The truth will set you free! It was shortly after I took this picture with Jim Jones late 2006 on the set of his “Ballin Remix” in Atlanta, that my life finally began to start having some real meaning. It was my first BET Access Granted appearance since losing soooo much weight and I was flyin high…no lie… with a new hair cut, custom gear and more swag than Jim, Diddy, Tip and Baby put together. Ohh my stories were endless and the youtube and myspace Access Granted montage of me in all my glory was posted for everyone to see. WHAT A FOOL I WAS!
I was caught in the matrix, you see, of a world I love but now relate to a bit differently. I wasn’t really “Ballin” however, Jim was, and Diddy and Baby and so on and so on. But here is THE FIRST PART OF THE SECRET: DON’T LET THE HYPE OF OTHERS FOOL YOU INTO LYING TO YOURSELF. What happened to me that day is; for some unknown reason I began to think I was ballin out of control too, I was no better than the hype man at a rap show. My bank account was not truly BALLIN, and what did BALLIN really mean to me anyway! Jim said it best that day “if you are still living in the projects but you’re driving a fly whip, you’re not ballin!” I made $1500 for that days work as assistant director. However, the Director, Rage (a guy I really do like) came in from New York and directed a video that any capable Director out of Atlanta could have directed with his or her eyes closed with a hangover, as we all had that day after the BET Hip Hop Awards (including Rage). That was the beginning of Rage coming to Atlanta and scooping up alot of the hot videos because he had put in years of work, found a way to take things to the next level and was now executing his plan so that he too would be…that’s right…BALLIN! So, ladies and gents the 2ND PART OF THE SECRET is crucial on this one. See the average Black Joe or Jane is somewhere mad about the above fact when really the key is to just find a way to execute your OWN DAMN PLAN (sorry for the curse word). Later, I will talk about how I did just that!!!!BALLIN
April 18, 2008 at 7:02 am |
It’s a hard but gutsy thing to look at yourself in the mirror and put yourself in your true place. Some rather live in the fantasy world that they’ve created, in hopes that one day it will all come true. Little do they know, If they’d just be honest with themselves, find the spice of life in where they really are in this crazy, unpredictable world, the happiness they crave and yearn for… is right around the corner.
You’re the real deal Cunningham. Hard to find these days.
-TAJ