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6/26/2007: Ron Artest Journal What's up? The season's over. We didn't win the championship like I predicted. That was a little disappointing. The season was a failure to me with not winning a championship. I had to get right back in the gym and see what I can do to help my team win a championship. I've been focused on that and I've been taking care of my kids. They're doing excellent. They're in school and they're playing ball. I've been really focusing on my kids a lot and making sure that they're headed in the right direction.  I did get the chance to relax a little bit in the off-season. I'm staying focused and I'm trying to start my off-season training in the right way. When I get to New York, I'll be able to pick up where I left off. I'll be in New York a lot of this summer working out. I got the mixtape with Drama dropping on July 4th. We got that mixtape coming out and we're going to release the single for the mixtape. The single is not for the album. Really, it's going to be for the mixtape. We want to see how that works for us. It's the World Wide Wariers. That's me and my team. My brother, Challace, Foul Monday and of course Big Kap. And The Apphiliates are involved and Absolut. I also have to shout out Braska and all my dudes from Queensbridge.  I'm about to do a video with Littles. We're about to do that to "Stomp, Crush". That's our first single being released for the DJ Drama tape. That's pretty much what's been going on. I've been getting some good feedback from the music. I got an AM station I'm on doing some late night radio. I'm on 9-12 at night and I got an FM station where I'm on from 2 am to 4 am. That's a good look for me and my crew. Right now we're getting a lot of feedback and a lot of people are telling me that it's going to be hard for me to rap and that I'm not going to be able to appeal to the younger crowd. I'm only 28. There's still a lot of time. I got a lot of time.  I interviewed Kobe Bryant on The Best Damn Sports Show. That was cool. That was a good opportunity. We were trying to figure out who we could interview that would be pretty funny. We got Kobe Bryant and he looked out. That was after round two of the Playoffs. I have to thank Kobe Bryant because that kicked my career off and I got a lot more interviews coming. That's going to help my commentary career. I'm also looking to be coaching when I'm done playing. But I would ask Kobe the questions and some of them were competitive questions and he answered them like he does when he plays against me. It was fun. We talked about family, his family and my family, Pau Gasol and some other stuff. It was cool.  It was a little different being on the other side of the questions. You have to think about it from the other side. It was pretty fun to think about what was going on in this guy's head. See, I'm an athlete and I'm not going to ask people anything that's going to put them in jeopardy or make them feel uncomfortable. I don't have to do anything the station asks me to do. I know how athletes want their personal life to be private and that's the good thing about being interviewed by Ron Artest.  There were rumors that I was going to interview John Green, the guy who through the beer on me in Detroit. We were going to talk about how his life has changed and things he's been doing and if that day made him a better person. We were definitely trying to give people a different insight on people who they think are all bad. Some people think I'm all bad. We wanted to show people a different side. It's important that people hear other people's point of views. And I wanted to make it real fun. If it wasn't going to be fun then I wasn't going to do it. That's the main thing. The whole thing is up in the air now and it's got to be fun.  I actually never spoke to John Green either. I was going to speak to him a few years ago to see how he was doing but I don't know that dude like that. Hopefully he's chilling. I took a big hit. I lost $7 million with that whole thing and it's over. Everything's good now. We just move on with life. That's the whole thing that we wanted to show in the interview. It gives people a chance to see the good side of people instead of seeing them on a bad note. Some people saw that incident and that was it. You have to get to know people and see that people are not all about controversy.  With me, I think something happened that attracted a lot of attention and it took time to get out of people's minds. Every incident takes a different amount of time for people to forget and a lot of people will judge you differently.  For everyone that's been wondering where I'll be playing next year, my agent really wants me to just play next year and finish out next year in Sacramento. For the most part, I probably won't be signing with any team and unless they trade me I'll be there. I'm under contract with the Kings and I think we're going to be good next year.  I was surprised to hear what Wayne said about DJs. Something was probably going on in his life. He was probably really mad about something. I mean, he said it how he wanted to say it and I can't really speak for him but I just thought, 'Wow!' He has the "Go DJ" song and everybody loves Lil' Wayne. I like his poetry joints. I'm into poetry and when a rapper does that, that's ill. I'm a fan of Lil' Wayne and I like it when rappers switch up their style. I don't think he meant it like it came out. I think he just said it.  