Story of My Life...Recap of 1st Week..

Man...so i'm a little behind on updates I apologize. I just kinda wanted to recap on things that happened my first week.

My first week was pretty crazy! I got exposed to a lot of things so fast. There's definitely a lot of cursing at Def Jam....a lot of sneakers, fitted hats, and New York accents. A part of me felt that this made me stand out, cause this wasn't exactly my style. When it comes to style, and how i'd "LIKE" to dress everyday...i'm more of a Fonzworth Bentley, meets Kanye..meets Polo Rugby..meets hiphop...but they made it clear not to show up in a tie again after dressing up for my first day. Even though one of my bosses "Dre Wright" is kinda on the same shit that I am.

I met a few celebrities.

.

Lil Ru,

 

Big Sean

,

  Jeremih,

 and

DJ Khaled. 

I was lucky to attend Lil Ru's listening party for his new album. He's a pretty cool cat. Very energetic. Big Sean..i've been listening to his mixtapes a lot lately...Finally Famous,& U Know Big Sean. I was going to pick up a paper from one of the printers, and Big Sean was standing right in front of the printer. I started to ask him to take a pic for the blog...but I was guess I was tryin to be too cool.lol. Jeremih....actually kinda interesting. Just this past Fall Semester, I was helping with this fashion show called "Back 2 School" Fashion Show at Columbia...and Jeremih was performing his song "Runaway" for it. And now he's signed to Def Jam. Columbia's takin' over the industry. DJ Khaled...well you all know him..."DJ Khaled...WE THE BEST."  I know everybody's heard that. But yeah...he was just walking around at Def Jam, and almost bumped into me, and just said "Wassup" like he was just some regular cat.

So..on a more educational side...i've learned a few things to. Like how to make copies...how to clean up conference rooms before a meeting..lol. Naw, but on a serious note, I was given some great advice from Mr. Thomas Lytel V.P. of Urban Promotion. He told me to take as many computer classes as possible, because everything's going digital, and if you know how to use the computer well, you've got 1/2 of everything figured out.  He's right...me and another intern were asked to work on a powerpoint for an upcoming project(which unfortunately I can't disclose..) and I kinda had to fall back a little bit and just add my creative flavor, cause I wasn't familiar with programs such as photoshop. I've also learned that you gotta kinda relax in the music industry. Don't expect things to happen overnight, cause they won't. I also learned, to not suck up to people, cause it can usually lead to you getting used in the industry, but rather just be a persisent,diligent,reliable worker, and everything else will sort of fall into place.

Although i'm spending on average of about $20/day to catch the NJ Transit to Penn Station, and walking another fifteen blocks to the office from there. I'm looking forward to these next 7 weeks. I feel as though only good things are in store for me.

Crazy First Day...

Man..talk about a crazy first day. I'm just getting home maybe about an hour ago after being up since 7am. So..where do I start? It was ridiculously rainy outside all day...but stopped ironically once I got to work. I overslept...got caught in traffic, and was so sure I wasn't going to make it to work on time, but ended up getting there a few minutes early...which was, of course, "On Time."

One of the first people I met there was Mr. Thomas Lytle(Please forgive me if i'm spelling your name wrong.) He's an Omega, so I pretty much got every Alpha joke in the world today, but it was alright..lol. He told me his story about how he'd been working at Def Jam for 20 years. The thing that got me the most was how when he was 23...just graduated from Buffalo State his dad didn't want him to stay at home because he felt he was grown. So, luckily he found a job working at an AM Gospel station in Virginia...making only $11,000 a year. He walked around near Norfolk State which was close to where he worked at with his Omega Paraphernalia and ended up meeting a frat brother who allowed him a place to stay for only $100/month. WHAT A BLESSING!

So...the day goes on. I forgot to mention that I decided to kind of dress up to make sort of a good first impression. This included an h&m dress shirt, some linen pants...these dope Aldo shoes, and one of my favorite ties. BOY.....Did I get made fun of all day..lol. It took a few people explaining to me for me to understand why. In the corporate world, it's standard for suit,tie,dress shoes..etc. But NOT in Hip-Hop...especially not a Hip-Hop label like Def Jam. Their culture is jeans,fresh kicks, fitted hats, G-shock Watches...things of that nature. So you come dressed like that, but you do it well but with your own style (Same as you would throw on a funky tie to set off your suit.) Tomorrow i'll be a lot more relaxed..haha.

I wasn't able to do much the first half of the day, but just kind of meet a lot of people. So that was what I did. I was introduced to this girl named Brandra Ringo...who i'd be doing a lot of work for. And I say this because it's a crazy small world....It wasn't until i walked up to her, that I realized that she had graduated from my high school, Hazelwood Central, as well as my college, Columbia College Chicago, and now works at Def Jam. Is that crazy or what? Neways..she was pretty cool. I'm looking forward to working with her. (Us St.Louis people gotta stick together..lol.)

Talk about celebrities just walking around like it's nothing....I met Jeremih today "Mr. Birthday Sex." I had known of him but never spoken to him, last semester when he also "ironically" attended Columbia and was performing one of his songs "Runaway" at a fashion show I was helping structure and promote. ( Another reason I feel like this Def Jam thing is more than music..) I also met Lil Ru..who's  a new artist to Def Jam. Check out his music at http://www.myspace.com/lilruhoodhard  but I also met DJ Khaled....who just walked right pass me and was like," Wassup?"

Oh..and I forgot to mention that I got promoted/an extenstion of my job description for my internship. I was told that I was very excited and energetic, and that a different department would better suit my energy and be a better fit for my major. I will now be working in the Urban Promo Dept. as well as the Strategic Marketing Dept. ( You know..kind of like Kanye rocking the Air Yeezy's in a music video before they've come out, and using it as cross promotion for both Nike and hisself.)

So as you can see...this has been a crazy first day. I was almost late due to trying to dress up nice and getting stuck in traffic... I met another Greek...met a few celebrities..got an extension of my job description for my internship...and now i'm about to go to bed and wake up and do it all over again. I'm sure this blog is full of typos..but who care's I've got to be up at 7am..lol.