If you don't know him you will, these vocals derive from a Manchester born singer named Gareth Daley. Despite its inarguable brilliance, the song stalled at No 37, which is a shame because it would have been the perfect way for Daley to build on his inclusion in the BBC Sound of 2011 long list at the beginning of the year. No matter, Daley is now signed to A&M Records and appears to be taking his time with the whole "becoming a pop star" thing, offering a free mixtape, Those Who Wait. Highlights include Alone Together, a gorgeous duet with Marsha Ambrosius.
Over the past decade Marc and I have dealt with several personal hardships of varying degrees, including the sudden death of a sibling, the loss of a best friend to illness, and an unexpected, breadwinning employment layoff.
These experiences were brutal. Each of them, unsurprisingly, knocked us down and off course for a period of time. But when our time of mourning was over in each individual circumstance, we pressed forward, stronger, and with a greater understanding and respect for life.
Here are some vital lessons we learned – ways to maintain peace of mind in tough times:
1. Learn to trust yourself. “It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. As you heal and grow, it will all work out. Relax and trust yourself.”
Repeat that in your mind every morning. Because the truth is, it all works out in the end. Put your full trust in yourself by following your intuition and doing your best, and then move forward one step at a time with faith and confidence in the future. Life will not forsake you. Love, persistence and hard work combined rarely lead a person astray in the long run.
If you have faith in your abilities, if you stay true to the path that feels right, if you channel your passion into action, you will ultimately achieve a breakthrough. In other words, as soon as you trust yourself you will know how to heal and grow.
2. Focus on what you’re learning. Mistakes and setbacks are simply a form of practice.
If the road is easy and free of bumps, you’re likely going the wrong way. The bumps in the road teach you what you need to know to progress down a paththat is all your own. Sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right. Sometimes you need to change a flat tire or two before you can move on.
Bottom line: Your journey isn’t supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be worth it. To never struggle is to never grow. There is no perfectly smooth road to anyplace worth going.
3. Ease your expectations. Life is under no obligation to give you exactly what you expect. Whatever it is you’re seeking will rarely ever come in the form you’re expecting. Don’t miss the silver lining because you were expecting gold.
You must see and accept things as they are instead of as you hoped, wished, or expected them to be. Just because it didn’t turn out like you had envisioned, doesn’t mean it isn’t exactly what you need to get to where you ultimately want to go.
4. Open up to someone you trust. You aren’t alone; let someone special in when you’re in a dark place. You know who this person is. Don’t expect them to solve your problems; just allow them to face your problems with you. Give them permission to stand beside you. They won’t necessarily be able to pull you out of the dark place you’re in, but the light that spills in when they enter will at least show you which way the door is.
Above all, the important thing to remember is that you are not alone. No matter how bizarre or embarrassed or pathetic you feel about our own situation, there is someone in your life who has dealt with similar emotions and who wants to help you. When you hear yourself say, “I am alone,” it’s just your insecurities trying to sell you a lie.
5. Use hope to drive positive action. Only in the dark can you see the stars. The stars are hope. Look for them.
The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope as you work for what you want. Do not admire what you hope for from a distance, but live right in it. Get deeply involved with the thoughts and activities that keep your hope alive and your intention possible.
No, hope alone will not save you from despair. Hope empowers you to strive and grow even when your circumstances are in shambles. The road that is built with hope is more pleasant than the road built in despair, even though they both may seem to lead you to the same place in the short-term. But it is the positive growth you attain on your way to this temporary place that will benefit your final destination.
It’s all about balance – accepting reality without giving up on what needs to be done to reach your desired destination in the long run.
6. Move TOWARDS something instead of AWAY. “Don’t think about eating that chocolate cookie!” What are you thinking about now? Eating that chocolate cookie, right? When you concentrate on not thinking about something, you end up thinking about it.
The same philosophy holds true when it comes to freeing your mind from a negative past. By persistently trying to move away from what you don’t want, you are forced to think about it so much that you end up carrying it’s weight along with you. But if you instead choose to focus your energy on moving toward something you do want, you naturally leave the negative weight behind as you progress forward.
Bottom line: Instead of concentrating on eliminating the negative, concentrate on creating something positive (that just happens to replace the negative).
7. Take a few steps back. Everything seems simpler from a distance. Sometimes you simply need to distance yourself to see things more clearly.
