Newest reading material. Don't read? No problem. Here's the audio book FOR FREE courtesy of my boy Melfi
Hate books? This quotes for you courtesy of my mans and em DMX:
Tommy 'Buns' Bundy: Come on with the bullshit, man. You think another motherfucker know what you need to do? Ain't no purpose, dawg. It's money. We born to fucking die, man. In the meantime, get money. Fuck a book, man. Sincere: Yo, when's the last time you read anything, man? Tommy 'Buns' Bundy: Never, motherfucker.
My homie Tenielle from Boys & Clothes sent some notes on it, just to make this whole process easy for you:
It was good. Better on audiobook. Here's some of my spoilers.
Belief is a brilliant strategy.
Its Good To Be King - Marketing
Stability is an illusion.
Making A Ruckus - Change
Great leaders empower movements by inspiring the tribe to communicate.
Tribes aren't about "stuff" they're about connection.
Wikipedia
Leading From The Bottom
Good enough isn't good enough, try being great. The difference between average and mediocre.
Standard=mediocre.
Defending mediocrity is exhausting.
An individual artist needs only 1000 true fans in their tribe.
What they demand is generosity and bravery.
Twitter
Everyday it becomes simpler to choose to tighten the relationships with the people who choose to follow you.
Initiative = Happiness
You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself. The people around you notice this and they're ready to follow if you're ready to lead.
The F-Word
The Peter Principle
Fear of failure is overrated.
The Cult of The Heretics
Great leaders focus on the tribe and only the tribe.
Great leaders don't want the attention, they use it. They use it to unite the tribe and reinforce its sense of purpose.
Its uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.
Leadership is a choice. Its the choice to not do nothing.
Leaning in or backing off but not doing nothing.
Curiosity
Great leaders don't try to please everyone. Great leaders don't water down their message to make their tribe bigger.
Who Settles
Faith
Without faith its suicidal to be a leader.
Leadership requires always acting like the underdog.
Leaders cause the events that others have to react to.
The Difference Between Things That Happen To You And Things You Do
Sickamore Was walking in direct line w/ guy on the street...neither of us were budging...so I hit him with the God Shamgod...pick up ya ankles duke 2 minutes ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Rolling with the Greenwich Entourage....just left Goalith.....next is Flight Club 34 minutes ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore No one wants to work today....talking this "Sunday Afternoon" shit....slackers about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore I just tugged my macbook charger dumb hard out the wall and the cord tore :-/..... about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Dallas BBQ + Sunday Afternoon = N!ggeritis about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Sitting in water resistant jeans, no shirt and a yankee fitted on NY Times.com...thrillaaa about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore "I'm great at what I do, dad. I mean, I'm really great at what I do." about 6 hours ago from web
Sickamore top of the morning to ya! I walk to the store only to find out can sodas are $1.15....no recession in NY obviously about 11 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore In front of Hiro Ballroom........Flex been playing this same Fatman Scoop set since I was in Junior High about 16 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore I just "Hi, I'm your conscience" Jamie Foxxed my friend about 17 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Drinking the biggest glass of red bull about 18 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Nas + Chris Brown has a song?! This is the worst shit I've ever heard ::flings Nas album out the window lik Queen Latifah:: about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Worst Driving Music Ever = Nas new album...wtf is he talkin bout..."I keep enviromentalist angry" about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore @hovain Broadway bet 110th + 111th about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry in reply to hovain
Sickamore Harlem's wack....back to UWS...Jumbo Slices maybe? about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore "Happy....things are looking good now...I feel so alive...I'm on overdrive! I'm killin it, I'm killin it!" Blasting on 123rd about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore ::realizes on 68th Street the hazards has been on since Bleeker:: about 19 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Joey's in the passenger scared for his life....I don't blame him....got on basketball shorts, old jordans + a yankee about 20 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Blasting N.E.R.D. "I bet u heard this wonder who I'm talkin bout..".... On 42nd with french fries out the window and right hand on the wheel about 20 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Detour...@ the one bet 21st + 22nd next to starbucks.... about 20 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore First stop in the stolen V.....Mcdonalds on 14th + 6th about 20 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore Just stole a Range Rover...getting my Latarian on about 20 hours ago from TwitterBerry
Sickamore @MrsMeMi the trini came in second! about 21 hours ago from web in reply to MrsMeMi
Sickamore What would you do if Tony Starks + Bruce Wayne both pressed your chick in a club? about 22 hours ago from web
Sickamore Just wanna do hoodrat things on Saturday http://tinyurl.com/56565r 1 day ago from TwitterBerry
This is just a shame. And super blatant. They claim it's supposed to be a parody of right wing stereo types versus the Obama's, but it comes across as pure hate. It's sad because I used to read this magazine ever week.
