The Return of ‘After The Original’

From a very young age, writing has been a passion of mine. Growing up, I wanted to be a sports journalist so badly, that I once did a play-by-play broadcast of a Sixers game in my sleep at the age of 10. I’m pretty sure in that dream I was Marc Zumoff, and Allen Iverson had scored 50 points. I continued on my dream path through high school, eventually becoming the Sports Editor of my high school’s newspaper by senior year. As I entered college, I believed that journalism was the field for me, and was something I wanted to pursue professionally.

But for some reason, during my freshman year of college, I stopped writing entirely, and my fixation on studying journalism began to vanish, as I saw greener pastures and more optionality in getting my degree in business. After transferring to Drexel University in 2010 following my freshman year, I promised myself that I would begin to write for the school’s student-run newspaper, “The Triangle.” When I signed up to write, I had every intention of writing for the Sports section, but was persuaded by the current editors to write for Arts & Entertainment, as they had a need for content. My first assignment was to write an advice column. No students submitted questions asking for advice, so I had to make some up on my own. In retrospect, they should have asked someone else to write this column (which eventually did happen). The highlight of my column came when I suggested that students procrastinate their homework to enjoy the college experience, and never spend more than 60 minutes working without a 30 minute TV or computer break. If you’re reading this and you’re still in college, definitely do not take that advice.

Eventually, I hit my stride, and began writing reviews of hip-hop and R&B albums and concerts, as well as spotlights on up-and-coming artists. During my three years with “The Triangle,” I had unbelievable opportunities to meet and interview a number of my favorite artists, producers and DJs. The experience was second-to-none, and helped me temporarily live out my dream of being a journalist, while still pursuing a business degree. However, after graduating from Drexel and subsequently “The Triangle” in 2013, my drive to continue writing as a young professional all but vanished.

If you know me well, you know that over the years, I’ve probably created and stopped writing for about 10 blogs. I’ve purchased domain after domain every time I had a new idea, or a better one, but never continued on with any of the concepts. A few of those blogs came after graduating from Drexel, but I’ve struggled to write with any consistency, largely because it’s easier to make excuses than it is to write great content.

Last night, I sat on my roof with two good friends, reflecting on the things that really matter to me in life, which are quite simple — being happy and being loved. Writing has always been something that makes me happy, and I’ve completley neglected it over the last three years. Despite making excuses for the reasons not to write, I came to the realization that I am the only one to blame for the lack of content I’ve produced over the last few years, and it’s time to change that.

One of my first blogs was “After The Original,” and to this day, that concept still resonates with me. Although the name comes from the first half of a Jay-Z line in the “Fiesta Remix” with R. Kelly, and was referencing that the remix comes “after the original” song, I think there’s a lot more to it than what meets the eye in the unbelievably early 2000s music video. To me, it’s applicable in any aspect of life, where you have to learn the skills required to do the job from the great ones (or the original) that came before you, but learn the most from their mistakes to build a better product.

So here goes nothing. I’m back with my takes on hip-hop, sports and life. Hope you enjoy.