You are more than whatever is troubling you. A very real part of you exists beyond your worries, beyond your doubts, independent from the troubles and frustrations of the present moment. Step back and observe yourself as you experience each moment. Be present. Watch yourself as you think, as you take action, as you experience emotions. Your body may experience pain, and yet that pain is not you. Your mind may encounter troubles, and yet you are not those troubles.
Think of the most difficult challenge you face right now. Imagine that it’s not you, but a close friend who is facing this challenge. What advice would you give her? If you could step back and, instead of being the subject, look at your situation as an objective observer, would you look at it any differently? Think of the advice you would give your friend if your friend were in your shoes. Are you following your own best advice right now?
Don’t allow your current troubles to cloud your thinking. Take a few steps back and give yourself the benefit of this distance, and then give yourself some great advice.
8. Give yourself time. Take all the time you need. Emotional healing is a process; don’t rush yourself through it. Don’t let others force you through it either. Moving on doesn’t take a day; it takes lots of little steps to be able to break free of your broken past and your wounded self.
Take today breath by breath, one step at a time. Never let trouble from the past make you feel like you have a bad life now. Just because yesterday was painful doesn’t mean today will be too. Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us. Today you have a choice to explore these parts of yourself. Give yourself the needed time and permission to explore and heal.
9. Look for the beginning in every ending. A wise man once said, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” Today is a new beginning; treat it that way. Stop thinking about what might have been and starting looking at what can be.
Say to yourself: “Dear Past, thank you for all the life lessons you have taught me. Dear Future, I am ready now!” Because a great beginning always occurs at the exact moment you thought would be the end of everything.
Writer: Marc & Angel
T.I. and his Hustle Gang crew drop their first mixtape installment. This is sure to be bumpin in alot of whips!
French Montana is looking to take over the summer with his album "Excuse My French" dropping at the end of May. His first street anthem that is heating up is "I Ain't Worried About Nothin", this is sure to get crazy spins on the radio as we get closer to his album release
Your life story is an expression of who you are; the words you choose to use shape this story. Your words create the essence of your inner culture and the core of your identity and destiny.
How have you written your story so far? Have you put your words to positive use? If I eavesdropped on your self-talk or your conversations with others, would I hear statements that create happiness, or statements that refute it?
Your ability to write a happy life story hinges on your language. It is your inner and outer verbal expression that makes your joy possible and that infuses your life with purpose, meaning and vitality.
So today I challenge you to say…
1. “I have a choice.” It is not your talents or abilities, but your choices that ultimately decide your fate.
You ARE your choices.
Until you can look at yourself in the mirror and honestly say, “I have a choice. I am here now because of the choices I’ve made in the past,” you will never be able to say, “I choose differently.”
2. “Let’s get started!” You can’t build anything wonderful with ideas of what you are going to do someday. If you want something, you have to make a little noise, declare it andthen get started.
A goal is far more than a mental exercise. In fact, without the intent of action a goal is nothing more than a lie. Make your decisions real and present in your life; give them the time and attention they deserve.
In the end it doesn’t matter what you’re thinking, it matters what you’re doing. Whatever you want to accomplish, it’s time to get started.
3. “I have what it takes.” The worst enemy of today is your self-doubt. The moment you doubt whether you can do something is the moment it becomes impossible for you.
You have to believe in yourself. You have to trust yourself. You might be nervous, but don’t you ever let any source of negativity in the world convince you that you don’t have what it takes.
Give yourself a pep talk if you need one. State some facts, some evidence of your greatness. Recall your past victories. Speak them out loud – “I aced that test.” “I earned that big raise.” “I ran that 5K without stopping.” “My best friend loved my wedding speech.” And so on and so forth… Give a positive voice to your past victories and you will find the strength to repeat history.
4. “Hello, how can I help you?” In life, you get what you put in.
Generally speaking, the unhappiest people you will ever meet will be those who are utterly self-absorbed; the happiest people you will ever meet will be those who lose themselves in the joy and challenge of helping others.
Happiness is always attained by giving it away without expectation. Those who help others are eventually helped. You have two hands, one to help yourself and the other to help those around you. If you can lie down at night knowing in your heart that you made someone’s day just a little brighter, you have something to smile about.
5. “Look how far I’ve come.” The way you move a mountain is by moving one stone at a time. Every stone you move, no matter how small, is progress.
Sometimes it may be hard to see your progress. Sometimes it will be frustrating when the results you seek don’t appear as quickly as you had hoped. Still, you are advancing. You may be moving along slowly, but you are still moving a mountain.
