Broad Street. Which is down the damn block from Wall Street. And we have homeless people sleeping on the steps because 'there isn't any money to build homes for them'.

I was just talking to a custodial worker today in my school who said that they just excessed and laid off teachers and admin staff at the other school where he worked due to recent budget cuts. For those who aren't familiar with education system lingo, 'excessed' means when they transfer someone to a different school because their current assignment can't afford to keep them. Imagine that.
We have teachers being laid off in this crazy economy meanwhile, we just spent $330,000 on that Yankees parade. That sounds bad enough but let me show you math behind this.

Average starting salary for a new NYC school teacher is $45,000. Budget cuts also affected people who applied and were accepted to NYC Teaching Fellows this year.

$330,000/$45,000 = 7.3 teachers

If we take that money spent on the Yankees parade, we could've had 7 new teachers in our school system, educating our students. Educating our future. And had money left over to have events or build school culture in some other fashion in order to keep students interested in school. I'm not going to even get started on how many schools that could've been built with the money spent on those two new stadiums.

The amount of temporary housing and schools that could've been built with that entertainment money boggles my mind. That's two issues that could've been solved at once; people lacking homes and our national drop-out crisis that went into high-definition television screen, cold seats, and expensive hot dog stands.

I love New York.

Peace and Love...

VW

The New 'Black'

2009-11-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

This morning, as I got off the Staten Island Ferry to get to work, I passed an ad on a bus that said the New York Lotto has gone black. It did. It was now being printed on black cardboard. Woot. Woot.

With Mountain Dew going Black, Taco Bell coming out with their Black Jack Taco, Jay-Z saying he might wear all black for years on "Death of Autotune".. hell we even have a Black President of the United States... it made me sarcastically ask on Twitter this morning if we [Black people] would get an apology for slavery next?

Though I asked this in a cynical fashion, I really do wonder with black being the new trend as it is, will it spill over into race relations with people learning the true history of Africans and our contributions to the world? With people then taking the next step and saying "wow, slavery was awful. Really awful. We're sorry that this happened to you."

This isn't my way of saying we need reparations or even me saying we should get one. It's just a thought.

What do you think?

The Importance of Breathe Control...

2009-10-30T15:14:00.000-04:00

It was the first year anniversary of MoreBondFire and I was definitely happy to be there.

Shout out to VideoVixon who taped a good chunk of it including my part. Too bad all he caught was the back of me (pause).

It would've been a dope performance but I didn't realize how much breathe control comes into play... One of my favorite Wu tracks "Deadly Melody" had a clip from an old kung-fu movie that said "of all techniques it's the most difficult."

Cardio building I go. Enjoy.

My MoreBondFire cherry popped...

2009-10-26T12:13:00.000-04:00

So this is the video from my performance of "Sky High" at MoreBondFire's open mic in September. It twas me first time at MoreBondFire and I met some great folks there. I'd mention names but there's a lot of them. Definitely messed up but eh, practice makes perfect and I still got love afterwards...

I'm crushing it next time!

V. Waise is on the Way!

Peace and Love...
VW

My Artist Process Performance (Uncut)

2009-10-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

Hey here's the video of my performance at The Artist Process on Sept. 21st, 2009. This was the first time I ever did a set as I came in thinking I was only doing one song. ha ha.

The songs I performed are:

"Verbal Pound (Intro)"
"I Know A Hero"
"Sky High"

I messed up on a couple of them. Maybe you won't notice lol.

Anyway, leave your thoughts....

The Artist Process Pt. 1

2009-10-26T09:13:00.000-04:00

So I'm mad late with this but here are some pics from the Artist Process show that I did back in September. I had a great time rocking that day and I met some real cool people that day.

Broke MC and Dyalekt Raps

Warren Britt
YC the Cynic
Me and Marthalicia (she's a great person)

Most of the MC's of the Day (Chea!)

Peace and Love...
VW

Oh, I'm posting the unedited video of my performance that day right now. Woooooooo!

I'M BACK

2009-10-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all,

I haven't posted a thing in a while. Transistion time. I'm back now. Expect new posts soon. Starting today. chea.

VW

Health Scare

2009-09-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

"Growth in the health care industry will account for 3.6 million new jobs from 2004 to 2014. Almost 20 percent of the new jobs added in the next decade will be in the health care industry..."

I know it's on a lot of people's mind, particularly since it's a hot topic in the White House right now, but I'm honestly concerned about our general health.

I can't speak on it too much as I'm not in the know of health issues like that but I really wonder just how much we are really taking care of ourselves when 20% of new jobs over the next 10 years are going to be in the health industry alone????

Does this bother anyone else?

