RaYz Blizzog

Are we friends on Facebook?

Myspace?
myspace.com/djrayz408

I have noticed that I tend to ask a lot of questions about people I meet to learn more about them hoping that I would find out more about myself in return. In the process of finding out about people, I just realized that I never shared my experiences with my friends.

I tend to live in the moment and I don’t focus too much on my past. I have my moments when I reflect upon the past and put my life puzzle together. This seems to be one of them and I figured what a perfect opportunity to share it with my friends.

1.) I used to be really shy & pessimistic upon entering college. I am now more outgoing and optimistic.

2.) I have a very cool scar on the right side of my face because there was a cancerous growth that had to be removed when I was 11. I had to rock a funky patch on the side of my face for a month during middle school.

3.) I sleep on the living room floor and have been doing it for the past 9 years because my house has 3 rooms with 5 people. I don’t even have my own room.

4.) I love sitting down and listening to all types of people no matter how old or young they are.

5.) I love electronics & love helping people figure them out.

6.) My high school Spanish teacher forever changed my life about traveling and exploring the world. I totally want to go out and explore tons of countries and learn new languages.

7.) My first language was Spanish. I learned English when I started Kindergarden.

8.) I’ve probably taken & repeated more college English classes than anyone I know. Failed 6 times & Passed 3…I took remedial English for 2 semesters at SJSU. Took English 1A @ SJSU for 3 semesters and never passed. Took English 1A at SJCC for 1 semester and failed. I finally passed English 1A in Winter 2007. Took English 1B two times at SJCC and dropped each semester. “I lub engrish.”

9.) I always wanted to learn Algebra in Middle School but my 7th grade math teacher never let me take the classes because she thought I was dumb. To prove her wrong in High School I took Algebra 1 freshman year and ended up passing the Calculus AB & BC AP Exams.

10.) I’ve always wanted to play the clarinet or trumpet but my elementary school ran out so I played the flute up until Freshman year in high school.

11.) I wore size 12 shoes when I was 12 and all my teachers asked about my feet and what I was eating. I now wear size 14’s and have a hard time finding shoes.

12.) I still want to live, work, and survive in Europe for 1 year while learning French & German.

13.) I tend not to get mad at people or situations. I stay calm 99.9% of the time. I tend to be really forgiving & loyal to my friends.

14.) I almost drowned 2 different times. Once at a baseball pool party when I was 10. One of my friends brother dove in and pushed me out of the pool to save me. The other time was at Raging Waters when I was 8 in the endless river. A really hot life guard lady came and saved me. Now I’ve learned how to swim and love water.

15.) I’ve never been out on a boat in the ocean or in the bay and I badly want to go. I have a trip already planned this summer!

16.) Sadly I’ve only seen & played in the snow twice my whole life. I’ve been meaning to take some trips to the Sierra’s in the winter but I’ve been busy. I am hoping that I’ll be able to go check it out more often.

17.) I was physically and emotionally abused as a child. This put a weird cloud on my perception & thinking up until college.

18.) I tend to be very organized and clean. I always cleaned up after my brother and I started sleeping in the living room to not deal with his mess.

19.) I love to go out and drive anywhere just to get lost & explore new places. I don’t care how much gas cost I find lots of value in driving out anywhere. From seeing the sunset in the mountains, beach, to driving to Oakland without highways.

20.) I got the award “1st Team – All League” for pitching in High School when I was a Sophomore. My dad had me playing baseball since I was 4 and I developed pin point accuracy & consistency. I ended up quitting junior year because I hated my coaches & playing baseball all together.

21.) I have tons of patience. I believe that people tend to make situations boring in their head.

22.) I’ve starred directly at the sun for 7 seconds before.

23.) I got into skateboarding after playing a bootleg beta version of Tony Hawks Pro Skater six months before it was released in the US.

24.) I’ve purposely never prioritized relationships in my life thus never having one last for more than 6 months.

25.) I didn’t plan on attending my high school prom but I got asked out because the girl’s date had flaked last minute and she didn’t want to go alone.

26.) I never knew what I wanted to be when I was in elementary school. My teachers always kept asking me and said they would stop asking once I told them. I told them I wanted to be an engineer because a smart kid in my class had said it.

27.) I used to be addicted to movies, TV, & video games in high school. I went from watching 8 hours of TV a day to not even turning on the TV, skipping out on tons of movies, & stopped playing most video games.

28.) Successfully stopped drinking soda for over 1 year and will continue this for the rest of my life.

29.) I was deeply depressed for 2 years. When reflecting back on my life I realized I came away with some of the greatest life lessons. I now enjoy every day I have on Earth & love sharing and helping everyone (even random people I meet for the 1st time).

30.) This is pretty personal…ladies say I am a passionate kisser.

Thank you for being around in my life. Even if it was one second or a lifetime you have helped shape my life journey in some weird little way.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I am happy to report that I am loosing weight! I’ve recently made a decision to make a solid effort to lose weight. I have been scared of being overweight long enough to catch diabetes (since it runs in my family). Since Wii Fit came out, I figured it wont hurt to give it a shot and see where it can take me.

According to Wii Fit since July i’ve lost 22.5lbs! I am still losing weight every couple of weeks.

Check out how sexy I used to be…
July 16th, 2008 – 258.4 lbs.

