Son of the lead singer of the Original Drifters(Harriel Jackson) Born into a family of musicians. Mister Souf Cak produces, writes, and publishes his own productions. Follow on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. www.twitter.com/MisterSoufCak www.facebook.com/mistersoufcak www.myspace.com/mistersoufcak wwwmyspace.com/mrsoufcak E-mail @ mistersoufcak@gmail.com *FOR BOOKING, OR ANY BUSINESS VENTURES* My Life: Then and Now My life has been a journey full of self discovery. I have made enough mistakes over time to learn from them. Through this paper I will give you a glimpse of how life’s influences have affected me. I will explain what I remember from my childhood, my hobbies, what I wanted to become when I grew up, and what would make me happy in the future. My Childhood Memories I was born March 14th, 1981 in Sumter, South Carolina to a single parent. I am the youngest of three children. At the age of one, my family and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Between 1982 and 1987 we moved around the city of Atlanta a lot. We finally settled in the Decatur, Georgia area. My mother and father were never married, but we always kept in contact with him. Growing up in a single parent home did not affect me like it may have affected others. Having my older brother and sister with me is what made me happiest. At the age of six, I began to spend summers with my father. He sang lead in a group called Bill Pinkney and The Original Drifters. He took my brother and me on the road with them while they toured from city to city. This allowed me the privilege of seeing how things worked within the entertainment industry. I helped set up the stage before performances. The drum set was my favorite instrument. While the group performed, my brother and I relaxed in the suite and ordered room service. Any thing we asked for was delivered right away. My Life 3 I admit that I went over board. This was my first experience of what life would be like as an entertainer. My Hobbies Like most of the kids in my day, I enjoyed trading cards. The first card I received was a Julius Erving card from my older cousin. He told me that the card would be worth a lot of money some day. Once I learned the value of trading cards, I stopped using them on my bicycle tire to make that cool sound that a motorcycle makes. I became a serious collector of sports cards. I learned the stats of players and became more interested in who was the best at that current time. Basketball became my favorite sport. I collected Football and Baseball cards as well, but at a later time period. At breakfast time, the school would give us all a new trading card each morning. Basketball seemed to be the sport that I had the most natural ability to play. I enjoyed going to school and playing basketball with my classmates. While at recess, rather than playing on the monkey bars or swinging on the swing sets, I preferred being with the people on the basketball court. I got better with each dribble, rebound, and shot. I did not know that recreational sports existed back then, so I did not play regulation ball until my 6th grade year. I got compared to some of the great professional players of their time like Michael Jordan and Gary Payton. I admired both players as well. My friend invited me to try out for an AAU team for which he played. I made the team. We toured the south eastern regions competing with teams from neighboring states. I started the majority of the games at the point guard position. Playing the position carries a lot of responsibility. My Life 4 I gained experience over the next two years and took it to my school team. I started for them the whole season. My popularity grew tremendously. I still enjoy playing basketball. Music is something that I find therapeutic. I enjoy singing and writing lyrics. I started writing music at the age of nine. My favorite musician during that time period was Big Daddy Kane. I liked his apparel and what he stood for. Writing my own lyrics came with ease at an early age. The older I got the more I became involved with the production and recording side of things. I have notebooks filled with my thoughts. I use them as often as possible. I can honestly say that I am an original because all of my music has to do with my life experiences. I fall under the artistic category.(Holland, 1992) I have always been creative. My Childhood Aspirations At a young age I realized that people do not always become what they planned to as adults. We say that people have dreams or aspirations. My first dream was to be Mr. T. About two months of trying to be Mr. T. was enough for me to realize that being Mr. T. would not make me any money. A more realistic dream of mine was to play basketball professionally. Naturally, I was pretty good at the sport. I worked extra hard to better my skill. I would not allow my team mates or opponent to out work me. I truly believe that God gave me the talented skill of playing basketball. So anything I would do for fun revolved around basketball and music. I quit playing basketball my sophomore year. My Life 5 The first person to teach me music was my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Hooker. She purchased each student an instrument called a recorder. It’s similar to a flute. I learned how to read and write composed music from her. I took a band course playing the trumpet during my 6th grade year. I participated in Chorus until my 9th grade year. My brother gave me a beat machine in 1995. I began making beats to go with my lyrics that I saved over the years. I joined a group of my fellow students in forming a rap group called South Carolina’s Finest. We are no longer a group. I got the solo name “KrazyK” from them. The meaning behind the name is that, my first name is Kwesi and it rhymes with crazy. I purposely misspelled crazy with a K and that is how I got the name “KrazyK”. I have changed it since to “Mister Souf Cak”. Souf Cak is a nickname people came up with for South Carolina. I currently perform under this stage name worldwide. I have a CD out call “What Da Word Is.”(Dukes. K., 2008) It can be found online at Amazon or Itunes. While growing up, I noticed that certain areas did not have what some others may. One area had a pool, while another had a recreational facility. If people were not from that area, they were denied access to the site. I felt something was wrong with the situation. By researching, I found that there are people who write petitions and fight for a change in such matters. I participate in Earth Day each year. Humanitarians are people that devote time as well as physical effort in correcting a deed that may be seen as wrong to those directly affected. I personally always wanted to help the environment as well as others. The Katrina catastrophe is something I partook in helping to clean up hands on. My Life 6 Now that the Gulf Coast is in great danger, I verbally voice my views on the situation awaiting the appropriate clean up of the environment. “While BP's runaway well may finally be capped and oil is disappearing from the Gulf of Mexico, Dean Blanchard's shrimp scales are still idle at his processing plant in Grand Isle, Louisiana.” (Agence France-Presse, 2010) At this current time I am not physically capable of helping due to my location. The older I get the more involved I become. What Will Make Me Happy In The Future Up until two months ago, I had no idea of what I truly planned to do for my career. Being an aspiring musician does not pay very much at first. Who one knows, helps in the entertainment industry. Venue providers are not known for paying a musician that has yet to build, or any proof of a fan base. I personally have worked with artists who have a great following and those who have no idea of where to begin. The ones who lack knowledge usually get overlooked. I have the skill and knowledge of my talent. I am working each day to secure financial backing for doing so. My plan right now is not to retire. I just want to be paid for doing what I do best. I promote myself each day with the same mannerism, to each individual. I would love to be a household name. I have fans in places I have yet to visit. By knowing this fact, I feel a lot more confident in my mission to become a household name. So far, every aspect of the music business I have been acquainted with, I have personally financed. If I can secure financial stability in the future, I feel I will have success. Until I reach my goal, I will not stop doing what is required to meet that goal.