Q: Why did I start blogging & how did I end up blogging on YK2?

A: This might be a really long entry, not in attempt to make up for my lack of posts & desertion of this blog. So there’s your disclaimer; if you choose to read this entirely, I’m thankful for you. If not, that’s fine.. but realize when you ask me in the future & the answer is in this post, I’m just going to link you directly to this :)

Sure, to you this may seem just like another one of those end-of-the-year close-out posts. To me though, this is fitting to finally address the most popular questions I get asked — Well.. what do I do? How did I start? WHEN did I start? How am I at where I am now? (See picture above)

Of course, I haven’t “made” it or anything of the sort. This definitely isn’t a “rags to riches” story in one year; it simply can’t be. However, what has happened to me in just one years time is remarkable and granted, amazing and happened a lot faster for me than others. But of course, I definitely didn’t/couldn’t have done it all on my own in just one year..

Honestly, the last day of 2009 will be an incredible day.. no matter what it is I’m doing. More importantly, January 1, 2010 will be the most humbling day (or one of them since I’m still young). To many, it’s the start of the new year — a fresh start & whatnot; to me, it marks the 1st year anniversary of cityPASSION, which means ..  the official “I’ve been blogging for 1 year!” day for me. That’s right; as of now while I’m typing up this entry, I haven’t even been blogging for an entire year yet & so many doors/opportunities have opened up for me, and I’ve met so many wonderful people, all for which I’m extremely grateful for.

WHY did I start blogging? & WHEN?

I started cityPASSION, or well officially opened, on January 1, 2009. Why? It started back last December (of 09) when Sterling Simms album (Yours, Mine & The Truth) dropped. AMAZING album to put it in a nutshell (Shameless plug). It was an extraordinary debut R&B album .. which of course got no promotion, no proper single (no video at all), and thus failed to chart at all. Needless to say, I was majorly disappointed. Even before then, I was a frequent visitor on many music blog sites. I barely saw any of them even help promote Sterling at that, except for Young Kingz. Now, I didn’t start my blog just because of Sterling, but he did play a major part in leading up to it.

Again, loved the album & was discussing it with my #1.. We both agreed that it just didn’t make sense how such a great artist couldn’t even chart while signed on a major label. And this also holds for a lot of other artists that were mentioned in our conversation .. Such great talent & no promotion because they don’t have the #1 hit single on radios & charts. Of course, #1 said something along the lines of “Why don’t you start your own blog? I’ve never met someone so into and passionate about actual good music; why don’t you try it out?” I was hesitant at first & even said “No I can’t do that; I don’t know how.. I only visit sites!” With enough persuasion & pushing (which I’m thankful for), I caved in & said I’d do it. Leading up to the end of the year, I started working on the layout for the site & the like, in preparation for the opening.

So to put it simply, I started blogging for the simple reason that I didn’t agree only big named artists or those with chart/radio hits should be promoted or do well in the industry. I wanted to help those upcoming talent that deserved to get their voice heard; I wanted to share good music with those that wouldn’t normally hear it.. I wanted to be able to “give back” in a sense, to those deserving artists by spreading the word. There’s so much actual talent beyond the radio, the labels, & whatnots.. I believed it was possible to make it or get somewhere in the industry stayin true to yourself & not giving in to the shadiness or minimizing your full talent potential for the mainstream.. And now, at the end of the year, I see that Drake proved me right by doing “it without one”..

Why the name cityPASSION? 2 reasons. 1st one: I’m a city girl (born & raised in SF; SF my whole life) so I definitely have passion for my city. 2nd one: My initials are “CT” & back when I was young, my cousins & I would joke that if you said “CT” really fast, it sounds like “city”. So from there, CT Passion = what are my passions, simply put. & Of course now I’m gonna explain “why Miss Passion?” Haha. Well before when the site first opened, in the c-box, I would just refer to myself as my government “CONNIE”.. Then one day I saw someone re-blogged my entry, so I headed over to his page & he said “thanks to the Miss Passion” I thought it was a cute & fitting name at the time, & it’s stuck with me ever since (what up mymannemcee! i owe ya! haha) BUT, I do get slightly embarrassed whenever people call me or refer to me as “Miss Passion” in person tho. Haha. It’s the humbleness in me, really. So now I go by Connie, Miss P, Miss Passion & whatever other nicknames.

HOW did I end up blogging on YK2?

Now that we got that out of the way. Opened the blog & just started posting whatever I felt like (from music to movie trailers to whatever tech gadgets that interested me to whatever news info). I NEVER promoted my site anywhere, other than through my Twitter (but that was because whatever I posted had a direct instant feed into my Twitter) but even that doesn’t count since I didn’t start up my Twitter account until March (so 2-3 months after I started the site). Didn’t even ping my site either. However, since I was a frequent visitor on Young Kingz’s site & I did talk in his c-box, I did fill out my site’s URL info where it asked to. lol.

