Anything is Possible

The year was 1974, the place Zaire and the event was one the likes of which the boxing world had never seen before. Former heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali was aiming to regain the crown and once again be 'the greatest'. The man standing in his way was heavy-handed monster George Foreman, one of the most skilled and powerful boxers in history. The odds were against Ali, seeing as Foreman destroyed both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton with relaive ease, men who had defeated Ali in the past. But real champions don't play by the odds and they certainly don't let the past influence the here and now.

Faced with a daunting task before him, Ali recruited the support of the best people he could have in his corner: the African people. All of them. With his sheer presence and charisma, he made the Africans feel like he was their man, like he represented their whole nation. When the day of the fight came, Ali was the hero and Foreman was the villain. With the whole crowd chanting, "Ali bomaye!" (Ali, kill him!), Muhammed Ali changed the face of the boxing world forever and become the second champion ever since Floyd Patterson, to reclaim the heavyweight title after losing it.

Anything is possible. Visualize, strategize and take action.

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The Watered-down Hip Hop Scene

Everybody with a computer and a mic wants to make rap music and that sucks. Thousands of rap fans who think they can make good rap music are recording half-assed beats and recording their raps without any respect for coherency, flow or writing clever and relevant lyrics. In a sense, it's hurting the industry.

Myspace is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Now anyone can make a music account and start posting their sub-par material not only in hip hop but in all genres. People get friend requests from so-called 'artists' all the time and since most of it sucks, they start to ignore friend requests from bands even though there are some great ones out there.

My plea to anyone considering putting themselves out there in any genre of music is this: listen to those considered to be the best in whatever style you perform. Put your own music side by side with it in terms of composition and production and ask yourself if it's even close. Hell, ask other people the same question because so many acts think they're awesome when really most people think they're not. Don't clutter up the already overcrowded music world with garbage because it hurts all the artists who have dedicated their lives to crafting top-notch music only to have it ignored by someone because it's "just another rapper".

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Entering China

Today me and my good friend Li Jing(pictured above) worked on setting up an account on a Chinese social networking site called SOHU. We set up a blog and photo album for me it is so cool! We are going to continue to build more profiles for me on other popular Chinese sites and then work to draw traffic to them so I can get some fans in China.

In addition, I am going to start recruiting street team members in major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai so I can get the word out about my upcoming CD release.

I'm going to be repeating these endevours in Japan and Korea as well so I will have a decent number of Asian students helping me out. I love all of my Asian friends they are always so supportive and kind to me. Best of all, they really make noise at my concerts! This is the beginning of my foray into Asian territory. More to come soon...

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XYL Live on April 21

This Saturday, April 21st is the next XYL performance. I will have a professional photographer on hand as well as a camera to film the madness. Since I am also promoting the event, I have booked some really top-notch acts from the Vancouver rap scene: Drunken Arseholes, Triforce Omega, and Quoted Motives.

I am expecting a large turnout as this is the third installment of Wordz From Tha Underground and our first weekend date which is awesome. The last event nearly sold out the Media Club on a Thursday and in between shows, I've been able to build a lot more fans who will be coming out to this one.

I am on the lookout for Street Team members to help spread the word about my upcoming CD release. I've already gotten a number of responses and I always need more members. Benefits include free merchandise, CDs and free admission to all my shows. Also, every once in a while I'll reward the members by taking them out and getting them hammered. Sound good? Email me if you're interested.

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Quadruple Overtime!

I am currently at work hungover and still a little drunk form yesterday but hey, the Canucks game went into quadruple freakin' overtime so really my current situation doesn't surprise me. Does this post have a point? I hope it turns out that way...

The point is perseverence. Those two hockey teams showed incredible fortitude and conviction to give it their all for four extra periods. This is playoff hockey, no one is going to take a breather or play with anything less than one hundred percent no matter how many overtimes it goes into.

Life can be the same way. Like how I turned hockey into a clever metaphor for human existence? Ok maybe the point is obvious but I think everyone could stand to be a little but more agressive with their life's goals. Too many people talk and either don't take action, or take action in a half-assed way. Screw that. I'd rather give it everything I've got, day in and day out. Each day is a new step towards our goals, whatever they may be. Anyone on this planet can do anything they want with enough conviction and determination.

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