For Auld Lang Syne......

Reflecting back on this past year, I stand on this, the final day of 2006 EVER and thank God for allowing me to see his perfection. So many things could have gone so many ways, but God decided that it would behoove me if they didnt. I look forward to the future holding prosperity, divine favor, peace, tranquility, love, and stability. I walk out of 2006, a brand new man, leaving behind the old nuances of my former self and diving wholeheartedly into the man that I have grown into, looking forward to the man that I will become. I started this blog out as a medium solely to talk about music and it has grown into something so much more important than my love for Hip-Hop and my desire to be a REAL recording artist. It has turned into a testimony of good things and bad things, of trials and tribulations, of highs and lows, of wins and losses, of falls and redemption. It has become the documentation for years to come of where I started from. I end 2006 thanking all of those who have read this page for CARING ENOUGH TO KEEP COMING BACK!! LOL!!! There is something fulfilling in knowing that you have written something that other people actually take time out of their busy lives to sit down and care about. This is my reason for doing music. Its not for the constant criticism which helps me grow and understand......Im not always right. Its not for the ignorance that trying to make it in a place where it seems like NO ONE wants to see anyone else succeed. Its not for the adoration that people seem to place on you when they realize that......You can do something that, against popular belief, not EVERYONE can do! Its just because I know that someone, somewhere is reading this and they actually care about the dreams and ambitions of a guy that they've never met before. A bunch of words thrown together randomly on a screen that represent some guy somewhere named Joulz Il. A monologue of triumph, failure, and redemption that is chronicled simply because.........Somebody thought that it would be a good idea. I run on into 2007 with my face against the wind and the storm of my life subsiding. I run on into 2007 with God as my ring manager and trainer, ready to face whatever adversary stands across the ring from me. Ready to overcome whatever obstacle is placed in my way, be it personal demons, industry woes, or just all around stupidity, I stand ready. Are you changing yourself for 2007? Are you reinventing yourself for the new year or are you just getting better from last year's edition? I, personally feel like, Im an upgrade from the original. I was told that I could have been better than what I am now.....I find that funny and true at the same time. Thats why I focus on getting better everyday. For Auld Lang Syne. For Old Time's Sake, Id like to give "The Herc" to fallen friends. For Old Time's Sake, Id like to have a crew the size of the Wu-Tang again. For Old Time's Sake, Id like to split a "Juice Jun-gal" and a Fudge Round and walk down the street like the rest of the world doesnt exist and can easily be taken over. For Old Time's Sake. Humph, alas, those days have ended long ago. Homeboys have grown into men and swords that were once shiny, new, and raised in vows of brotherhood have been tarnished by misunderstanding, maturity, stubbornness, and just all around growth apart. I have learned in 25 years of life, that you cannot live in the past because you will never look toward the future or live your present. Goodbye 2006, with your long labored phone calls and repetitive arguments. Goodbye 2006, with your realizations that some things will never change and you just have to let them be. Goodbye 2006, with your need for more than just that highly individualized ONE. Goodbye 2006, with your gavels and bars and pumpkin colored jumpsuits. Goodbye 2006, you were good, you were bad, but you served your purpose. You forged A YOUNG MAN into A MAN and put him on the road to being THE MAN that he was destined to be. 365 days of life altering, decision changing, epitome-shaping, mindframe re-wiring, happenstances that could never really be summarized in this little box. I pray that I can look back on you, 2006, and laugh at the end of 2007, knowing what God was doing all along. HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!!

The Culmination of Hard Work. The Beginning of Something Great

The mixtape is done and has been doing very well. I am overwhelmed at the amount of people who have come to download it and moreover, the large showing of support which ironically, hasnt really been from Dallas. Man! I look forward to everyone in the area that Im from, really listening objectively to what I have to say and making their decisions on what I have to offer. 2007 is definitely shaping up to be quite exciting! As my friend, Jest E would say (mimicking The Matrix), "These are EXCITING TIMES!" I wish everyone a prosperous and divinely favored NEW YEAR!!!!!