Even the article is insulting. The whole thing is about Barry flip flopping on issues and how the people he came up with in Chicago don't mess with him.
Anyway, if you're interested, read the whole article here:
I also picked up this interesting read called "Blogging Heroes". It showcases some of the biggest and best blogging success stories. Think Vh1 Driven for bloggers.
Looking back at "Life And Def" this morning for inspiration, I rediscovered one of my quotes and how it's more relevant than ever:
"But at this point in my life I have no interest in being a doormat. There are no managers who are unapproachable, who can't be cursed out by their clients. So with SLBG (interchangeable with The Famous Firm) they call me and ask me to do certain things for them. But I get worried that some of our acts who blow up big will start expecting me to suck their d!*ks. That's not happening. A nigga better not yell at me, 'Where's my limo?". I don't care if he got 12 movies on the line for $20 million a movie. If you call me up and ask for advice or to make a couple of phone calls that'll help further your career, that's fine. But that's all. You'll need to find somebody else to follow you around. For instance, I'd love to manage Chris Tucker because I know exactly what to do with him. But am I gonna follow Chris Tucker around? No. Am I gonna make him read a script that he's supposed to read? No. I'm not sucking nobody's d!*k, and ultimately that's what talent management is all about."
I read an article about napkin sketches a few months back. But today I found the whole book on it strolling in Barnes & Noble on 17th Street! It shows how to take complexed ideas and shows you how to keep it simple, stupid. This will be my weekend read and a must grab for all you fellow entrepreneurs out there. Some of the things I'll use napkin sketches to explain:
-The triangle to Kobe -What makes an old head -Nas to my nephew
Started 7:45am New York Penn Station, NJ Transit Platform
Thank God I'm Famous hit 10,000 unique visitors this month. I know it's not a huge Perez Hilton sorta number, but these small victories get me through my day. I'm celebrating by heading to court. Fighting tickets in Newark. If I win, that'll be small victory #2 today! In the meantime, I'll write this blog in my favorite Esquire "What I've Learned" style.
-Mercury is back in retrograde. Hide your laptops. Don't sign any contracts. I explained what this meant before back in the earlier days of my blog. If you're too busy/lazy/ to click on this link, it means everything goes haywire for 3 weeks 3 times a year. I've been going through it this week, as well as most of you. Now you have an explanation. -Whenever life gets crazy/confusing/overwhelming, I throw on When The Pawn... Or Extraordinary Machine. She's like a crazy white girl pyscho Nas with her lyrics. It also makes me think no matter what goes on in my head, there's someone even more nuts. "You fondle my trigger then you blame my gun" pause.
-Beat the unlicensed driver ticket this morning in Newark! Sheriff can't stop the kid. Kid = I. Kidding I'm not. Kid won't stop. Still had a $50 fee for delaying traffic, but no points. I'll eat that. Pause. Next stop is the 6 hour class -My homie Glenny recommended "Conversations With God". She claims it's "The Secret on Steriods". So I hit up the Barnes & Noble on 17th bet Park and Broadway and grabbed it. Book report next week -Later tonight I'll be watching/wikipediaing/youtubing mad Sex & The City stuff. I figure if I'm being dragged to see the movie, might as well know a little more about it. This is what I know now: blah blah blah Carrie blah blah blah Mr. Big blah blah blah old head nympho Samantha blah blah blah HBO -"Never piss off a woman that knows where u live" -Phella of The Famous Firm on 50's Long Island Home Fire. That's gonna be one gangsta kid -Been playing basketball a lot recently. I'm 6'3 but not very good. It's like watching Tim Duncan. I just talk crap until the other person is out of their game. Got two big games we might video tape tomorrow. Might even suit up for The Famous Firm Summer Team in DC -Gonna be in CT and B-More this weekend. Gimmie a shout Sickamore@Thefamousfirm.com
Kanye's Bored...Makes Another "Flashing Lights" Vid...I'm Bored..So I Decide To Post It
I can't front. I'm planning this party tomorrow but I'm beyond bored today. Like King Joffie Joe Bored. Like I'm ready to start doing hoodrat things with my friends bored. Like Houston "time-to-gauge-my-eye-out-in-frustration" bored.
