THIS YEAR PRESS - Diligence Personified: June 2007

The Grand Hustle K.I.N.G. Foundation (Kids in Need of Giving) in partnership with IT’S COOL TO BE SMART kicked off their summer Education Tour “How I Can Change the Music Industry” Real Talk Series on June 11th in Philadelphia.

Atlantic Records and Grand Hustle General, TI made a surprising appearance at the Harambee Institute (Charter School) to talk to an overly excited, yet extremely attentive crowd of impressionable students.

“There’s a lot of lessons about morals, standards and principles that young men in the hood, like myself don’t get a chance to learn,” TI said to the young men in attendance. “All that we know is violence; but violence is hardly ever the answer; it’s close to never the answer. You have to put thought to it – sleep on it. 9 times out of 10, if you got a problem with somebody, if you don’t catch them when you’re mad – when two to three days go by, it’s over with. Imagine if you react quickly and you have to spend the rest of your life paying for it – it’s just not worth it. You have to learn how to let things go; how to respect one another. You never know who you may need in the future.”

“Now where are the young ladies at,” TI asks to gain attention from the girls in attendance. “Now I know that you hear a lot from the music; I know that you watch a lot of the videos and you see a lot going happening on television – but I’m going to tell you first hand. ENTERTAINMENT is different from REAL LIFE. Just because you see things happening on television that is done by people to be in the ENTERTAINMENT industry, doesn’t mean that it’s suitable in REAL LIFE. The clothes that you see these young ladies wearing on TV, don’t think that they are wearing that everyday because it doesn’t go down like that. People will always treat you the way that you present yourself. So if you treat yourself like an upstanding young lady, people will treat you like an upstanding young lady.”

IT’S COOL TO BE SMART’s goal is to provide teen girls with an opportunity to shadow professional women and show a different side of the industry. The Grand Hustle K.I.N.G. Foundation (Kids In Need of Giving), Inc. seeks to provide support to high-risk children, adolescents, and their families in underserved communities. And together, “How I Can Change the Music Industry” Real Talk Series focuses on youth writing down their questions and opinions on having the opportunity of becoming a musical artist but making positive changes in their communities.