"It takes LOVE and PASSION for what you believe is your vehicle in fulfilling your purpose. When you possess love and passion, it won't feel like work. You won't mind being up til 2 A.M. perfecting your craft. 

It energizes me when I'm engaged in my calling! It's how Minister Farrakhan defines "fun" in Closing the Gap (pg. 374). He states, "What is fun? Fun is watching intelligence develop. Fun is feeding intelligence to create the creative mind that the child will be able to say like God, 'Be' and it is. That's fun"!

- Ebony S. Muhammad

As far as I'm concerned with what I have to say it's something Black people, urban people, poor people alike are all in need of a voice to interpret. I think that's what keeps me relevant. I'm interpreting our struggle as it happens in real time. Therefore that will always be relevant. The gangster rapper, he's saying he's a gangster-he's a gangster-he's a gangster, however, I'm interpreting how he became a gangster, what makes him a gangster, and how we can prevent becoming a gangster or thug and still properly identify ourselves within this struggle. We've got to understand, like Dr. Bobby E. Wright said, in all life there is a struggle and how we live or die will be based on how we interpret ourselves within that struggle. Therefore, I'm interpreting the struggle.

I think what makes music weaker today is that a lot of artists approach it from the perspective of, "I'm trying to make a hit song".  Therefore, you end up getting this kind of formula, watered down weak songs. I try to approach it from a different aspect of trying to create timeless music like the people I grew up listening to; I can listen to their albums now. You can listen to "The Low End Theory" by A Tribe Called Quest, and it's just as fresh and good as when it first came out. That's the perspective I've tried to write from. Then, from looking at the condition of our communities, I don't understand how we can look at our people suffering, now probably more than ever, and not write about it and not attempt to use our talents and gifts to uplift a fallen people. I just don't see how you can exploit that situation and say, "I'm going to make these videos where I'm popping champagne and making it rain", while most of us are being foreclosed on and having trouble paying rent living in such a bad condition. I just feel like part of my responsibility is to speak on that. 

On March 9, 1997, The world lost one of its most popular and prolific artists of its time. Many hail him as one of Hip Hop greatest to ever do it, while many others say he IS the greatest, PERIOD. Notwithstanding, in his short, yet none the less impacting tenure as Hip Hops King Pin many of this generation have never sat and analyzed why he is considered the Greatest Of All Time.

The legacy he leaves is a major one. Not one rapper enters the game without nodding to his lyrical prowess, more often than not, seek to imitate or blatantly plagiarize his works. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery as they say... However what is to really be cherished is the music he left behind, a time capsule. 

Samantha Luck (SL): I believe it's possible because we live on opposite coasts, he's in L.A., and I'm in D.C. We are at very different stages in our lives; he's had a child, I'm thinking about a family eventually. He's been in his career for a while, and I'm kind of just finding my way.

Badru U (BU): For me it's easy not to have "Ulterior motives", I don't plan relationships. That's not my style and just not a good idea in general. Relationships are about chemistry, flow and timing for me and none of those things can be forced. So basically when it comes to affairs of the heart I just let it come to me.

Question-Are you ready to be the person that Almighty God has called you to be? Let me explain, I firmly believe that each person is called to a divinely appointed excellence.  And to the extent that we are on the road to that excellence determines the extent to which we will be and are happy in ourmind, body and spirit.  Happiness without alignment in mind, body and spirit is not happiness.  To be happy is to be in a state of peace over an extended period of time, it does not mean that you are without troubles but it does mean that you are not troubled by your troubles.

Often we confuse Self Love with things that are temporal and can leave us at any moment: material possessions, love from others, a job or finances. 

Self Love is having the inability to inflict emotional pain on yourself by setting boundaries in all areas of your life. 

Self Love is the act of loving yourself unconditionally no matter the circumstances you are enduring.

Self Love is the understanding that your love for your SELF is more important than anything else.

While these may seem at first glance like simple statements, I find them to be really complex for the majority of the people I meet. 

Have we become too successful with our careers and are now are suffering within our love lives? I watched a Black woman in a YouTube clip speaking about Black women not being as coveted as women of other races and I think she has a valid point. In mainstream society, when you look at the famous women men lust over, Black doesn't seem to be seen as beautiful. In recent years with the success of black music artists such as Beyonce and Rihanna and actresses such as Halle Berry and Zoe Saldana it's better than it was 10 years ago, but I think we still we've got a long way to go. Even though the statistics the sister quoted was from the US prospective here in the UK I can totally relate to what the women in the video clip are saying. 

As the Executive Director of Wedded Bliss Foundation, I work with couples all over the country in various stages of their relationships.  People like you who want to get it right and avoid the pain, hurt plus heartache of a failed union.  Men and women who sincerely want to increase the benefits of marriage while decreasing the drama.  Most couples are clueless how to achieve wedded bliss.  Some know more than others.  That may be you too.  It becomes an elongated exercise in hit or miss with more misses than hits.  So I offer five tidbits from our curriculum Basic Training for Couples that was featured on CNN's Black in America 2.  

The four pillars are necessary in life, and they are the things that need to be in balance. The first pillar is intelligence. One of the chapters is entitled Call to New Things and the other is called Embracing Hardship As Golden Opportunity, and all of that is part of life but you must close a chapter in order for a new one to open. So, whether that's been trauma or whether it's been divorce, get the help you need. I do not discourage therapy. Our community, many times, discourages that. You have to have a place to go. Pain has to go somewhere. Stress has to go somewhere, and if it does not get out and get worked out, it going to go into illness. It's going to back up in your system and cause hemorrhoids, cancer, etc. So, embrace hardship but also, deal with it. You have to face it to fix it.