The Most Trusted Name In Urban Content

I thank all of you as we are now over 150,000 readers strong this year….

We truly value our readers and henceforth, we take serious pride in delivering content to you. We want to inform, entertain, educate, and provide a real value add to your Internet experience. I came up with this tag line to service my readers because I look at this blog as my business not just a way to get quick hits.

I sincerely value your time, your energy, your comments, and even if you’re just passive reading and browsing, I’m okay with that. It’s kind of like a newsstand at the UndagroundMilli. Pick up an article and read and keep moving. I thank all of you as we are now over 150,000 readers strong this year and headed for 1,000,000. I appreciate every single one of you.

How To Be Rich, Nicca – The Come Up – Part Deuce

I would meet Master P, JT the Bigga Figga, E-40, Rappin 4-Tay, Coco Quick, and a lot of cats who would go down to Phunky Phat to get their CD cover art work

I would hire Underwood Works to do all of my graphics and go there almost 2-3 times per week to proof the work that they would do. I would pay for my designs out of my paycheck from my job that I had working in downtown Oakland, CAon 22nd and Webster at Shared Medical Systems. When I would show up at Underwood Works, which would eventually become known as Phunky Phat Graph-X, I would meet niggas that would be trying to do the same thing as me and be independent and push their music out to the world.

I would meet Master P, JT the Bigga Figga, E-40, Rappin 4-Tay, Coco Quick, and a lot of cats who would go down to Phunky Phat to get their CD cover art work, posters, and other graphics work done by Phunky Phat Graph-X. I would go on to see first hand the work that was taken to build and grow No Limit Records that the world now knows today as earning and grossing over $250 Million dollars.

When we were all coming up though, nobody even dreamed of being able to make it up as high as No Limit has. Master P was struggling to get things together just as we all were. He was living up in Richmond, CA which is a crazy environment and even the record store that he had up there was in the cut. He and I also sold music to Ts Waiuzi Record Store in East Oakland near Eastmont Mall. Again, no one knew that people would blow up the way some folks did. The point is that everyone was striving and driving to move ahead regardless of their situation. We didn’t care if we didn’t have the
money or the banks wouldn’t loan us any cash to move our company’s ahead. We didn’t care if we didn’t have enough money to get the thing looking excellent from day one.

P rounded up his brothers and launched The Real Untouchables after a bullshit deal with Jason Blaine over at InaMinute Records up in Emeryville, CA. I knew Jason Blaine from a
function that Lachlan McIntyre, owner of 4080 Magazine threw in Berkeley. Lachlan was also trying to come up and created a hip-hop magazine that focused on hard core West Coast Hip Hop.

A Black Kids’ Guide to Business Success

I would succeed if it killed me. I would make a million dollars. I would claim it and I would actualize it at all costs in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would be successful with out you, my pops.

Gerard Spinks’ Open Letter to a black father who I’ve seen once in my life:

A Black Kids Guide to business success

A Black Kids Guide to business success

Dear Dad Pops,

I’m sure you are a good dude. If you’ve ever seen a black man become successful in life and the Internet, you’re looking at him right here. I was surprised when my moms showed me pictures of me that I had signed when I was my daughters age around 7 or 8. Yes, I was the one looking real geeky studly and interesting at St. Philomena’s elementary school in Peoria, Illinois. I don’t know how my moms got me to sign those pictures because I never saw you.

I vaguely remember seeing you once when I was getting ready to go off to college to St. Ambrose College University in Davenport, Iowa. Moms never had any money so she sent me off to St. Ambrose with $20, a skillet, and a bag of clothes. Yes, she expected me to do well but she had nothing else to offer. Wish you were there. Actually, at St. Phil’s, being around all these white kids, everyone had a dad. It used to make me feel real crazy that you weren’t there but their dads were at the basketball games and taking them to play JFL (Junior Football League) that some call Pop Warner Football.

