-Ya’ll niggas truly aint ready for this Dynasty Thing/ Ya’ll thinkin’ Blake Carrington, I’m thinkin’ more like Ming”-Hova and “You know you’re successful the minute they can’t stand ya”-Jadakiss…”The game’s at a standstill/So don’t worry about me takin’ your spot/ I’m tryin’ to fill a position ya’ll niggas can’t fill”-Jadakiss…Those lines sum up my mentality for the past week or so, especially after yesterday……

-“Until age 25, you’re judged by potential. After 25, you’re judged by results.”

-It’s 8 am at work and I’m tired as shit. I got 4.45 hours of sleep. I need to improve my sleeping habits. Stasia and I were in the office after our meeting till like 1 AM working on getting contacts for our email blasts. The meeting went EXTREMELY well. No further comment.

-Ashaunna Ayers, the VP of Marketing at Def Jam, had us write a marketing plan for three of their artists. I said “You know what? Fuck it…let’s cross brand my dude.” Thus, I proposed a partnership with LRG for said artist to model their fall/winter line in magazines. Also, I proposed that they throw a competition for the young female (targets as usual) demographic. The premise was that the winner of the competition would be able to go out with artist and win some merchandise

-Speaking of infectious beats (last entry), “A Millie” gets my nod for Most Played Beat this year. My favorite part of the original song is:“Don’t you hate a shy bitch/Yeah, I ate a shy bitch/She aint shy no more, she changed her name to MY bitch!!!!!”-Lil’ Wayne. LMAO. Dude is a character. Ne-yo (!!!!) , Hova, Fab, Kiss, Corey Gunz and Los killed it as well

-A LOTTA shit brewing regarding the company. I’ma leave it @ that. I prefer to be a man of action. We’re officially launching our website today. Thanks for the support thus far. I appreciate it.

-It’s funny how shit goes down. We’re at a restaurant and the manager is walking around doing the usual “Is everything fine...” routine. I mention that everything is cool, so dude introduced himself as the manager. Me, thinking how I do, introduced Stasia and I as owners of a nearby marketing company. We end up talking about how dude wants to revamp the restaurant’s image and all this jazz I wont get into on here. It’s gonna be a favor for a favor thing going on…Stasia was talkin’ her fly shit as usual: “What they know about going to a spot and the owner knows you!!!!”…Politics as Usual.

-Advertising Week is next week. Sign up for seminars time!!!!!!

-The more and more I do my thing with the company, the more I feel a divide from a lotta things. “Industry” politics and bullshit. People acting more important than they are. Making 28K and walking around acting like their shit don’t stink. Self-promotion with no basis, not even business cards. Friends not understanding that most of the things in my life are means to an end. Girls I used to talk to not understanding that I’ve stepped my game up. Girls I am talking to getting frustrated that I don’t work on their clock and that I put my grind over them AND let them know from jump what the situation is. Yet when I ask my usual “What’s the incentive for a dude to date you?”, I get blank stares. Family troubles. REALLY bad shit. My pops being MIA sometimes. My mom sometimes doubting me and not believing in me. Her expecting a lot from me as the eldest son. Jealously from friends. The vocal tones of their voices when I talk to them. Friends? Family as well!!!

What’s crazy is that we get a good overall vibe. Me, older women (my moms age, not “older women”) have always liked me for some reason, so when I mention the company they’re all ears. The fact that we’re young, Black and gifted doing something positive is bankable in itself. I get a lotta love on that basis. Stasia’s too talented to work for someone as part of the machine as “just” another worker. My biggest professional fear is being just another “minority” worker in some big “square” company who’s so fuckin’ out of touch with their consumer base and/or being the token Negro who’s so scared for his job security that he doesn’t wanna disagree with the big boys in the boardroom. Time to kick in the door!!!!!!!!!

-This thing of ours will remain in the family. “They” will eventually come to us to offer dollars, but the $ isn’t the most important thing. Owning a business and dedicating yourself to it is. Of course, compensation is needed, but that will come in due time. We’ve separated a lotta potential business partners that way. You can see who’s just as hungry and aggressive as we are, and who’s just in it for a paycheck. In last month’s Vibe, Hov said something that resonated strongly with us: “People weren’t there (Def Jam) to make history. They just wanted to get a check and cross off that project.” (paraphrased). I sometimes look @ some of these corporations on Madison Avenue with cynicism and arrogance. “They” don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.