And now there are so many different kinds of DJs. I don't think he was talking to Flex or Felli Fel. If I was a DJ, I would probably want to talk to him. I'd tell him that we loved his record and not to be so harsh.  I had my thumb surgery and that went well. I'm doing better now. The last time that happened I was in college and I didn't have time to let it heal. I had to play. I also hurt it in Indiana and we were in the Playoffs and I didn't have the time to let it heal. Now I have the time to let it heal.  I got some new sneakers about to drop soon. And on another topic, my feedback has been getting better on HipHopGame. Some people are still harsh. I've definitely stepped my game up. I wish I was always nice as a rapper since day one, but that's impossible. I got an interesting story to tell on my album. With the way gas prices are right now and people are struggling, I have to make a good album that deals with real life, everyday stuff. I have to think of ways for people to hear the music so I can continue to have people continue to check for my music. We can throw music on HipHopGame all day and give the people a chance to hear that so that they buy the album. So many times people try to sell product and they don't realize that they're trying to get somebody's last $15. Everyone on my team has jobs and they're all working. They all have real life, everyday jobs. They're not just working in rap. They're doing that because they love to do it. I have to shout out my team because at times it was hard but they accepted their responsibilities. It's hard at times. It's a challenge working. And I have to take care of my kids. We have to find time to get together and make it happen. We're working with everyday life and real stuff. I definitely want to send a shout out to my team.  I've also been working on some music. After the World Wide Wariers mixtape with Drama, we're doing one with Kay Slay. Then we're going to have the album dropping anywhere from six to nine months from now. I took a long, long time off with the music because I had to get my thoughts back together. I had to think about doing things the right way. The first time I got into this business, I wasn't really doing it the right way. I was mixing two different professions and that didn't work. It was fun, but it wasn't the time and place for music then. I think now it will be different. I have a lot more professional people around me and things are looking on the up and up. Stay tuned to Ron Artest and the World Wide Wariers. It's going to be a free download. I know everybody's doing that now and definitely look out for that single. I've been at it for a long, long time. I'm getting that one to all my critics.

[26] REACT TO RON ARTESTS 9th JOURNAL ENTRY

1/10/2007: Ron Artest Journal Entry #8 What’s up? My holidays were good. We ain’t have a game. Usually during the holidays, I’m in another state, having a game or practicing, but it was good to be home in Sacramento with the kids. That was a good thing. And New Year’s Day, we had to travel to New York, so that wasn’t a bad New Year’s Eve. The only thing is the day after New Year’s, I had to get surgery on my elbow. That wasn’t cool either.  My elbow is feeling better than I thought it would be feeling. I only had a normal painkiller and that was it. I’ve been feeling all right. They said I wouldn’t be back until four weeks but I’m trying to get back in two weeks. I think I can be back in two weeks. I should be able to be back in two weeks.  We also had a good win against the Knicks. That was big for us, especially because we were without three of our starters. We have good players. My man John Salmon and Francisco Garcia have been stepping up at the two and the three on the wings.  With the Knicks, I have to keep them out of my brain for a little bit. I feel like it’s been a little distraction to the people’s progress. They said that I said I could save the Knicks and I never said that. People know my love for New York, but I’m at a point where I have a team that I’m worried about. I’m tired of answering questions and people are just printing things in the paper that are more of a distraction than a good story. I don’t even want to talk about the Knicks.  I’m happy in Sacramento. We have a beautiful thing out here. I’m playing with some good players. I got my man Kevin Martin and he’ a first team All-NBA guy. Playing with him is pretty cool. It’s pretty cool playing with him.  I also want you to check out my new song “90 Bars of a Slave”. I feel like a lot of people have been holding me down and holding me back from everything, from life in general to music to when I was playing basketball as a kid. I had so many obstacles to overcome and so many bumps in the road. In the song, I was just laying some things out and spitting some real lyrics and at the end of the song, I said, “Get your mind right.” It’s definitely a good song. The beat is hot and I think it’s definitely a positive song. I’m kind of happy with it.  