I always longed for a dad especially as I started playing sports and doing well average in high school. Some of the white kids really hated on me and even the coaches didn’t want to see me succeed because I was black. If I could only tell them that my dad was there and supported me, it probably wouldn’t have been so tough and hard on your son. At any rate, I had to fight through this nonsense, the hatred, the dissing, and somehow make a success of myself. Moms told me to just keep playing and stop listening to everyone.

How to do this I have no idea. Really could have used your help and guidance. Moms didn’t did know exactly how but she did. She already had two boys, I was her youngest so she did have some experience. Anyway, I learned how to be successful without you. It was hard. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears. While at Texas, I really needed help and called mom for some money. She couldn’t help. She had none. She never had money She had God and that was all we needed. Even though some of the kids in high school thought we were doing well because I had success in football, we were broke we had cash flow issues, always. Forever on food stamps Forever relying on God’s grace and power. It was our secret though.

When I called out for help to moms and wishing you could help, I realized in that moment that no one could help me God was guiding me and taking over. I realized that I was raised in a situation where I could count on no one other than myself for success God. I realized as a very young kid that it was up to me and only me God to succeed. Yes, pops, this kind of sucked because other people around me had help. They could go home and get help. I couldn’t. I vowed at this moment to turn my life around and be the success that I envisioned and that I saw all these white kids have. Their parents literally sent them to the University of Notre Dame. They made sure they went to great colleges and universities in the midwest. My moms made sure I knew how to apply for food stamps be successful by listening and relying on God. I would do it. I would succeed if it killed me. I would make a million dollars. I would claim it and I would actualize it at all costs in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would be successful with out you, my pops by putting God first and having faith and belief in what God had created, ME.

Marketing For Black Writers And Authors

African American Authors of books, poetry and prose need to embrace new technologies….

The Apple iPad and iBooks Store for African American Authors

The Apple iPad and iBooks Store for African American Authors


African American Authors of books, poetry and prose need to embrace new technologies instead of waiting on publishing houses to pick up our books and publish them to a wider audience. When I wrote my first book, I wanted to get a big publisher house from New York City or Los Angeles, CA to publish and help me market my book. Instead of waiting on them, I decided to self-publish and get the book out there myself. This was easy and like all things, it ultimately needed marketing money to really keep and push the book out to the masses to make people aware of it. Everyone thinks it’s easy to write a book and people will beat down your doors to read it. This is the furthest thing from the truth.

My books were all written in the early to mid 2000’s. Would I do things differently now? Yes. In fact, I’m writing a book as we speak and the rules of book writing have completely changed. You no longer need to wait on anyone to build an audience and a fan base. You don’t need to write 3 mystery novels or street oriented novels to build fans. I have created a blog ( a customized blog site) and have generated over 25,000 fan readers in just 3 months. This is huge. For African-American writers, blogs are really truly the way to go and I say this after having a blogspot.com website a few years ago that was riddled with spam comments.

Blogs have changed the landscape considerably for black authors. You really need to utilize these blog sites and keep writing and building your fans. I encourage all authors to keep writing but do NOT just think about your writing in terms of a physical printed book. In fact, printed books are somewhat passe. I would write a blog and make my book available on Kindle from Amazon or the iPad store. I would NOT put a book out in print anymore. Printed books are becoming like VHS tapes or 8 track tapes. Mark my word, in 5 years, no one will really pick up a printed magazine or book anymore at all and people will look at you like you’re crazy for suggesting it.

We help people get your professionally themed blog site up and running. You must provide the content as an author but this should be easy for true authors and writers. Content is never our issue. We provide too much content in most cases. You must write your blog and make the web site PhP compatible so that people can read your blog on their mobile phones. This is media convergence and like it or not, it is already taking over the book industry.

Underground Millionaire

I came from NO MONEY, made a ton of money in the Silicon Valley, lost money, and made money again.

Market Survival Book

Market Survival Book

Wanted to introduce my fans to author Gerard Spinks. I am a writer and publisher of all of my book titles. I have written three seminal writings “How To Be Rich, Nicca”, “The Ballers Guide to Major Figure$”, and “The Poor Mans Guide to the Rich Mans World”.

