Letter To The Unpopular by @Theradioshaq

Arrogance, behavior that shows that you think that you are better or more important than other people. Insecurity, simply not being confident about yourself. When you’re in middle school, or even high school, being unpopular is usually correlated with being insecure. Upon exiting high school, you are dispersed into a much larger realm, and unpopularity takes on a brand new meaning. Being unpopular in the proverbial real world is much more of a normality. No matter the path you choose in life, at some point in the beginning stages you were unpopular, unbeknownst to the world, or the higher ups in which you are ultimately trying to impress in the specific field of choice. This is where my letter comes in, the letter in which I forgot to say Dear in the begging of, dammit, but by now you know who I’m speaking too, YOU! The unpopular journalist, rapper, DJ, singer, actress, film director, student, teacher, future lawyer, future doctor, nurse, every one of you out there, who will one day be known for great things in your field, but for now, turn your hustle up, turn on Bobby Shmurda, get your schmoney dance popping, and read this article.

Upon research I discovered that ambition has been a debated on topic for quite some years now. Is it science? Edward Lowe of Soka University says, “no matter how social status is defined, there are certain people in every community who aggressively pursue it [ambition] and others who aren’t so aggressive.” When I read this particular quote, I thought to myself, this is the answer, this is all one would need to know when trying to define ambition. Now I was thinking I could move on with my article, and explain to the reader, that no matter your circumstance, you can acquire ambition, and go after all your hopes, and dreams. But then I read a quote from Dean Simonton, a psychologist at the University of California, and he said, “Ambition is energy and determination, but it calls for goals too. People with goals but no energy are the ones who wind up sitting on the couch saying one day I’m going to build a better mousetrap. People with energy but no clear goals just dissipate themselves in one desultory project after the next.” After reading this quote I thought to myself, I’ve just completely changed my stance on the correlation of ambition to unpopularity, and goals. Now my stance is, people without clear goals can care less about unpopularity, their main dilemma is the fact that they don’t even know what they’re working towards. So if you’re reading this, and you don’t know what your true passion is yet, dig dip, and find that, channel your energy, and determination into that, and prosper from it.

I was that person in the previous paragraph. I’ve known I loved music all my life, so I’ve tried my hand at every single Music Hat you can think of. When I was 7 I thought I was a DJ because I used to turn the volume up and down on my Granddad’s Cassette Radio. Thank God for my parents who allowed me to try stuff that I eventually quit because my popularity didn’t shoot up fast enough in it, which brings me back to the original topic. Remain motivated in the preliminary stages of your hustle, your come up isn’t determined by the number of people who notice you, but rather by the sacrifices you make while no one is watching. When I learned that “grinding” was really about prayer, sacrifice, and perfecting your craft no matter who’s watching, I really began to just “trust the process” an old adage I learned during my time as an Orientation Leader at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Go Cajuns. Unpopularity, not being heard of, a small amount of plays on your latest song, nobody congratulating you when you made an A on that exam, none of that matters in the bigger picture. It’s the fact that you drop another song the next week, it’s that you made another A on the next test, and continue to grind while no one is checking for you, continue to grind when they turn your lights off, continue to grind when you’re getting busy on the Ramen Noodles. The hustle is about sacrifice, not a popularity contest. I wouldn’t want to be popular right now anyway, wearing these bummy hoodies, HA! “It aint Ralph though..” it’s not Kanye, it’s not.

But when we make it! (Cues Drake’s “Started From the Bottom”) It’s going to be “Simply Marvelous” as my grade school bus driver would always say. You’re going to cherish the unpopular days, miss them even, because during this time is when you discovered that you had what it took to make it. And I think realizing that you know that you have what it takes to make it, is almost, as sweet as making it, almost!

God Bless, TheRadioShaq