If you live in New York City, you know that the parking lots in midtown Manhattan are extremely expensive. I had a meeting at Atlantic Records one day to discuss a web project I was developing for them. When I pulled into the parking lot across the street from their offices, I was furious to learn that the fee to park for one hour was $40. Being that I’m known as “last-minute D”, I had no choice but to park there or risk being late for my meeting.
After handing over my car keys to the parking attendant, I started to rush towards the exit. But, before I could exit the garage, the attendant yelled out “peace D, I will see you when you return”. When I turned to respond to the gentleman, I realized that the same guy who was about to park my vehicle was Moc-Fu of the Fu Schnickens.
I will admit that at first I felt uncomfortable. But, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I had more respect for him than ever before. Here’s a man who sat aside his “rapper” pride and took a job parking cars across the street from a record company in order to provide for his family. Years before that, I too was going through trying times and because I couldn’t get over the “I’m not working in the mailroom” attitude, I ended up broke for 5 years.
After starting United Camps, I said that I would never slack and I will always be on point with the way I conduct business. Now, here it is 5 years later, I’m losing focus and neglecting my business and friends. I guess I finally found the downside of my addiction to deejaying.
Over the weekend I realized that deep down inside, I am still that kid from 1987 who loves hip-hop and just wanted to be heard. Deejaying provided me with that voice that was missing for nearly a decade. It’s the most amazing feeling but at some point, that inner kid needs to grow up.
Although I put in a lot of hard work with United Camps, the company would not have been able to prosper without the help of my friends who kept me motivated. Without their motivation, it’s quite possible that I may never have realized my true potential, and I too could have been parking cars.
Recently, a few things happened in my life that forced me to confront my demons. I learned that many of the decisions I’ve made may have been great for D-Nice the DJ, but detrimental to Derrick Jones the man. I’m learning to curb the desire to always deejay by establishing new guidelines for myself. I can’t lose site of the big picture!