All of my titles are self-help books designed for the urban entrepreneur. My books are designed for the inner city, urban person who is very entrepreneurial and needs to know exactly how to bootstrap their business and make money out of very hard conditions and situations. 

Why are these books focused on the inner city?  I grew up in the inner city.  I grew up with just my mother and my siblings.  I grew up on food stamps and welfare checks.  I became a millionaire without all of the things that everyone said that I needed as a kid.  I did NOT do this with a strong father figure and with a trust fund.  I made money from super hard work, a super belief in God, a super MOTHER, and a super EFFORT to succeed.  

I learned how to put the right people around me to get to my goals.  I learned how to goal set and actualize those goals with the help of God.  I am NOW giving that back to the inner city and all of my fans.  I came from NO MONEY, made a lot of money in the Silicon Valley as a software developer of XML software, lost a lot of money when the market tanked, and climbed back up the hill to make money again and still building.

Can You Judge This Book By Its Cover?

Gerard Spinks’ Book The Baller’s Guide To MAJOR Figure$. How To Bring Money IN to your center.

Gerard Spinks' business guide

The Greatest Love Of All (Chronicles of Kristen Carter Celeb Blog)

Ahh, good morning. I hope everyone’s enjoying the long All-Star/Boo-Lovin Observance weekend. I partake in the All-Star portion of this but ya know, love’s in the air no matter what day it is.

Script writer Kristen V. Carter

BET Producer Kristen V. Carter


Kristen V. Carter is a BET producer and screenwriter. She is also owner of Jazzi Dreamer Entertainment. Kristen can be reached directly via Twitter. Please engage with her and follow her to learn inside game of film, tv, and music.

Ahh, good morning. I hope everyone’s enjoying the long All-Star/Boo-Lovin Observance weekend. I partake in the All-Star portion of this but ya know, love’s in the air no matter what day it is. Last night I watched Love Jones for the 8723rd time in my life, even though it felt like the first. It’s funny how certain messages hit home although you’ve been surrounded by them forever…you don’t really catch the truth in anything until you’re truly ready for it.

So this morning, I journaled to myself for the first time in a few weeks. I write for various reasons everyday but I finally allowed that quiet time to be completely free-flowing and nonjudgemental of my thoughts. ‘Self’ has been whispering that I needed to shut up & write, because I recently unleashed my ego and allowed her to run her mouth like wildfire & show her ugly lil’ head! I haven’t done that in quite a while so it was definitely time to regroup and process my greatness of spirit versus my weakness of flesh. It’s funny how I let go of my strength at what felt like a weak moment where I was unsure of myself. (That’s backwards I know. Why do we do that to ourselves?)

My overall goal this year is to be more intuitive and decisive, yet I’ve done a poor job of staying aligned with this goal recently. It’s easy to say, do, and act our best when we feel at our best personally & professionally but when we question ourselves, sometimes the bottom falls out OR we pull it from under our own feet and blame other things. Sometimes we cry over spilled milk when it’s been sour and should have been mopped up already. At this point, all I can think about is the quintessential phrase ‘keep it movin son’ but what happens when you just don’t wanna move? You get stuck in a rut (probably all by your damn self lol)…so I have to refocus and realize – I’m just living out my lessons.

I am at my greatest with my pen. I feel love & connection in that. I feel the boundlessness of who I am and who I was created to be. I feel the ‘heart to heart’ connection that I sometimes wish I felt in ‘face to face’ interaction. This is the place I call home.

So why do I allow myself to feel like a stranger at times? Because in my attempt to be ‘right,’ I lose my righteousness. In my attempt to prove my point, I step away from things that deserve my greatest energy & focus. It’s funny how when I experience discord, I can feel the physical & spiritual split. (I’ve actually always sensed this, but never quite in these terms.) The part of me that’s offended versus the part of me that’s merely observing life and taking notes. The part of me that harbors fears of lonliness versus the part of me that knows I’m never alone…ever.

