Who Is KleanKicks?

Many know me by the screen name, few know the actual person behind it. So I figured I'd make a quick entry about, well, yours truly. I was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee (although I claim Memphis), and I spent 20 of my 22 years of living on earth in that little piece of country. I've always had a passion for music, one that touches my heart and soul. Fashion and the arts are also two other passions of mine, but nothing can touch the love I have for music. From a young age I remember always being drawn to the likes of Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke, Kool G Rap, Eightball & MJG, Luther Vandross etc etc. Basically, I loved everything these narrow-minded country folk disliked. Growing up I was always labeled a "wigger" or "that white guy who sits at the black table at lunch". Whether it be ciphers in the morning before the first bell, or hanging out in the parking lot after the last bell, I was always perceived to be something before they got to know the person behind the assumptions. My mother got her start teaching in one of the poorer parts of town, she would have to take kids home because either their fathers were locked up or their mothers were too drunk or strung out to get them themselves...or both of the above. Due to this, throughout the years she would have kids that looked to her as a mother figure and in return, I made close friends that I grew up with through middle school and through high school that I still have to this day. The mentality as a white youth in Tennessee that I had was drastically different that the norm. I understood struggle, I understood poverty and I was always color-blind towards any and everybody that came my way. Never passed judgement. Unlike the majority of the white kids I was friends with and grew up with. Don't get anything twisted, I had plenty of white friends as well, but they wouldn't come sit with me when I was at the "black table" or when I was around majority people of color. Of course, unless it was the handful of black kids they considered "cool" because they either played for the basketball team, or they dressed more like them and talked more like they did.

I simply couldn't take that mentality much longer. I tried the college route after high school, and after a whole semester and a half, as I sat in my dorm at the University of Memphis, I realized I simply can't do this shit. Not that I wasn't smart enough, it just wasn't for me. So I dropped out and spent the next 6 months working full time and saving money to pursue a dream. Fast forward to Summer of 2006, and after many discussions with my family, I packed everything I had and made that 17 hour drive up to NYC. No family. No friends. I came up there with nothing more than hopes and dreams. I had a rude welcoming and met heartbreak at the door and that dampened my initial experience in a new area. Through friends and family I made it through the darker times in my life and persevered through it all. I owe them all everything. Fast forward again to the present day, and I look back with no regrets at all. I've been across the country, met a lot of interesting people, and most importantly, gained friendships that to me, feel more like family. All of the Fontaines, I hold close to me like family. I had nothing coming up here and throughout it all they each have been there for me when I needed them, and I love the hell out of them for that. I can't express that enough. 

Who knows what the future holds, but I'm prepared for it and staring it right in the face. It's all or nothing. Take risks, follow your heart and follow your dreams. Who knows where it may take you.

One love.