As a person of color who's family originates from the Carribean islands, I can relate to the great social differences between there and the U.S., the islands are smaller and largely a society without corporations and a mass media system that promotes fame and wealth as a goal in life. This is where at times I realize less is more. For people of inner city America, many see fame and wealth as their ultimate goal but lack or are deprived of the balance of other important goals of life in media: education, moral values, humanity and upliftment of others. The imbalanced, materialistic, "I'll step on anyone to gain higher ground" view I have seen one too many times through the image and messages portrayed by some hip hop entertainers who have great fame and wealth, but because they abandon their humanity as a product of the recording industry, they end up becoming a large problem for the part of society they come from who basically need the help of a human hand.


Walking A Narrow Path:

The struggle for position, success and acceptance in the entertainment industry and America creates a difficult moral dilemma where a person is forced to choose between being their true self or going against their own heart for financial gain. Like many of my heroes of hip hop and entertainment, I'm happy to see a person who can be successful by existing within this system as a symbol of truth and humanity, or in Shyne's case escape it all together to represent himself and find those valuable human qualities in a different environment. I consider myself a person who represents truth within the difficulties of life, my positive outlook is one of my most treasured values. In some cases, less is more especially if you're faced with a situation that may force you to compromise you're values, which everyone has whether they choose to express them publicly or not.


Finding Our Way In Life:

I saw Shyne's press conference at MTV, and he expressed the new outlook of life he's gained from his experience. It is this pride of self and example of maturity that I hope more people express through hip hop media, showing the many directions we can all take in life from learning about ourselves and the goals attainable by expressing our true positive side. When more people find a way to use their voice around the part of society that promotes negativity and worship of money, heroes arise resulting in classic, influential moments of life that will be treasured for generations to come.


Showbiz & A.G. - More Than One Way Out The Ghetto