Achievement, after all, is an enduring process, not a single event. To achieve any worthwhile goal you must cover a lot of ground. You need to learn what works by trial and error. You must explore possibilities, many of which will only show you what doesn’t work. Just keep in mind that the mistakes and setbacks are a vital part of the process.
Take a break every now and then and pat yourself on the back. Applaud yourself for doing what needs to be done. And be careful not to spend so much time looking at how far you still have to go, that you forget to appreciate how far you’ve already come.
6. “I have more than enough to be happy.” The happiest of people aren’t the luckiest, and they usually don’t have the best of everything either. They simply make the most of everything they do have. The reason so many people are unhappy is because they tend to look at what’s missing in their life, instead of what’s present.
Take a stand and flip the switch. Stop wishing you had more. Stop wishing you were somewhere else. Stop wishing you looked like someone else. Love your quirks enough to let them shine. Appreciate your body and use it to it’s full potential. Appreciate the things you have that so many others dream about. Scream it out loud if you must: “I am lucky to be alive! I am happy to be me right now! I have way more than I need and so much to be grateful for! My life isn’t perfect, it’s just pretty darn good!”
7. “ … ” That blank space denoted by “ … ” is no mistake. That space represents silence.
Silence is soothing. Silence is peace. Silence is divine.
The more silent you are, the more you can hear yourself think.
Have you ever heard the silence just before the sun peaks over the horizon? Or the hush of a country road at midnight? Or the peaceful calm just after a thunderstorm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence in the back of your city library, or the eager pause of an auditorium full of people when the lights dim for the main event, or, best of all, the moment just after the front door shuts and you suddenly have the whole house to yourself?
Each silent moment is different, yet all are beautiful if you listen carefully. Leave enough space in your day to enjoy the space between the commotions. Say nothing, think quietly, just be and breathe.
Writer: Marc
Monaco could soon become home to the world’s most expensive penthouse. This luxury penthouse is set on top of the Tour Odean building, which will be the Mediterranean coastline’s second tallest building. Prominent names are involved in this project; Dreamed up by architect Alexander Giraldi in a style inspired by belle epoque design , the responsibility for the apartment interiors has been given to the Alberto Pinto agency ,while grounds are being done up by landscape architect Jean Mus. The construction started back in 2009 and is expected to be complete by July 2014.
Soaring to 170m, on its completion in 2014, Tour Odéon will be the tallest building in Monaco and one of the tallest residential towers in Europe. A limited number of luxurious private residences are available for purchase within the tower, benefitting from unprecedented 360° views over the sea and the Principality, to be enjoyed through floor-to-ceiling windows and from expansive private terraces.
Residences will feature the very highest quality finishes and fixtures, including home automation and fully equipped kitchens and bathrooms. Alberto Pinto, one of Europe’s foremost interior designers, has been commissioned to design and decorate interiors of exceptional elegance and comfort.
Owners will benefit from a comprehensive array of on-site services and amenities, including spa and leisure facilities, state-of-the-art business centre, select retail boutiques and 24-hour concierge.
• 93.03 – 650.28 sqm
• Leisure Facilities
• 24hr security
• Balcony
• New Build
• Waterview
• Swimming Pool
• Terrace
• International Development
• Freehold
Pusha T drops his infamous "Trust You" video, this video is sure to heat up the streets.
For my 17th birthday, many moons ago, my grandfather on my mom’s side gave me four used flannel shirts that he no longer needed. The shirts were lightly worn and in great shape; my grandfather told me he thought they would look great on me. Unfortunately, I thought they were odd gifts at the time and I wasn’t thankful. I looked at him skeptically, gave him a crooked half-smile, and moved on to the other gifts sitting in front of me. My grandfather died two days later from a sudden heart attack. The flannel shirts were the last gifts he ever gave me. I regret the small thing I didn’t say when I had the chance – “Thank you Grandpa. That’s so thoughtful of you.”
As you can imagine, this was a huge wake-up call for me.
Here are eight wake-up calls for you – a few important lessons worth learning before it’s too late:
1. You might not have tomorrow to say, “I love you.”
About a decade ago a coworker of mine died in a car accident. During his funeral several people from the office were in tears, saying kind things like: “I loved him. We all loved him so much. He was such a wonderful person.” I started crying too, and I wondered if these people had told him that they loved him while he was alive, or whether it was only with death that this powerful word, love, had been used without question or hesitation.
