I’m still excited to be back in Boston. Every time I walk downtown and notice the skyscrapers, I am thankful. Walking along the Charles looking at the Boston skyline, I reflect on the road I’ve travelled in the past 4 years plus.
Attaining my dream job of program director at 97.7 WILD FM in Boston.
Losing that job through the sale of the station 8 months later.
Rebounding to get more experience as a PD at Hot 102.9 in Dayton, OH.
Losing that job through the sale of that station a year later.
Dedicating a year in a failed attempt to find a new radio position.
Moving back to Boston exactly 1 year, 1 month & 1 day ago today.
Deciding to give up pursuing radio.
Completely reconstructing my DJ style so I can pursue my big hairy stretch goal of becoming a “celebrity” DJ in high-end nightclubs.
*Not to mention getting caught up as “the other man” in a domestic violence situation that was almost fatal.
I can’t really say I miss Ohio. There are only a few people I would go back to Dayton or Cincinnati to see. But I do appreciate the experience. The cost of living was great! I loved my apartment. I became much more spiritual. More confident in my abilities. But the one thing I took away from Ohio is their “I don’t give a fuck, we do it this way, and you’re just going to have to adjust to us” mindstate. They gon’ play their local artists. They gon’ play independent arists, They gon’ play their mixtape cuts (with the DJ drops on them). You can literally set your calendar to their events... Third Thursday, Final Fridays, Second Saturday, Soul Food Sundays every 1st & 3rd Sunday... I ain’t mad at them!
The main reason why I love being back in Boston is because finally, I’m where I want to be. When I first moved to Boston many moons ago, I thought I’d be here for 3 months, then go back to school. 3 months turned into 18 years! But every moment I kept looking at the greener grass in other cities. When I moved to Dayton, I KNEW I was only going to be there for 2 years. Of course, I didn’t know that one of those years I’d be unemployed (or, rather, self-employed... that sounds better, doesn’t it?).
When I decided to move back to Boston, I looked at the pros and cons. Yes, I’m from Chicago, but I left in 1984. I don’t know anyone there anymore. Atlanta and DC are the meccas for Black folk, but I would be starting from scratch, without the benefit of being on the radio, and going against DJs native to the area. I learned my lesson in Dayton & Cincinnati trying to steal gigs from DJs who went to grammar school with the promoters! I love Miami, but once again, with the benefit of radio, I’d be on the outside of a tightly-knit group of DJs, promoters and owners.
Now, I have supreme confidence in my abilities. I wish there was something like a blind taste test to rate DJs. But I realize that promoters don’t usually hire the best DJ. They hire the DJ they know, the DJ they have heard of, or the DJ recommended by someone else. Which is a problem if I go to another city and try to get gigs. They don’t know who I am, they haven’t heard of me, and nobody they know knows me!
In Boston, however, I know almost every promoter. They have heard of me through being on the radio for 7 years or spinning in Boston clubs since 1988. And they can always find someone in the industry with an opinion of my work. So going back to Boston was a no-brainer.
So this time, I choose to be in Boston. For all its warts, this is a great city. This is a destination city for many White people and, surprisingly, many West Indians, Puerto Ricans and Cape Verdeans. The nightlife, while unfortunately not catering to Blacks, is very wide-ranging for those with an open mind. I have an incredible array of friends from all walks of life. And my name still means something in this city. You may not know me personally, but if you lived in Boston between 2000 and 2006, you heard the name “Big Chicago” Reggie Beas on your FM dial.
Over the past year, month and day, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. Specifically about goals, intentions, visualizations, affirmations, meditations and manifestations. I’ve sat down and written down my goals... tons of them. I’ve turned my goals into affirmations, verbalizing to infinite intelligence my intentions, holding the visual of the attainment of my goals during my meditation.
Once I boiled it all down, I realize that I have only one goal I need to focus on. This one goal allows me to shape my world into the vision I have for myself:
Becoming financially independent through consistently working as a touring performance DJ, spinning at high-end nightclubs worldwide.
You know how you always hear people say “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” That’s not quite right. It should be “it’s not what you know, it’s who knows you.” So I guess my real goal is this:
Getting club owners, managers and promoters to know who I am, know what can do for them as a performance DJ, and have them excited to fly me into their city to rock!
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