Zoe 4 Life You’re Going To Jail Now Rap Contest Winner Cole Mize

“If you make the most of what you have you never know where it may take you.”

I recently had the great opportunity of taking a 1 week trip to Zoe 4 Life in California. How does a “country white boy” from a small town in Georgia end up on the complete opposite side of the states? Well It all started when my wife and I had traveled out of town to Augusta Georgia for her brothers wedding. The night we arrived we slept at her brothers place which might I add had virtually no furniture. As my wife and I setup our blow up mattress in the living room which was nothing but a room; I just so happened to look at my Youtube feed on my phone and noticed a video from an organization called Zoe 4 Life that was letting everyone know that their “You’re Going to Jail Now” rap contest was being extended for another month. I had came across their earlier promotion for the contest but was to busy meeting a tight deadline for one of my clients albums. But when I realized they had extended it I remember thinking “I have to submit something to this”. I felt like I owed it to myself because I had been letting a lot of opportunities pass me by because I was not making any time for myself and was only making time to work on other peoples stuff.

So I committed to entering into the contest. Not to compete with anyone, or to prove myself better that anyone else but to take advantage of great opportunity that another person was so generous to offer. The winner of this contest was going to win a round trip to Cali, a performance slot for Zoe 4 Life  “Vision” album release concert which was hosted by the 106 n park freestyle champion Jin, 4 songs “beats provided” to record and have mixed and mastered at their professional recording studio, a photo shoot, video shoot and a shopping spree!! That’s awesome right? In the middle of my hectic schedule I managed to submit my verse directly on the deadline. It was due by Christmas eve and I literally had to stay up all night finishing  my verse and recording in order to meet the deadline. I didn’t get any sleep and went straight from recording to jetting off to work my part time job.

Long story short about a month transpired and I just assumed I didn’t make the cut. Lo and behold I received a mention on twitter saying me and another contestant by the name of DOMSPIT tied in first place out of 60 other rappers and peoples votes would determine who wins first place.  After about 1 month of voting I ended up winning. I said all that to say, that’s how a “country white boy” from a small town in Georgia ends up in Cali. No but seriously the point I want to make is this. Once you have worked hard at something and have prepared for it you still have to make the effort to take advantage of opportunities once they present themselves. At first I wasn’t going to enter because of time restraints and doubt that I would not have a chance in winning. Because I’ve never been that guy that enters contests and wins. I’m used to being the guy that gets overlooked because I don’t try to draw a lot of attention to myself and I believe that any interest in me should happen naturally and not by me hyping myself up. But I pushed through and made sacrifices to make sure I didn’t let another opportunity pass me by. If i’m going to fail at something I rather fail at trying than failing by not making any attempt at all.

Oddly what I was most excited about concerning my trip to Cali was not the prizes I won but it was the people I was going to meet. Going to Cali is cool but I’ve learned places are not what makes a place enjoyable or not it is the people you are around; people set the tone for the environment. Even tho I won the contest Zoe 4 Life was  still generous enough to allow the runner up to come out to Cali for the week as well; which I thought was really cool. Me and DOMSPIT hit it off great and ended up writing a song together that Monday and preforming the same song that Friday at Zoe 4 Life “Vision” album release party; “No pressure right? lol”. I thought that it was pretty cool that two people who was in a competition together was able to unite from different parts of the U.S , come together and support one another like we did.

In closing I just wanted to say this. Don’t get so caught up in doing for others that you loose sight of what you are suppose to be doing for you and you’re family. Work hard and give everything you do your all but have enough restraints to know when to pull back and give yourself the attention you need. If you neglect and deprive yourself you will not be in a position to be much help to others. Dream big and work diligently toward them as you support and help others in any means that is feasible along the way. Never loose sight that other people matter most and it is healthy to our character to genuinely serve others. I just want to take a moment to thank Pastor E and everyone at Zoe 4 Life for their generosity, love & support. Zoe 4 Life is constantly creating opportunities for others and supporting  people who are trying to do something positive with their lives. I am only one recipient in the midst of many others and I am truly grateful for it! My trip to Cali was a wonderful experience filled with many laughs, great fellowship & good food. And I have a feeling I will be returning again one day. Thank you all for your support!! and if you are still reading this… thank you for your time and patience as you have been reading my novel like blog. I hope your eyes aren’t strained to much. 🙂 Much love, grace and peace to you all!  Sincerely – Cole Mize

Zoe 4 Life