Back then, Kingz did know me; or well know of me since I did go to his site a lot. I guess one day, he got bored or interested & decided to click on my name & saw my site. I really don’t know the story since I never bothered to ask. But anyways, eventually I noticed that Kingz had added my site on his blogroll. That in itself made my day when I saw it. I have NEVER talked to him about my site or asked to be on the blogroll prior to it. And he also added me onto his e-mail blast list, which I never asked for again. Again, made me feel very honored. As for hits wise, for a site I never promoted & basically posted whatever the hell I felt like.. I got some good hits per day. Eventually some marketing companies started hitting me up as well (I won’t name them, but they’ve been riding with me since day 1 so I’m very thankful for them). Long story short, I was enjoying this “blogging” thing. And the best part, no one knew that I was doing this in my real personal life, aside from a handful of people (if even 5 actually..). Oh yeah, also during that time, I even reached out to certain artists & have built some great relationships from that.. but those stories can be saved for another time.

Then towards the end of April, I had an e-mail from Kingz. Again, don’t know if he had blasted out to a lot of people or whatever, since I never thought to ask nor did I care. But he was basically explaining his situation & how he basically needed some extra help to run the site as he was preparing for graduation. I thought, “hey why not!” so I replied back offering my help, thinking at the time it would only be for the couple of days/weeks he’d be busy. We discussed whatever needed to be discussed & voila! He made his welcoming post for me & I started doing what I needed to do. My 1st day on the job, many people i the c-box said I posted a lot. Lmao. By the end of the 1st day, Kingz saw & was very pleased with the amount of work I put in. I guess from then on, I just became a regular on the site, while STILL posting on here. Well.. that eventually changed as I started to focus more on YK2 & less on CTP as I just didn’t have enough time for everything since I had school & all myself. Yes yes, eventually I just couldn’t do what I wanted to do with cityPASSION.. But do I regret it? Not the least bit. cityPASSION opened up doors for me, one of them being a blogger on YK2, which eventually opened more. So I’m thankful I started this site.. I’ve just moved onto bigger & better things. :)

I started out this draft going in one direction, but I realize with days passing, I feel the need to go in a different direction. I simply can’t name & shout out everyone that I’ve come across this year because my memory is nowhere near that superior & I’d feel like a total idiot if I forget to name anyone in particular. Not to mention, there’s no possible way for me to recap the entire year.. Too much has happened & so many great memories. Some I wish I could tell you all, but some I just have to let it remain amongst the people that know about the situation. From this one phone call about this certain artist & his leaked track, to the many outtakes during this certain interview, to the chaos that happened behind another interview, to being backstage at these shows.. It’s too many. Those I should probably save for a future post; or at least maybe for some story-telling with friends (new & old) that I come into contact with.

But those of you that met me this year (& that’s a lot of you), I’m sure there’s a reason we met & I’m sure as time passes, we’ll know what the future has in store for us. Those that I haven’t had the luxury to meet or speak to aside from Twitter or email, I look forward to meeting you in the new year.

And as for Mr. Kingsley, Young Kingz, Kingz, Greg Oden.. whatever. I didn’t want to do a shout-out but I feel obligated to do this one at the very least. I probably can never fully explain to you exactly how thankful I am for everything you’ve helped me with. Honestly, if it wasn’t for YKD (the original!! Prior to the Lupe … fiasco, pun intended! hahahahaha) I wouldn’t have ever been into music blogs. The amount of knowledge & inspiration you’ve given me is too much for me to even recall entirely right now. From all those forwards to those texts to the phone calls & the many many late-nighters, if anyone knew HALF of the entire story behind-the-scenes for the site, they still wouldn’t begin to understand the shit we go through. Your work ethic is amazing and very motivating. Hopefully I haven’t let you down.. too much! Thanks for being a great friend, a mentor, & even (I’d say..) a big brother to me. Cut cheesy shit.. YK2 in 2010 is gonna be uhhh-mazing tho! If the visitors only knew what we got planned behind-the-scenes for them.. But real talk, I think YK2 ended this year well.

The rest of the YK2 staff.. hai ^.^ lmfao. Be prepared for some major woooork.

For everyone else, I can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store for us & our relationship! Let’s work & build!

I wish I could say what you should expect in the new year from me & from YK2, but I can’t.. I gotta keep that in the wraps for now so it can be a surprise during the year. Those of you that know, don’t spoil it! Just keep rockin’ with us over at YK2Daily.net on a daily basis & we’ll for sure keep you in some type of loop!

Like I said in my tweet, everything about this year led me to where I am now.