Category Archives: Words of Wisdom

The Insight Project: Matt Basile

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Matt Basile

Maybe you’re feeling like you’re not where you’re meant to be.

Maybe you have an idea burning inside of you.

This platform may just be the little push you need.

We were in your shoes – we get it. We were disillusioned by unfulfilling jobs, higher education, and the “traditional paths to success.” So, we left and set out to find people doing things differently. People who had carved their own path, exude passion for what they do, and are pushing their communities and industries forward in creative new ways.

Through the stories of these game-changers, we uncovered incredible ideas, passions, and advice. We heard stories of long-held dreams and the determination it took to realize them. We heard stories of dark lows, heart-bursting highs, and unexpected twists. These are stories of resilience, re-education, and re-invention. These are the stories of The INSIGHT Project.

An interesting thing happened along our journey of building The INSIGHT Project.

Through these stories, we began to find our own.

Now, it’s your turn.

All the love,
A + K + team

I first ran into The Insight Project online when they had just started their Kickstarter, in hopes of raising enough money to bring the project through post production. In watching the trailer for the project and seeing what it was about I instantly gravitated towards it as it could form a bit of a stepping stone on my own path towards success. My hope is that, through the Insight Project, I myself (like Kyla and Ayah) can begin to find my own story, as well as help others find their own stories as well.

Let me introduce you to our next Insight Project profile, Matt Basile. While recognized as El Presidente of Fidel Gastro, he can also be seen as a Toronto street vendor revolutionary leader. Here’s his story, hit the jump after for his insights, as well as my own.

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The Insight Project: Che Kothari

Posted by Andrew on

Che Kothari

Maybe you’re feeling like you’re not where you’re meant to be.

Maybe you have an idea burning inside of you.

This platform may just be the little push you need.

We were in your shoes – we get it. We were disillusioned by unfulfilling jobs, higher education, and the “traditional paths to success.” So, we left and set out to find people doing things differently. People who had carved their own path, exude passion for what they do, and are pushing their communities and industries forward in creative new ways.

Through the stories of these game-changers, we uncovered incredible ideas, passions, and advice. We heard stories of long-held dreams and the determination it took to realize them. We heard stories of dark lows, heart-bursting highs, and unexpected twists. These are stories of resilience, re-education, and re-invention. These are the stories of The INSIGHT Project.

An interesting thing happened along our journey of building The INSIGHT Project.

Through these stories, we began to find our own.

Now, it’s your turn.

All the love,
A + K + team

I first ran into The Insight Project online when they had just started their Kickstarter, in hopes of raising enough money to bring the project through post production. In watching the trailer for the project and seeing what it was about I instantly gravitated towards it as it could form a bit of a stepping stone on my own path towards success. My hope is that, through the Insight Project, I myself (like Kyla and Ayah) can begin to find my own story, as well as help others find their own stories as well.

Let me introduce you to the first Insight Project profile, Che Kothari. Photographer, documentarian, founder & volunteer Executive Director of Manifesto Community Projects, are just a few of his titles. Here’s his story, hit the jump after for his insights, as well as my own.

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Words of Wisdom: D-Sisive & Muneshine

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I’m not big on posting interviews simply because most interviews are generally the same. This one however I felt was worthy of posting because D-Sisive & Muneshine bring to light the realities of this industry. The reality is that you can be putting out amazing music, like they have been doing for the past 5 years, and still only get limited credit outside of Toronto. Many could say they’ve made it in a sense after having 3, and a soon to be 4th Juno nomination with Jonestown 3, alongside a Polaris prize nomination. However, they’re still working 9-5s just so that they can keep their dream alive. Anybody trying to make it in the music industry, especially if its urban music in Canada has to realize that this is an EXTREMELY difficult market to break just to get recognition, let alone actually making a sustainable living off of it. Knowing this D-Sisive (otherwise known as Derek Christoff) and Muneshine (Rob Bakker) are taking things into their own hands yet again, throwing out what they’ve known for the past 5 years and starting anew as artists. Who knows what will come of their new beginning. Below is Chedo of The Come Up Show’s interview with the duo before their Jonestown 3 release party. Download the album over on bandcamp because The Dream Is Over. Derek also wrote a letter to his fans prior to the release of Jonestown 3, further explaining his positioning on why he’s switching things up (you can read the letter here).

Words Of Wisdom: Ne-Yo – Music Is My Sport

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‎“I’m not gonna chase the world, I’ll let the world chase me”

          – Ne-Yo

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Words of Wisdom post, but I felt this was an inspirational piece that was worthy of bringing life back into the series. While I no longer am planning on the series being a weekly thing, I do plan on posting inspirational pieces as I see fit.

This piece is from a new series that VEVO is producing called Music Is My Sport, which focuses on how artists address their athletic side from a physical and mental state. The first episode in the series creates a portrait of RnB artist Ne-Yo and the drive he’s needed to succeed in all his endeavours, as well as the drive needed to keep himself at the top while new artists continue to come up in the game.

