I've been called a lot of different names thus far in my life: jock, nerd, fat boy, lightweight, goofball, transplant, outsider, new guy, frat boy, weirdo, and cool kid. Those were all while I was in school.
Nowadays, I pretty much just go by Infinite Skillz or Infinite for short. My mother just calls me loud. As the middle child, I've kind of always needed to be that way. I'd speak early and often, flexing my vocal cords to get noticed. After every loving admonishment, I'd always tell her that one day I'm going to get paid to make noise.
Officially, N.O.I.S.E. stands for the Nation of Infinite Skillz, which is my official fan club. Making N.O.I.S.E. is the name of this blog, but it is also my motto. When asked about Hip Hop, President-Elect Barack Obama said that one of the things he admired most about rap artists is their entrepreneurial spirit. He liked the fact that many of my colleagues have started their own record labels becoming moguls instead of commodities. That's Making N.O.I.S.E.
I too respect hustle and hard work but there is a limit to that. Are you really doing big things if your label roster consists of your hype man and your roommate? That is not Making N.O.I.S.E. That's you and your homeys playing House: The Hip Hop Edition.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2008.