Kanye's obviously is just as bored and decided to shoot another "Flashing Lights" video. I dunno who the girl is, nor do I care. You'll bump into her 13 times if you just stroll down West Broadway. I am interested in the naked chick in the hooks though.
This video does look eerily similar to the Colin Munroe stop motion video I saw last year.
Which wouldn't be anything more than a coincidence if Colin didn't remake a "Flashing Lights" video that ended up on Kanye's blog
Now I'm either really really really bored or just reaching. I'll let you decide.
I woke up energized with fresh outlook on life. No Jamba Juice needed. Bored today? Don't watch TV watch me. Let's make it happen. Insert cliche here. Sick Stoute. Here''s my checklist of goals for the next 96 hours.
-1,000 E-Mails -500 Phone Calls -20 Blogs (Including 5 Interviews!) -2 Books + 1 Audio Book -Throw A Legendary Pre-Memorial Day Party Sunday -End GTA 4 (something I didn't even start) -Find New Rihanna
This would be a perfect weekend to hit me up about any and everything. I'm in a Kobe-vs-Spurs-in-the-last-17-and-a-half-minutes-where-he-score-25-of-his-27-pts-to-comeback-from-20-down zones. I like using vacations and holidays to catch up on my competition. And gain further ground on the upstarts. So while y'all are on the beach, calling a cab or backyard BBQing, I'll be here. You're all welcome.
EXPANDED THE FIRM TO WASHINGTON DC, LOS ANGELES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM
The Firm has reps in all these markets, hence why I'm in LA right now. Shout out to Phella, Sakwe, Aaron and Markus.
GOT A WARRANT FOR MY ARREST IN NEW JERSEY
"Delaying Traffic". What does that really mean? It was a legal u-turn, but I just "made it too slow". So I went in April 28th for my court date. They told me come back May 2nd. And it just slipped my mind. Now they tryna have me do a Pac (see above).
WON MY FANTASY BASKETBALL LEAGUE
I Kobed everyone. Ralph who? Beat him by 2000 points. I Can Make You Second? Exactly where he ended up. Decided not to sign up for Fantasy Baseball. Or my life really would've been over
SPENT A WEEK IN MIAMI Only a Brooklynite goes to the beach in jeans and Jordans
AND 22 HOURS IN LA SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
Saturday, May 3, 2008 Delta Air Lines # 605
New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK) to Los Angeles International (LAX) Departure (JFK): May 3, 11:30 AM EDT (morning) Arrival (LAX): May 3, 2:41 PM PDT (afternoon)
--------------------------------
Sunday, May 4, 2008 Delta Air Lines # 606
Los Angeles International (LAX) to New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK) Departure (LAX): May 4, 12:50 PM PDT (afternoon) Arrival (JFK): May 4, 9:26 PM EDT (evening)
Walk of fame. Geisha House. Shades. Fake breasts. Traffic. More traffic. Candy. Kobe.
BUT SPENT MY MONDAY (YESTERDAY) IN CENTRAL BOOKINGS
Who knew that driving with a Criminal Investigation Police Parking Plaque was illegal? They snatched me up right there on Delancey Street. Fresh off the plane from LA. I landed at 9:33pm and in a the back of the detectives car at 11:22pm. Precinct 7 on Broome Street. Internal Affairs pressed me for a name for about 20 minutes. They wanted the cop. Bad. "Last chance, you can get out tonight. It's only possession now but it could turn into a felony". Shrugged by shoulders unknowingly and they sent me off to bookings by 2am.
But I still held the (free) phone down in the bing. Had mad boxes of Frosted Flakes and milks. Then when I switched cells, I used my debit card for collect calls. CO snuck me a Aquafina. Slept on the bench, not the floor. Woke up and my cheese sandwich was still there. Everything was everything. Then they moved me into the cell behind the court.
My lawyer assured me everything was all good. Maybe time served + a fine. The goal is to not get it on my record. A violation at best. 2 hours and another horrible cheese sandwich later, I'm on the court bench.
The chick in front of me was a gangsta's gangsta. 15 years old caught with two fully loaded pistols in a duffel bag at 1am. While her lawyer was arguing she was setup, the girl just stood there smiling the whole time. Smirking uncontrollably. She couldn't believe she was going to walk out of there with having to make a bail. She skipped out the courtroom when the judge gave her a date and curfew. Now it's my turn.
Compared to the teenager, I might as well stole cookies out the cookie jar. "Possession of Stolen Property". $75 fine and gotta come back July 1st. SMH.