So it’s a new year again. My goal is for two to remain one. When I’m feeling all razzle dazzle frazzled, I must take it to the Source as opposed to fighting my own fears. And even after I press Send and go about my business for the day, I’ll have to come back to this quiet place and remind myself that I don’t ever have to do this thing called life on my own if I just listen…

…now that’s love.

Kristen V. Carter

The Crush Groove – Chronicles of Kristen V. Carter

“I’m a self-proclaimed late bloomer with hundreds of stories about crushes and people I loved to like. Some of my tales are actually too embarassing to write but here are a few of my fav truths that don’t make me blush (as much) anymore. :)

Script writer Kristen V. Carter

BET Producer Kristen V. Carter


From the Mind of BET Producer Kristen V. Carter of Jazzi Dreamer Entertainment. You can reach out to her on Twitter and follow her for all of her gems.

“I’m a self-proclaimed late bloomer with hundreds of stories about crushes and people I loved to like. Some of my tales are actually too embarassing to write but here are a few of my fav truths that don’t make me blush (as much) anymore. :)

4 – My grandmother and my childhood crush have the same initials. I begged my Nana for her gold ring that had her initials in them for months. I never really told her why, and I don’t remember the excuse I gave her. But finally she let me ‘have’ the ring and I wore it proudly. Finally, during class, my crush grabbed my hand and stared at the ring. He said lovingly (because of course I thought he liked me too lol), ‘what do those initials stand for?’ I think I batted my eyes and said something like ‘you know what they stand for’ and ran off. (Now, I’m not sure if this freaked him out but it sure as hell would freak me out for a 9 year old friend to have a KC ring on his finger. LOL)

3 – One of my high school crushes was a family friend. He was the only boy allowed in my room. To this day, I think he knew full well that I had a crush on him but I was terribly shy. I remember him asking me for a massage and my hands literally trembled at the thought of touching his skin. He would come over and we’d play games, just very innocent. One day he fell asleep on my bed and on me and I literally could not breathe. Not because he was crushing me, but because HE WAS LAYING ON ME. Aaaaah! After about 15 minutes, he jumped up all of a sudden as if he was startled. I said, ‘what happened?’ His reply – ‘Ummm…I’m getting too comfortable.’ He got himself together. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes. He said he’d call me later and then he went through the front door. My mom was downstairs reading the paper so when I closed the door, she looked up at me. My face was beat red. She said, ‘Sweetheart, what happened?’ I said, ‘I don’t know’ and burst into tears…
(My reaction reading this now: Poor baby! lol)

2 – I have a college friend who I thought was a divine one coming back to Earth. (Real talk. I think Michael Jackson was one of them as well.) He and I were friends, but I was inspired and intrigued and the whole bit. He’s a lyricist so one night after hanging out, he decided to walk me back to my room. I was giggling and completely amused by whatever he was saying, and mentioned that I wanted to learn how to rap. He started breaking down his process and that I should think about things that rhyme. We went through a few little words that rhyme – time, dime, lime, etc. I thought for a second and we did a mini-cipher and I spit. It was great. I fell in love that night. ‘Rap to me some more.’ LOL

1 – When I was 16, I participated in a recruitment day for my scholarship program. It was held at my church and we were responsible for interviewing new candidates for the program. An admissions officer from a New England school came to the event. I think all the women at my church did the ‘turn.’ So the day goes by and the day comes to an end. Everyone’s wrapping up and when he gets outside, his car is gone from the church parking lot. Apparently he had valuables in the backseat and someone broke in. All of my deaconesses look around like, ‘I’m sorry for you but I gotta get home.’ My mom turns and says, ‘Well, you can come to our house and use the phone.’ I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE! I vividly remember skating around my kitchen. There’s a man in the house!!! And he’s 24!!!We stayed up that night and he told us about his experience at a prestigious college. I probably exhaled 5 times right in front of him. Long story short, he did stay on the couch and traveled back to New England the next day. I was pretty silent for most of the day once we dropped him off at the train station. Finally, I asked – ‘Mommy, when am I gonna have a guy like that?’ My mom replied, ‘He will come when you are ready…but you’ve got plenty of time for that, sweetheart.’ I love my mommy…
So funny how you meet people…I’ll never forget that. :)

Ok, I’m hungry. Time to grab some grub with my best friend and the fam. Enjoy your day!!!