Now look how sexy I am after WiiFit, riding my bike around town, more active sex life, & more beer! j/k
December 3, 2007 – 235.9 lbs

Total loss: 22.5lbs!

Who needs to pay over $80 a month and a bunch of b/s gym membership fee’s if you can just use that $80 and buy a WiiFit. I know in the long run WiiFit will be helping me lose this weight, keep me away from diabetes, lower blood pressure, keep me balanced, strengthen my back muscles, help me get more girls, and the list keeps growing.

Thank you Nintendo for making something useful instead of having me sit on a couch all day and rot. The good karma will revolve around Nintendo for getting tons of kids and people like me off their ass to do something besides sit down and twiddle our thumbs.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Lately in my life I have been reflecting about a bunch of the choices I have been making and trying to see where they will get me in the long run. I love music and I am highly intrigued by the people who make it. In the process of reflecting back on my life, I have also been getting inspired by watching tons of youtube videos of producers who’ve broke into where they want to be. Producers like, 88-keys, J-Dilla, Kanye West, Dj Premier, RZA, Dj Khalil, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, Pharrell, Timbaland, Dj Shadow, and many others. I would really like to be a great producer. I feel that in order to be a great producer I would have to find information on people who are already established at being masters of their craft. In the process of doing that I have taken their collective advice, knowledge, and work ethic and combined it into 5 elements I kept seeing in their videos.

Set realistic goals/vision for yourself

This is a step I have noticed that a lot of up and coming producers overlook. I am truly serious about becoming an established producer in the future. I have realized that I can’t make the hottest record over night and that it takes time to develop my ear for good music. Even if I do make a nice pop record and get my 15 mins of fame, what else will I be worth for?

Realistically looking at my life, two years ago I wasn’t on the path to developing my musical skills. I was stuck working a full time job with tons of over time and I never had time or energy to get on my keyboard to make a beat. In my battle for the top of the corporate ladder, my inner conscious kicked in and reminded me of what was realistically going on. The conflict: my investment into my job vs my goal of becoming a producer. The time spent working at my job took away from what I really wanted. I needed to change the direction of where my life was going because my soul was being split apart. I ended up putting in my two weeks and re-enrolling into school full time.

I feel that the more knowledge you know, the more someone else can’t take advantage of you or push you around. The goal of re-enrolling into school was to get my mind out of survival mode (working to get money and hoping for the best) and into a more inquisitive mode (questioning everything). Out of doing that I expect to build a good foundation for the things I do in the future and have a lasting impact in the field I passionately care about.

My goal is to become an established producer. What I mean by “established” is that as time progresses I hope to learn new things in music and keep updating my formulas for making good music. A good example is the transformation of Timbaland. He has stood the test of time and kept updating his formulas to stay current.

Develop the skills you’ll need to reach your dream/goal

Pete Rock and Dj Shadow have dedicated their whole lives to find good music in rugged basements, record shops, garage sales, etc. all for the love of what they do. They didn’t realize that their habit of finding good music would eventually lead them into reviving classic sounds for people to nod their heads to.

Other producers work on learning the basics of sound, rhythm, melody, and notes so that they can put what they hear in their head into a song.

I am working on developing my skills with learning how to play the piano and learning how to recognize different pitches. I would also like to have a better understanding of how chords and keys work so that I will be able to recognize why I like certain samples or songs and why I don’t like others. Another skill I need to develop is how to better chop up samples from a record and re-create something better. I feel that if I build up these basic skills, they will help set a good foundation for the future things I will learn in music.

Emulate a style of music you like.

Very few producers mentioned this in their interviews, because they might have established the habit of naturally doing it all the time. I think this is an important step into learning about new things on production and art.

I feel a deep need to break down my favorite songs and figure out how the producer put the track together. Every time I reflect back on my favorite songs, there has always been some type of element that drew me to liking the song. Once I break apart the song I have a greater appreciation and understanding of the song and the producers style. 

The next step is going into the studio and trying to re-create the elements that captured me. After doing that, it gives me a greater perspective in the music I like to make.

Explore new genres of music.

I feel this is what will separate the average producer from great producers. I used to be one of those people who would mention “I like all types of music…except for country.” I think I said it because of peer pressure and the fact that I was too scared to explore other genres of music.

Music is one of the most universal unspoken languages around the world. A song made by someone in the United States can have a great impact in someone else’s life in another part of the world. Good music is in every corner and ghetto in the world. My goal of exploring and listening to new genres of music will open my mind to new sound experiences and it will help me with songs I produce in the future. 

Honesty

This last and crucial human behavior is what will make someone stand out amongst all the madness. The industry is full of people who are out to make a quick buck off of someone else’s hard work. Some people will say anything in order to fulfill their paper chase.

My feelings are that being honest to myself and to everyone around me will create a good environment for the people I do business with. I feel that honesty will attract other hard working people who have similar goals and integrity about their work. Thus creating a strong bond with talented individuals for future projects. Honesty can go a long way in any area and will make someone stand out above and beyond many individuals in the same field.

I am an up and coming producer and I feel that by sharing my insights and goals it will be able to inspire other people to follow their passion and dreams. If we dream big and keep in check with where our life is going, we can create our future successes.

Dj RaYz

Popularity: 13% [?]