That’s why we do what we do. The problem with a LOT of advertising to the black community is that there’s NO representation of any groups but the ebonics speaking, fried chicken eating, Kool Aid drinking, watermelon eating, baggy pants wearing crowd. THOROUGH MRI research would do a lotta these companies wonders. You’d be shocked at some marketing trends. Ex: When researching consumer trends for Hellman’s mayonnaise, readers of The Catholic Digest tended to be heavy consumers. Why? I reasoned that Catholics tend to eat fish a lot, especially around the time of Lent. And have you ever had tuna fish w/o mayo on it? The professor, said that I was correct. *pats self on the back*Shoot, we found that that 18-25 female crowd was avid fans of Adult Swim!!! Who woulda thought!!!!

Debate: Black Men and Interracial Dating and Images in Hip-Hop

So....in Profo's wonderful and delightful class, we talked today about Black/Latino relationships and gave both male and female positions.

My position was that we as black men arent as restricted as black women MAKE themselves. Face facts people, a black man with success (or on his way) will have more dating options. Successful Black men tend to be the crown jewel of women. For example, look @ athletes and entertainers. Women of all colors tend to desire sexual relations with them. Black women for some reason, as far as I've seen it, tend not to date outside the race as much as a black man might. It's really not out fault that women of all colors would tend to date us.

Then, two of the black young ladies express their disagreement with interracial dating, making a point that Black men tend to date outside the race when they've been "emasculated" by a black woman and/or psychological issues. Not exactly false. BUT: My point is this: Dont talk about loving everyone on some Bible/"I'm a Christian girl "stuff and then talk about disagreeing with the IR. I thought the Bible stressed love for all men? I have NO problem with interracial dating, as I do it and have done it. As far as I've seen it, a lotta the dislike Black women have for Black men interracially dating stems from them being cheated on by a first love/etc with a girl who wasnt Black in the first place. And it can be that i'm right in this case. I look @ it like this.

"If a white/Spanish/(insert race) girl has what i want in a mate, and a Black girl doesnt, why shouldnt i be denied the chance to date a female outside the race who has what i want?"

Then came up the question of misogyny in hip hop. Rap's primary consumers AND biggest complainers about misogyny are women. YET, "Lollipop" was being put on in class to show a point, and a good portion of the females in the class were going along with the song. When i raised the GOOD point of the video showing video vixens and objectifying women, the response was "The beat was nice...shut up Karsten..Lil Wayne can get away with saying 'bitch' and 'ho', but you cant, I expect more of you."

Get The Fuck Outta Here. Disrespect is disrespect. You mean to tell me that if Lil' Wayne came to you face and called you "bitch", "ho", etc, you wouldnt have a beef with it?..Jesus Christ...

Part of the reason why music is the way it is is because women are primary consumers. If EVERY woman who bought a Nelly album didnt buy it in the aftermath of the "Tip Drill" video/Spellman college, Nelly would lose a good portion of his sales. If women didnt like certain songs, they wouldnt buy CDs. They make that choice when they buy a Lil' Wayne CD over a Talib Kweli or Common CD. It's ok. That's their prefered artist. But dont get shocked when Lil' Wayne has the words "bitch" and "ho" scattred throughou his lyrics. By you buying that CD, you empower his music and his pockets. If i aint feeling Duke or his lyrics, i aint gonna buy his shit!!!!

You may not agree with my point, but at least i'm consistent. ...

Dont complain about the use of "bitch" and "ho" in rap music and then buy an album or act crazy in the club when the said artists song comes on. I remember being in 40/40 and it was an absolute madhouse when that song came on...I dont like his style, but i know a hit when i hear one. That's a hit.

Is consistency too much to require in people nowadays?

With that said, the song of the day is Eminem "The Way I Am"

Misc...

-"For whatever it's worth, god/hard work always beats talent if the talent dont work hard"-Jadakiss
-Bumping the Jadakiss "Audio Herion" mixtape...I always was a fan of 'Kiss, but i just wish he'd be more consistent...dude is a problem when he's spittin' beastly. He's on Rocafella/Def Jam...
-I hate to gripe about it, but Def Jam needs to return to being a hip hop label. it seems on Kanye and Ross are holding it down for them rap wise...i just wish it were like back in the day.
-This Cowboys-Eagles game is piff.
-Nadia's done. She told me she had a kid. Even MORE reason for her to get her shit right. Aint no time to stick around and play steppops
-This Marketing 3650 class is a RIOT. We learned MRI today in class so I'll be using that in some IMG marketing work
-P0p's b-day today. Mom's b-day was yesterday
-Damn Penny IIs came out. Add those to the list of kicks i want but cant afford at the present time
-a LONG week is ahead with 3 meetings set up....
-SOME pics from the other night...Event wasnt what we hoped it would be, but EVERY event we go to is a chance to network. Made some contacts and handed out a shitload of business cards


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