Tyshaun Granger – Real or fake, he inspires

Passion is an understatement when it comes to Tyshaun Granger, a Chicago teen who was recently fired from his position at a local McDonalds. No, this is not a piece on discrimination or the unfair treatment of blacks in the U.S. No, Tyshaun didn’t curse anyone out or steal anything. He was fired for replacing toys with his mixtape, Tales From a Real N*gga, in children’s happy meals.

Bizarre, I know, but this story has me intrigued – no matter how off the wall it sounds. Real or fake, I think we all can learn a thing or two from Tyshaun Granger.

In an era where most of us have “day jobs” and channel our creativity into our dreams part time, we miss opportunities to truly hone into our crafts. What if we took full advantage of our circumstances, turning dreams into reality by just pushing a little harder? Instead of turning the creative switch off while working his day job, Tyshaun saw McDonalds as a stepping-stone instead of a crutch – something that most of us should begin to do.

Some may call it “tampering with children’s food”, but I call it “marketing”. He wanted to spread the word about his newest mixtape, and so he leveraged McDonalds customers to do so.

I see Tyshaun as an inspiration to many; Ludicrous, yet genius at the same time. Being dedicated and relentless, grabbing every open opportunity by the balls to reach his dreams of becoming a hip-hop mogul.

Now, I don’t suggest pulling a Tyshaun, but there’s something to be said about that young man’s passion to succeed. Real or fake, I love it and I’m here for every bit of it.

Are you someone who has a day job and works on your passion part time?  How can you use your day job as leverage to reach your end goal?

Ashley Rey is a young, single mom residing in Los Angeles, by way of Detroit. She blogs about her life’s experiences on her personal site, bashinla.com, and is also a contributor for HipHopBattle.com where she writes on topics ranging from racism in America to Hip-Hop “Think” pieces. You can find her on instagram and twitter @bashinla, and keep up with she and her 2-year-old son by watching her weekly recap vlogs on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/bashinlavlog.