Words of Wisdom: Neil Gaiman – Make Good Art

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The idea of achieving something meaningful in life, whether it’s completing a novel, starting a business, or anything else, is always looked upon as a daunting task and oftentimes can be impeded by the mental constructs we create for ourselves. But in an elegantly humble way, Gaiman uses his own story to distill a way of thinking to help you get through the rough patches you might encounter throughout your personal journey. Some really powerful stuff. Enjoy.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Words of Wisdom post, but this commencement speech by Neil Gaiman, an award winning author from the UK, is beyond inspirational. The words of this speech don’t only apply for those trying to work in the creative industries, they can be taken and applied to any situation. The premise of the speech to inspire those to be confident in whatever they are trying to do, whether they’ve actually done it before or are completely new to the experience.

This speech is going to be my inspiration over the next 6 months, and beyond, as I work my way through a highly touted program in Toronto called The Remix Project. Making it into the program for my photography is a huge deal, given that not even 15% of all applicants who applied (between all 4 programs) made it in. Over the 6 months I’ll be building my way into the creative arts industry, finding huge networking opportunities and working with industry professionals along the way. This speech found me at the perfect time and will stay with me for a long time to come.

Neil Gaiman’s Website

via Inquiring Mind Magazine

Words of Wisdom: Eric Arakawa – PROFESSIONal

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Words of Wisdom comes from an idea of wanting to motivate others to follow their passions and dreams, open peoples minds to how they can be a better version of themselves, and ultimately inspire them to lead the life they want to live.

The story of Eric Awakawa, a professional surfboard shaper, is the perfect story for Words of Wisdom. A lot of us get into a certain career path because it’s something we feel we love to do, not necessarily realizing what it will entail. For Eric it was building boards for himself because he wanted to surf, and that turned into him building boards for others. The changing point in his life, and in a lot of our lives, was getting help from some key people in the industry to further his goal. To get where you want to go, especially in the creative arts industry, that’s key; Getting an internship and/or working with someone who you highly respect in your field of choice. Someone with the experience will be able to show those finer points that an inexperienced person may not realize. I close this with some Words of Wisdom from Eric Arakawa on wealth and success. Please hit the jump and enjoy this week’s Words of Wisdom story. Continue reading →

Words of Wisdom: Eric “The Hip Hop Preacher” – How Bad Do You Want It

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How bad do you want it?
With the NFL lockout in place over the summer, some athletes were taking it easy, enjoying the time off, and some were trying to follow their dreams and be successful. Take a look into what it takes to be successful and be inspired.
-GSK
GreyskaleMultimedia.com

If you’ve been following the Words of Wisdom posts since the beginning you will know that Words of Wisdom comes from an idea of wanting to motivate others to follow their passions and dreams, open peoples minds to how they can be a better version of themselves, and ultimately inspire them to lead the life they want to live. If this video and speech by Eric Thomas, The Hip-Hop Preacher, doesn’t inspire you and show you that dedication level you need to achieve to follow your passion I don’t know what will.

Greyskale Multimedia created this video to show what it takes to be successful and inspired, by using the dedication some NFL players put forth to keep their dream alive. Showing how much that even those who are the best at their craft have to put in, as well as this inspirational speech is bound to give you that drive needed to succeed in whatever you may want to do in life.

These are some of Eric Thomas’s Words of Wisdom:

Words Of Wisdom: The Remix Project

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I did this a few days ago, hoping to build it into something else. Instead it has brought me a different idea. My intention with Words of Wisdom was to inspire. While it has been extremely difficult for me and my collaborators to find that time to build inspiring pieces from scratch, I don’t want to give up on the idea. So in the meantime I will continue to look for people would would like to be apart of the Words of Wisdom initiative by donating their time to come up with an inspiring piece (you can email me if you are interested), as well as use inspirational pieces like this video below.

It’s been a while due to exams/Christmas but Words of Wisdom is back with something special. I’m a very closed person in the sense that I try to keep a lot privacy. Normally the charities that a person supports is something very close to them so they do try to keep their support for it private. Not in the sense that they don’t want the charity to get recognition, but in the sense that they don’t want the recognition for being charitable. This is very true to form for me, however in this instance I’m breaking that form to give you an idea of why I support this great cause. Let me introduce you to The Remix Project.

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Words of Wisdom – Young Guru – RBMA Lecture

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Young Guru starts off this Red Bull Music Academy lecture by stating his job, essentially being in charge of the sound of Jay-Z. Any man being in the industry for 12 years has experience worth listening to, let alone being the man in charge of the sound of possibly the biggest name in the hip-hop industry since that time. Pay attention while I hit on some of the key points of this lecture. If you have the time watch the entire 2 hours, you’ll learn so much about coming up and working in the industry. Sure there is a big chunk that may not be applicable due to the science of sound engineering, but the stories and examples are directly on point.

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Words Of Wisdom: LiveToAspire – Addiction

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This week I have 2 Words of Wisdom posts, after having missed the last couple weeks due to us (Tayshaun, Josie and I) getting caught up in our addictions. As you know by now Words Of Wisdom are pieces, videos, songs, stories, poems, whatever, meant to provide a thought provoking message that aims to motivate others to follow their passions and dreams, open peoples minds to how they can be a better version of themselves, and/or inspire them to lead the life they want to live. Keeping this theme in mind, my dear friend and contributor to the site Josie La Corte (aka LiveToAspire) did a piece on the life of an addict. What’s your addiction? Mine is music.

Continue reading for the written poetry for Addiction Continue reading →