All in all I'm happy to be back. Plugged back up to the matrix (and out of jail)
P.S.
The 90's Babies are coming...be very afraid (props to Ferris on the link)
I've been tagged by Necole Bitchie to share 7 details about my life. Then I have to tag 7 other bloggers to do the same thing. The whole thing is very gay. But I like the calling other people out part.
Rules: Simply link to the person who has tagged you, share seven weird things about yourself, tag seven bloggers to do the same and include a link to their blog, let each person know that they have been tagged and finally post the rules on your blog.
1. I'm A Lush During the day, I'm a mild mannered Trinidadian-American who sips tangerine frappachinos and wears funny hats (like today). But at night, I secretly go to clubs, drinks bottles, get twisted out of my mind and dub on everyone (pause)!
2. Shyne is one of my all-time favorite rappers
He's not lyrical. He raps about sniffing coke. And he put out two pretty average albums. But his voice, cockiness, bravado and overall cooless (pause to this whole sentence) made him one of my favorites. I bought both Shyne and Godfather Buried Alive. Whenever he comes out of jail, he has a deal as long as I still have signing power. And if I didn't, I would just make him re-famous.
3. Wanna Make Me Mad? Put DJ Sickamore or Sycamore It makes me violently angry to the point I want to stab a intern to death. I get mad at everyone but Necole. It's impossible to get mad at her SEXY self.
4. Walker Not A Talker I like to walk for hours on end and observe people. I usually just slip on my iPod, press play on a audiobook (currently listening to Getting Things Done) and notice trends/women/cars/stupid people/restaurants/fashion. You'd be surprised who you bump into and what you learn about life doing this.
5. It took me 2 1/2 hours on and off to write this blog
6. The Rihanna Obsession It started off as a joke. Now I really search for these pics and get excited when the music comes on. A mutual friend showed her the blog and she asked if I was paparazzi.
7. Hate Cats But this is my favorite commercial ever
-Left my wallet in a yellow cab -Left my business credit card in a car service -Gotten my myspace deleted -Missed my flight to Miami
But Jesus, who is a Capricorn, must really love me because:
-I took the receipt and gave it to Sade (da best person in the world), and got my wallet back -The driver found my card and they're Fed Ex'ing it to Miami -Lissa aka The Go To Girl and Animal Steele got myspace to restore my page wih ALL my friends -Got a free night to watch 2 of my favorite movies, Fight Club and History Of Violence.
I can't take much more of Mercury Retrograde. It's 1:38am and I'm still in the office because the macbook doesn't work again. More specifically, the keyboard and mouse isn't working. Everything working fine then BAM, everything frozen. If you know why this happens or how to fix it, I'm all ears. God knows I'll be awake! I've been up since 6am! I'm going to the 24 Hour Apple Store to see if they can help. It's a $5 cab ride from the office. My frustration level is at a all-time high. You know the hell I went through the first time around on Thursday. I'm not paying anymore money either. If they tell me anything crazy at Apple, I'm just grabbing the first laptop I see and booking!
My GFFL Annie explained to me that technology, and everything else for that matter, goes crazy during Mercury Retrograde. And that my laptop imploded the first day of the third cycle. Now I'm not exactly Mr. Astrology, but there has to be some reasoning behind my mysterious MacBook crash. Here's some details I stole from google:
Woke up and had the worst morning of my (recently converted to) Apple life. It started by rolling around bed, trying to hit the snooze button on the Sportscenter themed Blackberry wake up alarm. Still slightly hungover from Pinot Grigio, I notice my black MacBook laid lifelessly on my pillow. How did it get there? Did I fall asleep watching American Gangster youtube trailers again? Why does this stupid wheel keep spinning? Turn it off and on? What if I re-connect it the charger? Is this shit broken? Of course not. Mac's don't break or crash. They're like Chevy Trucks. I'll just wait it out.
8:13am
I've come to the painful realization this laptop's not going to start. An Atlantic session starts at 12:30pm and all the music is trapped behind this power tripping digital beach ball. Mac's don't crash my ass...Pause! What the hell am I going to do? Call my assistant Sade! She can fix everything.
10:11am
She gives me two options: Tristatetek on W. 35th Street and New York Computer Help on E.35th. The former turns out to be some hole in the wall mickey mouse operation. The office line is linked to the sole proprietors cell phone, and wants me to leave the laptop next door with his fashion designer neighbor. No one's even here! Needless to say, I supermanned into a yellow cab to NY Computer Help. Although this only turned out to be the lesser of two evils.
