No thank you sir, I'm much wiser.

"I'm Shutting sh** down at the mall / And telling every girl she's the one for me / And I ain't even planning to call / I want this sh** forever man, ever man, ever man."

I begin by quoting the second half of the chorus that Drake sings in the song "Forever," which actually closed the Grammy awards this year. Shakespeare must be so jealous of how articulate our modern rappers seem to be. I mean look how much thought must have been placed into these lyrics. Here, we see Drake with the ability to rhyme "mall" with "call." This takes my breath away. You see his ability to let us know that he shuts shit down at the mall. This is so intelligent that I can't even understand what he is saying. It must mean that he has so much money and fame that he can buy out malls. This must also be because he had a wealthy upbringing, and got his career started on the series "Degrassi - next generation." Let us not neglect his healthy view on women. He has the need to tell every girl that they are the one for him but does not plan on calling them back. This reminds me of the chivalry that I was taught from the "Ain't Nothing but a G Thang" video from Dre and Snoop, where alcohol is poured on a woman after she did not want to dance with one of them.

I have always said that my ultimate goal (in music) is to win a grammy. I am now learning that I have to die to this - completely - not because this is too ambitious but because it is not ambitious enough. The world has told me that getting a grammy means the height of success in music. The world told me that receiving a grammy gets you into so many venues that would be impossible without one. The world says you will be fully accepted once you get such honor. I took what the world said and tried to flip it. I tried to believe that if I aim for a grammy, then I can use it for good. I can use it to operate as a righteous hustler. I could take what the world values and bring a sense of balance in the music industry.

Somewhere along our quest for greatness, we confuse ourselves. We forget what team we play for, and we can forget who we were made to be. We lose our fire and question if we are actually above the things we always thought we were. This is not a confessional. I have not strayed that far (relatively speaking), but I have strayed far enough to write it down and hope that you all can learn from my humanity.

When you work for God, the desire to do His will has to be purified. You begin to die to the things you thought you wanted. We cannot fool ourselves for long because God is far too loving to allow such mediocrity. He knows what we can handle. He knows where He wants us. He knows the training we need to be appropriate to navigate through our future circumstances. We must face silence in the prison before freedom in what we were made for. The problem is that human beings hate to be trained. We hate the breaking down of our nature and the building up of something greater. We despise the tough discipline that is required for our time to shine.

It is not that I am above worldly things. In fact, I surprise myself when I start monologuing over what I would tell Oprah and Tavis Smiley on their shows..how I would set an example on live TV for our next generation and how I would maintain public integrity (don't act like you don't do the same thing). I am not saying that all of this is a bad thing. I am merely suggesting that we need to do an inventory of the things we value from time to time. Whenever I get too excited over something, I question it before allowing myself to become elated. At this point in my young life, this is the only way I know how to operate. Maybe this will change one day.

I will probably attend the grammy awards one day. If I get nominated, I'll go so it won't look like I'm rude :-) However, if my cousin is getting married in Australia, or someone from my youth is graduating, I'll go to that instead. So to the grammy nominating committee - Have your people call mine, and I'll see if we can fit you in. Peace and much love to you - John Baptist!

Comments

  1. "because it is not ambitious enough." I said a loud "YES" [and surprised myself, haha]. Oh and I think you should also practice for Barbara Walters. She asks hard questions and makes people cry. :) Thanks for sharing.

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