Video Game Shit

2009-09-15T19:28:00.000-04:00

Here's a track that me and V-Jay did back in '06. It was supposed to go on an album that I was working on back then but since I scrapped it, it's been sitting in my hard drive/ on my BlackBerry as one of those "previously unreleased" joints that rappers always drop outta nowhere. It doesn't even have a name on it HAHA. In my notebook, I had it as "Video Game Shit" so that's what I named it. Generic as hell I know. Ah well... We both kinda went in on this joint. I will post the lyrics to it later for now just... enjoy!

http://tinyurl.com/videogametrack

Tips to Be An MC

2009-09-15T09:26:00.000-04:00

I wrote this up to help a friend of mine who wanted help with his craft and figured I should share this with everyone I know who write rhymes. These are not the be all to end all of MC'ing, rather tips I learned a long the way that have helped me. Leave thoughts. Peace

1- Have influences, Don’t be influenced. Don't listen to the songs you're writing too/ stay away from beats you heard the song to. It makes your song sound more original as you have nothing to influence you and the way you come off on a song. There's nothing wrong with having influences. There's no such thing as an artist who never had someone or something inspire them to create but use them as a resource, a template. Study them. Study their flows, the way they craft their rhymes, when they take breathes, they fuck up, how they perform etc. But DON'T become their clone! Be yourself, which leads me to my next tip.

2- Know who you are. Posers may sound good but the rappers who lasted the longest are the ones who stayed true to themselves. Some things work for you, some things don't. The things that don't, throw them away. They're going to slow you down. They will hinder you from making GREAT music. Anyone can make good; GREAT is what you want to aim for. Think of it like this, Jay-Z did "I Can't Get Wit' That". It was a good song. But "Dead Presidents" is GREAT. How can you tell? Which one was his breakout track? Exactly.

3- Don't be afraid to be yourself! Knowing who you are as a person is one thing. Writing it out is another. Don't be afraid to be YOU. If you can honestly look at yourself in the mirror and be confident in who you are, put it down on paper. If you can't honestly look at yourself in the mirror and be confident in who you are, put it down on paper. People are going to relate to you regardless. Here's why: As much people say that there is no one like them, there are. You wouldn't have friends if you didn't. We all have shared experiences. Your job as a rapper is to connect people who have your shared experiences through your words. I'm going to throw a word out there and what is the first thing that pops in your mind. Ready?

“Super Nintendo”

Do you think of playing Super Mario World as a kid? Do you remember not having one growing up because your family couldn't afford it? Do you remember being "rivals" with someone had one because you had a Sega Genesis? Do you think of the third verse from "Juicy"?Regardless of your reaction, there's someone else in this world who will have the very same reaction to that word. And other words. Your words.

Capitalize off that.It will help you to develop your sound, your style, your delivery, your you.

4- Have range. As cool as it is to spit a hot 16 with a bunch of punchlines or do a club banger, you need to have substance. Without substance, you're just another mixtape rapper. And I don't need to name names. You know them. Do you honestly see them going past battle DVDs? Do you want that for yourself? And this is not to say that you need to have a cause or be "conscious" and want everyone to hug each other. That's crap. Be who you are but be more than someone with a lot of metaphors and do rock the club. You'll gain longevity when you do.

5- Have vision. You need to have a plan for whatever it is you want to accomplish. Period. I can't tell you how to have vision or develop and neither can anyone else. Find it for yourself. How RZA made Wu-Tang into a legend they are and how 50 Cent made himself into a legend are two completely different things. They went completely different avenues but regardless, they achieved success. Figure out what steps fit you, define what success means for you (both in the intrinsic and extrinsic sense), THEN you write.

6- Have purpose. More important, really before any of the tips, why are you doing this? For fun? To make money? To change lives? Whatever the case may be, you need to have a reason to write; otherwise you're just scampering. Running around throwing away your money and time. Use your talent, time and money wisely.

Now go write.

Peace and Love...
VW l8-)

ASTERISK – Have no hate! There’s nothing wrong with not liking certain artists. That’s fine. You didn’t like everyone you’ve come across in your lifetime. Pay them no mind. Don’t sit there and talk crap about another MC. Hip-hop is the only artform where there is constant hate. Whether it’s some underground schmuck or a mainstream schmuck, rappers are the only ones who constantly hate on each other over nothing. Hate will only slow you down. No one connects to haters in the grand scheme of things. Sure you’re ripping some open mic somewhere and people rock with you here and there but in the larger sense, who cares about what you have to say if you’re only spewing hate for someone else? Get it out of your blood. Prince didn’t get where he is today by saying “Fuck Michael Jackson” every 5 minutes. The Temptations didn’t come out with songs completely disrespecting The Blue Notes. Show love and love will be returned. Point blank. Period.

numero uno

2009-09-14T20:12:00.000-04:00

Testing, testing 1... 2... are you working? I guess you are.

Peace and Love...

Nick