Love & all that other…”
KRIS

The Village Mentality – The Chronicles of Kristen V. Carter

And damn it, the Grammys are about to come on!” I asked him, “Sooooo (yes that many O’s)…What’s up?” and he answered, “Ain’t Ish.” Now if you know me, you know that I HATE to hear things like this. My ears tingle and I start to twitch. He remained quiet afterwards and so I followed that up with, “Um, ok.

Script writer Kristen V. Carter

BET Producer Kristen V. Carter


Celebrity Guest Blog post by BET producer Kristen V. Carter of Jazzi Dreamer Entertainment. You can reach Kristen Carter via Twitter.

On Sunday night, an old elementary school friend stopped by my house. When he entered my living room and plopped down on my couch, he didn’t really say much. I thought, “Great, someone that came over just to be over here. And damn it, the Grammys are about to come on!” I asked him, “Sooooo (yes that many O’s)…What’s up?” and he answered, “Ain’t Ish.” Now if you know me, you know that I HATE to hear things like this. My ears tingle and I start to twitch. He remained quiet afterwards and so I followed that up with, “Um, ok.

You seem kinda low energy, what’s going on?” Initially, I was pretty annoyed that someone would come over and bring their low energy with them but then I had to settle down my initial thoughts and just listen. He responded honestly, expressing his confusion about life and where to take his next step. Now, he is and always seemed very book smart. All of my friends are intelligent, but I spend alot of time thinking about my male friends from my childhood because alot of them seem to feel how this one expressed. They don’t know up from down, they don’t know what they wanna do, and they haven’t even pinned down what they LIKE to do. They gasp at the word “hobby.” They don’t even understand the concept. And unfortunately, in this world, this kind of epidemic is not accidental. Our young people are supposed to feel trapped and helpless and I CAN’T STAND IT!

I don’t even wanna get into where we went wrong cause then I’d be writing a thesis, but how can we get a hold to our young people? How can we help them navigate in this world?!?

More and more each day, I realize how different I am. I can’t even fully grasp just how set apart I am but my mother had a vision and did everything in her power to make sure I absorbed what I needed to succeed – and not just cope – with life. And I don’t mean that in a boastful way, but I mean that in a reflective way. Alot of adults had alot to say about my mother while I was growing up, and alot of peers had plenty to say about me being uncool and this and that. But, whoa nelly – how the tides turn, how priorities change, and how reality sets in!!!

We have to think about tomorrow and our futures. We can’t always live for the moment, the cheap thrill. We have to protect our minds and bodies from filth because you never know who’s trying to attach themselves to you. And it’s not always positive. We have to prepare our kids. It’s not cute to just be cute in high school. THAT MEANS NOTHING IN THE REAL WORLD! Who cares what clique you’re in and which girl/guy you are talking to? Or what clothes you have on? Our kids are so caught up in these images, they think things just fly out of the sky…What are our children being taught? What happened to the village? I know that you all are an extension of my village – and I’m so grateful for that! – but who’s reeling in our young people? When did the concept of neighbor become stranger? Did that happen in the 80s or the 90s cause I’m confused.

Success is never by accident. It takes preparation. We want Obama to make change, but we’ve gotta help ourselves as well. I don’t know folks…it’s a sad state of affairs but hopefully you and I can be a part of the positive turn in the lives of young people. Hopefully we can take someone by the hand and help at least one person. And I’m saying this I’m like old…lol…I know I still have alot to learn and experience in life as well, but I just hope that we can mobilize our village cause we’re here. We’re strong people. We’re positive people, maybe in small clusters but we’re here. I’d love to discuss/plan how we can make more of an impact in our community.

