How can I not select a Stevie Wonder song? After all, this column is named after one of his best selling albums…

As I look back on my life I can’t help but to laugh. It’s funny how we make attempts at certain things in hopes that it will bring us great success. I had my share of experiments that went nowhere fast. I was just telling a friend the other day how I feel like Ralph Kramden from the Honeymooners.  He would always come up with a crazy idea that would land him on his ass and which he really had no business doing in the first place. I’ll just chalk mine up to learning experiences.

We are not meant to be whom or what we cannot be. I think it’s that simple. You can try anything you want in life but it doesn’t mean you’re going to become the best at it or even great at it; no matter how much time and effort you put into it. I don’t make the statement to discourage. I think there is everything right about being a dreamer. You just have to know what your reality is, get your head out of the clouds, and touch back down on Earth once in a while.

I occasionally get questioned about my aspirations; not that I don’t have any, but that I have too many. One day I’m a record producer, next day a graphic designer, next day a writer, and the list goes on.  There’s nothing wrong with having the knowledge to be all persona. The issue lies in which one you specialize in. I have the tendency to focus on hobbies as if there are careers. Imagine going to college and having 3 or 4 majors at the same time.  God Bless!

Yet, it struck me that I have to define who I want to be in life. I think my skill sets are good enough to get by but getting by isn’t good enough for me.  What do I want to be known for? I always thought that the people I admired in life, I would ultimately become. For some time I would consider myself the young Russell Simmons.  The problem is I haven’t accomplished a fraction of what he has but my state of mind was that I am capable. I also watched Jay Z grow into Shawn Carter, the fearless business mogul who made it from selling drugs on the streets of Brooklyn to bringing Oprah to the very same place where he conducted those transactions. That’s the same guy who partnered with his wife and threw a fundraiser party for the president of our country. But, can imagine waking up every day and being someone you’re not because you want to be in another man’s shoes? That’s a job in itself and a life to nowhere. I can never be any of these people I mentioned but as great as they are, they can never be me either.

As I build my legacy, you will never hear people say that I created the blueprint of all hip hop record labels or that I am the greatest rapper alive. What you will hear is that I am June, may have been inspired by so and so, and accomplished xyz…and what’s wrong with that? I can only be me so be who you are.