If no one ever looks at you funny, you’re not maximizing your potential.

“I wear khakis, while y’all wear silk, y’all drink 40s and I drink milk.” –Ice-T

In 1987, LL Cool J’s “I Need Love,” a track that dominated my middle school cafeteria. All the boys and girls at Portola Junior High loved it. The Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Your Right” was the only rap track on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1987; hip hop was moving in a pop direction at the time.

Ice-T rejected this mold. He took a fearless career leap, and his risk changed the genre, and his life, forever. It’s not a stretch to call NWA the pioneers of “Gangster Rap,” and Cube, Dre, Eazy and the crew deserve a great deal of the love for bringing us ground breaking work. A year before they hit the mainstream scene, Ice-T released his debut album, Rhyme Pays.  “6’n The Mornin’” introduced us to a man running from the Los Angeles police:

Fuckin’ blue lights L.A. P.D

Pigs searched our car, their day was made

Found allmenn uzi, 44 and a handgranade

Nobody was spitting lyrics like this. To be fair, NWA and the Posse (pre-NWA) released a collection of tracks in 1987 with a similar LA feel before their widespread release, Straight Outta Compton. Ice-T, however, was the one to make the first real dent in the brains of hip-hop heads everywhere.

Independent of who deserves credit for the intro to the shocking (at the time) style, going to market with profanity and violence had an uncertain outcome. Ice-T courted peril, but came out on top. He wasn’t content to alter the future of one style of music. Later in his career, he tried his hand at thrash punk with his band, Body Count. His success with this venture was much more limited. Here’s a review from allmusic.com highlighting his perceived failure:

Divorced from the controversy that surrounded its release, Body Count’s self-titled debut is a surprisingly tepid affair. Apart from the previously released “Body Count” (which appeared on Ice-T’s 1991 album O.G. Original Gangster), the record is devoid of serious commentary, trading intelligence for a lurid comic book depiction of sex, violence, and “Voodoo.” All of Ice-T’s half-sung/half-shouted lyrics fall far short of the standard he established on his hip-hop albums.

Not a smooth transition. Life would be uninteresting if there were no bumps in the road. How lovely is the feeling when your wheels hit the deliciousness of freshly laid concrete after skateboarding over rough asphalt?

I can sign off and leave this as a music review, right? No, you want more? Okay, here we go.

Ice-T is an actor. He could have been any type of artist. He had the skillset to release party music and would have fit in better if he had. I’d probably not be blasting his tracks as I write. He could have worn silk. He wore khakis while his world donned sequins. Because he took those chances, his career flourishes even as he moves into his late 50s.

In my day to day life, I take those personal risks. I swing and miss. I fail often.  Not once, but over and over. Here’s how it has happened in my baseball, television and writing work.

1. As a professional baseball player, I exposed myself by openly focusing on weight training and strict nutritional practices. My teammates made fun of me constantly. They put donuts in my locker. Curt Schilling mentioned sit-ups in every conversation he had with me. I love Schill.

2. On television, I cite advanced metrics in analyzing baseball. This is not the norm for ex ballplayers, who generally speak in catchy clichés. Executives and baseball fans accept this, but it’s not how my brain works. Sometimes, I struggle to get my words out or to articulate my thoughts in a digestible fashion. This can make me appear unpolished. I chance that so I can teach folks about a more scientific approach to devouring the sport I love passionately.

3. I am not a traditionally educated man. No big deal, just a fact. I struggled to graduate from high school. I went to my junior college courses just so I could play baseball. I still write every day, despite my non-existent classical training. Sometimes I use slang or vocabulary that forces the reader to work a bit harder. I do this to share my love of words. I expose myself by choosing topics that you may or may not appreciate. I have some unpopular takes. I may get judged for them. If I do, so be it. I’m willing to take that risk. The reward is great. I feel empowered. I may touch a man or woman in a business suit with a tattoo just beneath the collar. Perhaps you blasted “Fuck the Police” in your bedroom as a kid, too. We all learn our life lessons differently.

Fear of looking silly in front of people will stifle you. You may be safer and minimize your risk, but your ceiling will be substantially lower. Looking foolish isn’t so bad. In fact, if you’re not consistently stumbling, you’re probably not doing much traveling. Ask Ice.

Be you,

Kap