I vowed to myself then and there that I would never again hesitate to speak up to the people I love and remind them of how much I appreciate them. They deserve to know they give meaning to my life. They deserve to know I think the world of them.
Bottom line: If you love someone today, tell them. If you appreciate someone today, tell them. There might not be a tomorrow. Today is the day to express your love and admiration.
2. Your judgments of others are inaccurate.
You will never know exactly what another person is going through or what their whole story is. When you believe you do, realize that your assumptions about their life are in direct relation to your limited perspective.
Many people you believe to be successful are extremely unhappy. Many people you think have it easy worked their tail off achieve what they have. Many people who appear to be wealthy are in debt because of their extravagant tastes for material possessions. Many people who appear to you to be old and uncool were once every bit as young and hip and inexperienced as you.
3. Not trying is why most people fail.
It’s not the mistakes and failures you have to worry about, it’s the opportunities you miss when you don’t even try that hurt you the most. Trying always leads to success regardless of the outcome. Even mistakes and failures teach you what not to do next time. Thus, every outcome is a lesson that makes you stronger and wiser.
In the end, there’s only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the failure to try. The results you achieve are not based on what you plan to do or what you say you’ll do. Your results come from what you actually TRY and DO.
4. Patience does not mean waiting and doing nothing.
Patience involves productive activity. It means doing your very best with the resources available to you, while understanding that the results you seek are worth the required time and effort, and not available elsewhere for any less time and effort.
Patience is the realization that the quality of your life is much more significant than the quantity of things you fill it with. Patience is your willingness to accept and appreciate what you have right now, while you put forth a steady, focused effort into growing toward your dreams and goals.
5. You don’t need anything more to be happy.
Intuitively, you already know that the best stuff in life isn’t stuff at all, and that relationships, experiences and meaningful work are the staples of a happy, fulfilling life. Yet you live in a consumer driven society where your mind is incessantly subjected to clever advertising ploys that drive you, against your better judgment, to buy material goods you don’t need or even want.
At a certain point, the needless material objects you buy crowd out the emotional needs advertisers would like you to believe they are meant to support. So next time you’re getting ready to make an impulsive purchase, ask yourself if this thing is really better than the things you already have. Or have you been momentarily tricked into believing that you’re dissatisfied with what you already have?
6. You aren’t perfect, and neither is anyone else.
All humans are imperfect. At times, the confident lose confidence, the patient misplace their patience, the generous act selfish, and the knowledgeable second guess what they know.
And guess what? You’re human and so am I – we all are. We make mistakes, we lose our tempers, and we get caught off guard. We stumble, we slip, and we spin out of control sometimes.
But that’s the worst of it; we all have our moments. Most of the time we’re remarkable. So stand beside the people you love through their trying times of imperfection, and offer yourself the same courtesy; if you aren’t willing to, you don’t deserve to be around for the perfect moments either.
7. All the small things make a big difference.
Life isn’t about a single moment of great triumph and attainment. It’s about the trials and errors that get you there – the blood, sweat, and tears – the small, inconsequential things you do every day. It all matters in the end – every step, every regret, every decision, and every affliction.
The seemingly useless happenings add up to something. The minimum wage job you had in high school. The evenings you spent socializing with coworkers you never see anymore. The hours you spent writing thoughts on a personal blog that no one reads. Contemplations about elaborate future plans that never came to be. All those lonely nights spent reading novels and news columns and comics strips and fashion magazines and questioning your own principles on life and sex and religion and whether or not you’re good enough just the way you are.
All of this has strengthened you. All of this has led you to every success you’ve ever had. All of this has made you who you are today.
8. Excuses are lies.
Make no mistake, there is always a lie lingering in between a dream and too many excuses. And the lie is you lying to yourself.
The excuses and explanations won’t do you any good. They won’t add any value to your life or improve the quality of it by even the slightest margin. To fulfill your calling and get where you wish to go in life requires more than just thinking and talking. These feats require focused and sustained action. And the good news is, you’re perfectly capable of taking whatever actions are necessary. You just have to choose to actually do it.
No one else can succeed for you on your behalf. The life you live is the life you build for yourself. There are so many possibilities to choose from, and so many opportunities for you to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Now is the moment to actually step forward.
Writer: Marc
Kendrick Lamar has been blessed wit King Hov jumping on his smooth track "B*tch Don't Kill My Vibe(Remix)" and Jay did not disappoint.
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