Started.

I don't like labels. That shxt pisses me the fck off. I'm not a rapper, though I love to rap. I'm not an artist. That's not me. So, when people say "Pssh, Naj got out of the Marine Corps to be a rapper"... I laugh at you. I'm just creative. I don't like to be held in a box.... Whether it's my friends, what I eat... anything. I have to be out of the norm. In high school, that was considered weird. I was a football player (Who only did that to get girls to notice me...) who didn't even sit with the other players at lunch or do anything with them outside of football, but I hung with other people. I guess that's why I won "Best Personality" in Senior year. I even saw that as, "Hey Naj, you're not that cool... but you're not really lame either... You're just a guy who EVERYBODY knows." Anyway... I don't like being tied to just ONE thing. I have to create... I have to do something with my mind because my mind races all the time.

I knew when I got out of the Marine Corps that I didn't want a job. I knew that driving two days from California to South Carolina. I knew that when I masqueraded that I wanted one. A job wasn't gonna satisfy me. I felt once again, that I was being put in a box. You go to school, you graduate, you get a job. You get out of the Military and depending how you got out, you either go to school or get a job. I flunked out of college once. I didn't wanna do that again. I've worked before... I didn't want to do that again either. I felt pressure... IMMENSE pressure. Pressure to do something... to BE something I didn't wanna be. Not by my family and friends... but by SOCIETY.

"I just dont wanna be labeled... I also dont wanna... I just don't like working for other people."

- Donald Glover/Childish Gambino

I woke up one morning in the bed that me and my ex-girlfriend shared and it hit me. "I'm NOT gonna get a job. I'm not gonna work. If I want to pursue this career. I have to put my all... because putting 50% into it wont work. I tried that before when I was in the Marine Corps, spending my check to record in studios. I couldn't focus. I didn't want to focus... I just wanted to do music. I just wanted to create. I know that I can't do that underneath a glass ceiling. I saw my mom work and be unhappy... I didn't want that for me. So, I know people will ask...

• How do you eat?
• How do you survive?
• How do you live?

Fortunately, there's people who believe in the dream just like I do. I have friends who encourage me and help out. No, I'm not just bumming around... I'm just doing what I can. I guess I'm in my "starving artist" thing now. Thru my soul searching, I found Donald Glover or Childish Gambino. I had always listened to him, but now his words rang true. I began to understand him... Then I saw "Clapping For The Wrong Reasons"... Which is like THEE greatest short film I've ever seen. I understood it all. I began to watch interviews, read articles... Read his Twitter and all of a sudden, I felt like I saw me in the mirror. He inspired me... He changed how I wrote. He made me look at words differently... my rhyme schemes... I'm not setting out to be him... But I'm setting out to be a better me. A better NYCE.

"I feel like as an artist... As a creative... There's not a lot of people that can do what they want to do... Especially as Black male. I can't do what I want to right now... But I'm in a position where I can at least START... But being a rapper isn't apart of it."

And that's how I feel. In South Carolina, I couldn't do what I wanted. That wasn't gonna happen. The music community in Charleston especially, wasn't gonna let me do what I wanted. I don't trap. I don't have a grill. I don't have racks on racks. I'm not killing people. I'm being me. A 26 year old, who watches wrestling, plays video games, knows an insane amount of movie, sports, music, random facts, and loves to smoke weed. That's me. That's what I rap about. I know who I am... I think I'm centered enough for that, but its not how I see myself unfortunately. I live in the WORLD. And automatically, people in the WORLD look at you differently. When Drake said, "I get to wake up every morning and be me." I thought that was the most retarded thing to say... Because, you're not progressing. I know people will read this and might see contradictions and what not... But, honestly man... This isn't for you.

This is for the dreamers. 

For people who want to break thru the glass ceiling and get to the other side... 

Keep banging because I'm right there with you. 

If my best shot can't break it... I know the crack that I left will help. 

After all, Its a start.

...With Attitude.

#IBAE