The Chronicles of Kristen Carter (School Supplies) Dating Issue #1

Recently, a friend of mine came to me about a dating question. She wanted to know if the person she was digging really likes her, based on a few scenarios presented. I don’t like commenting on people’s situations because Lawd knows I have gotten plenty of sound advice and have not taken it until going through the fire myself.

Script writer Kristen V. Carter

BET Producer Kristen V. Carter


Superstar Guest Post by BET Producer and Screen Writer Kristen V. Carter of JazziDreamer Entertainment. Kristen Carter is a show segment writer and producer for BET, VH1, and MTV Networks.

It’s officially ‘back to school’ time. Five-Star commercials are running like wild fire and kids are pushing passed me in the supermarket for notebooks. I don’t care what gadgets these new fangled kids are getting, us 80s babies got the best and brightest hook ups of them all. I will never forget my mother getting a swarm of Chucky Cheese pencils, only for me to give out each and every one of them before the week was out. By Friday, I was known as the Indian giver because I had to ask for them back. (Sidebar: Why is that called “Indian giver?” I don’t believe Indians gave things and then asked for them back!?! Please let me know!)

Anyway – as Jay-Z says, “You can pay for school but you can’t buy class” and he’s absolutely right. We all know that common sense is the most valuable smarts of them all, but it’s funny how we just don’t wanna pay attention.

Recently, a friend of mine came to me about a dating question. She wanted to know if the person she was digging really likes her, based on a few scenarios presented. I don’t like commenting on people’s situations because Lawd knows I have gotten plenty of sound advice and have not taken it until going through the fire myself. I carefully broke down some of the reasons why I felt the person was not all that interested, most specifically he wasn’t showing initiative. She continued to say, “But he hits me up…but he talks to me for X amount of time.” NO, NO my sister. Not the same thing. Anyone can talk, but who is backing it up!?! Look, don’t listen! PLEASE…I’m telling you…Check yourself before you wreck yourself and wind up swimming in the pool of lovelike by yo’self!!!

As I sat and reflected on my own experiences, I just thought about all the stupid moves I have made, thinking that someone would like me more if I “worked” harder for their attention. What kind of assanine thought is that?!?! That sounds so ridiculous, but that’s really how I was maneuvering. Maybe if I show up…maybe if I just talk about what I want…aww, it doesn’t hurt to reach out first…again…again…and again. It doesn’t hurt them cause they don’t care but it most certainly puts a damper on your parade if you’re hoping and wishing for something that’s not there.

But it’s ok, we all put ourselves through emotional agony. And what’s funny, we know it all along. If we listen closely to our inner voice, we’ll breathe and remain calm for a few more moments so we can catch ourselves…but usually, we’re so hung up those thoughts of tranquility don’t seep through in the least.

t’s so interesting how much thought and weight we put on things that don’t feel great. If it doesn’t feel good, if we’re not laughing, loving, and learning, just cut it off. End of story! Don’t even waste your time. Our time is too precious and too valuable to just waste on contemplation. (This is really easy to say now that I’m not crying my eyes out. LOL But I think I’ve finally gotten it. Maybe.)

Now if someone IS showing you interest and you are interested back, please just have fun with them and learn what it feels like to be appreciated. I’m not really sure how or why we got tricked into just letting our mind jump down the aisle, but let’s dial it back and just enjoy our present.

What a difference 5 years makes when it comes to life lessons and just age old personal experience. Goodness gracious great northern beans…LOL.

Ok, that’s it for me for now!! Let’s use our common sense. If it doesn’t fit, we must acquit! Size 7 shoes on Size 9 feet never fit, no matter how hard you squeeze. Try another shoe on or get crazy corns and an irritated heel. HA. Gotta get back to writing.

Love,
Kris

JazziDreamer Entertainment Film Casting Call for Sellout and Slipknot films in NYC

All posts are original content by Gerard Spinks Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, GA USA