As far as the feedback on HipHopGame, I don’t really pay attention to the negative comments. I saw somebody said, “Why you wanna rap because nobody’s going to be interested in you?” It’s not about people being interested in you. You make music because you want to make music, not because you care about people being interested in you. I make music for how I feel at the time. I don’t know how many people in the world are really interested in hearing my music, but if I got a couple of people interested in hearing what I’m making, I’m going to get it out there. There’s no sense in me keeping it in the computer. I leak it and I’m going to be putting out another project. I think I have a good 20,000-40,000 fans out there that like to hear my music and I don’t think it’s going to go beyond that and I’m satisfied with those numbers. I’m satisfied with those 20,000-40,000 people that go and actually listen to the music. I’m satisfied with that.  I also find that I have some fans of my music that aren’t fans of hip-hop but they’re fans of me as a basketball player. I have to find ways to get them the music. It’s been real hard for me to distribute my music and have it be available. That’s the problem I had with my last album. People were having trouble getting it. That’s where the internet comes in. I’m looking to find easier ways for the people who want my music to actually get it. I don’t spend my days trying to find ways to get people my music. I spend my days practicing and balling and when I get a chance I go in the studio. But people in the street, they still ask me when my album is coming out. I like to make music and it feels good when random people, not my friends, are asking for my music.  I’m also working on a new project. The project is definitely an eye-opening project. I think the tables are turning to where people want to hear lyrics and people want to hear stories and people want to hear albums. I think that’s where music is going back to now because there’s been a lot of dissatisfied consumers. There’s a lot of talk with people in the industry with people saying the music is just watered down and it’s not good anymore. You got guys like Kanye West and the album American Gangster. Nas’ album is a good topic and I don’t think it’s going to be as ignorant as people think it is. I think it’s going to be an intelligent and well put-together album and a mind-opening album. Even Alicia Keys’ album, look at how she took it back. Her album had that good feeling, like an old school feeling. It didn’t feel like a futuristic album. It gave you that old school feeling that sometimes you need to have. It’s that raw music and I think that’s where music is going back to.  Even though I’m injured now, I’m not going to be able to work a lot on Tru Warier. I just go in there when I’m feeling it. We’re in the season and my whole focus is on basketball. I hadn’t done a song in two weeks until I did “90 Bars of a Slave”. I heard the beat and I started writing and the lyrics started coming in my head. For the most part I’m going to be focusing on rehab and focusing on getting back on the court. When the season’s over, I’ll have a little bit of time to do a couple of things with my music. I’m going to probably get some other artists and get some other things in place that will probably be more full-time. My music is just like a part-time thing.  As far as this season, I had to sit out 10 games with injuries and I’m about to sit out another eight games. Kev sat out about eight games and Mike sat out about 20 games. We’re happy with the progress that we made. We beat San Antonio and Detroit. Those are our two biggest wins. We beat some good teams. We lost to Denver twice by two. We lost at the buzzer and we lost at home. We’re happy with where we’re at right now.  And I can’t say I’m surprised by how well Portland is doing. I think it’s about time that a young team plays well. It’s all about the coaching. I think coaching has a lot to do with it, but when I played against them, personally, I saw what kind of players that had. I was like, ‘Man, they got some good players who play hard and they have good individual skills and a great center.’ Anytime you have all those pieces, you have a good chance to win.  Once we all get healthy, we can compete with anybody. There’s no question about it. I just can’t wait to see us all healthy and playing together. We’re going to put together some wins and it’s going to be real interesting.  I didn’t really make any New Year’s resolutions this year. When the ball dropped, I was just chilling. I wasn’t really interested in New Year’s this year for some reason. I think New Year’s is cool and exciting. I think people just get drunk and all that and I don’t really have no interest in that. All everybody wants to do is get drunk. I really don’t have no interest in it because I don’t like to get drunk and do all that crazy stuff. The New Year for me is when school starts and my kids go to school. Then I see the New Year. That’s a real important time for me.  Happy New Year’s and all that. Littles is home now. That’s good. Everybody, look out for Littles. Look out for Nas’ new album. Look out for Prodigy’s new album. And go cop The Kush from Havoc. And I think there was a time when Queensbridge was popping and there was a time when Queensbridge had some down time in the music industry. Now I think Queensbridge is back, reaching that plateau. We understand that there are a lot of people out there trying to stop us. But this time around there’s the leadership of Nas and the Mobb Deep’s and the Lake’s and Littles is home. Artest is popping. Queensbridge is a movement and we’re about to be back on top. So, everybody, don’t try and stop us. Come aboard because Queensbridge is officially coming back. And shout out to everybody from Queensbridge.

[28] REACT TO RON ARTESTS 8th JOURNAL ENTRY