10:33am
This guy is the real life 40-year-old virgin. Let's call him "Sam" for now. Him and his partner are in this 15 x 9 foot room covered floor to floor with computer parts. Sam tells me that my harddrive is shot and I need to leave it here with them. They'll charge me $85 per hour plus $135 for a new hard drive plus installation. Pay for it now? They'll "hear none of it. Just leave it here Mr. Medford, we'll call you before noon with all the information. You'll definitely have it back today. Just make sure you go to the Mac Store and get a OS Tiger system." All smiles between Sam and I.
10:57am
I decided to buy an external hard drive so this doesn't happen again. The problem is no one in PC Richards seems to want my business. They're all trying to sell higher priced items like cameras and laptops. There are literally no salespeople on the 2nd floor, which is the size of a basketball court. I walked around begging, pleading and threatening employees to open up the glass hard drive case. Finally a security guard has pity and gets me the My Book. When I tell the cashier that it's crazy for their to be no employees upstairs, she hands me a job application. I get the hell out of there and grab a yellow to Prince and Greene.
12:15pm
I'm at the restaurant where I spend roughly 6% of my life, The Coffee Shop, when it hits me: Sam still hasn't called. Surely he's been too pre-occupied getting my files back to call. So I'll give him a ring. "Hey Randall, everything is good. Though you won't get back any of my files. For that, you'll need to pay an extra $150 for it to go into the lab. From there they'll tell me what's wrong and charge me between $1400-$2000. Or more." WTF?! Lunch is over. Flying back to East 35th Street before these guys try and stick me up.
12:35pm
Sam calmly explains that it took 30 minutes to install the hard drive. Sam then offers to install the OS Tiger Mac software for me. Right before I gave him my credit card, I realized they're trying to charge me $85 an hour to install a CD. When I decide to install it myself, he tells me the hard drive installation took 2 hours and my bill is over $300. After some clever negotiation ("I'm not paying for no 2 hours! You said 30!"), Sam and I come to a reasonable compromise. It's off to the studio.
1:01pm
I arrive at SMT Studios and of course the writer's running late. And now my CD drive won't work, so I can't install the software. In the studio laptop-less, music-less and write-less, I call Sade. She tells me about Tek Serve. They charge me $269.95 for a new CD drive including installation. I can pick it up at 8pm. Tek Serve offers to install the OS Tiger system for $5o extra. But I already paid $129.99 for the disk at the Mac Store. I tell Tek Serve yes and decided to handle my issues with the Prince & Greene later. My will is broken.
8:03pm
What they didn't say is that the store closes AT 8pm. Now this punk ass $9 a hour security guard wont let me in. He keeps pointing at the sign that says "9am-8pm". Then super cop closes the gate. I walk back to the studio dejected. But this fight isnt over, Apple. I'll see you an 9am!
10:22am, Friday October 12th 2007
Sade informs me that Tek Serve doesn't allow pick ups until 10am. I walk in there defeated, tired and $600-$700 in the hole. I just want my laptop. They give it to me without any programs or files. It's like getting your child back, only for her to have amnesia. I hop the F train uptown 3 stops to the office. Got to figure out a way to refund this software, even though it's been opened it already.
11:25am
I stroll around the Mac Store looking for revenge. Armed with a jeans jacket, Yankee fitted and some Burberry dunks, I look for the weakest salesperson. I flirt with a cute puerto rican floor person, who says she cant help me but introduces me to the assistant manager. The assistant manager says it's "against store policy to return open software". I politely ask to speak to his superior. One rule of life: never take a no to someone who can't say yes. He introduces me to "Ari", the boss hog outlaw of Prince Street. Ari reiterates Apple's policy. My only counter is "I don't understand" 35 times in a row.
"You cant return open software" "I don't understand" "We have no way of telling if it's used or not" "I don't understand" "You have to take this up with corporate" "I don't understand" "It says it on your receipt" "Well Ari, what would you do if you were me?" "I don't know" "You're sayign I should sell it on eBay" "Not legally" "But I can legally sell it?" "I can't say that" "Well what should I do?" "Ok fine! Take my card and tell them I said it's ok"
Name: Sickamore Home: Broooooooooklyn, New York, United States About Me: 23 Year Old Talent Manager + Ageist. Runs ThankGodImFamous, GoOldHead and The Famous Firm. Overall sarcastic yet nice guy See my complete profile
