Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ichiban Tez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ichiban , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
I actually decided I wanted to be a creative when I was 22. It was around the beginning of 2018 that I really started the learning process behind taking my hobbies and making them passions. My family always encouraged and pushed that I go to college, which now graduating this year – I don’t regret. I learned a lot of things being in college, indirectly: struggling and prospering. I finished a bit later than I wanted because of life issues at first, and then COVID on top of that although I think that made me even more excited about the future.
If anything, I think being in college allowed me to mature and see the world from new perspectives because now I know the risk, and the multiple directions I can achieve my goals.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Funnily enough I was not a musician originally when I became “Ichiban Tez”. I was just a kid playing video games who would do some funny voices and loved music. I never got the opportunity to ever dive into music before I left high school, so a lot of the groundwork was me basically learning on the spot.
Rapping was just another thing I picked up being with some friends and freestyling on and off. Though I credit my dad for his interest in the craft too.
Other than that, my love for the arts has always been present. I love anime, video games, film and comics. Those big passions led me to cosplaying which is something of a hobby that is kinda growing into a new venture that I’m beginning to get dedicated to. Now that I’ve graduated I’ve got more free time to really get into more hands on builds and self made designs.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
You know, I’ll try to make codenames for this story but it’s about heartbreak and overcoming.
I was younger than I am now, and with that comes foolish delusions of allowing love to dictate what you’ll put up with – sacrificing self respect.
I entered college in 2015, and I had a class with this woman who I grew to become friends with – but I knew that I was interested in her more than that. I eventually asked her out, and we got closer after a series of long talks and dates when she or myself wasn’t busy. I eventually put pressure to things to really become a couple months in, after many times being told that she really wants to be with me but she’d like to get to know me more.
One of the flaws I still have is taking things at face value, and by accepting those statements and not questioning why I have to question if she likes me or not – I woke up to a FaceTime one day saying she’s pregnant. We hadn’t ever slept together, so you can assume what happened.
I’ll never forget that after sitting with that news I was called back, and I told her I couldn’t do this. I didn’t even really know what I was saying but at that moment I knew that from that point forward I would always choose myself if it ever meant having hard decisions like that.
I’d go onto experience many other problematic relationships and hardships, but I think that moment really sealed for me that I wanted to love myself enough to not feel like I wasn’t enough. Some days are bad, but I’ve come far and I appreciate myself a lot now.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I know people think NFTs are this amazing and artsy thing that are cool and can get you rich….
They are not. They are destructive to an already seedy and absurd economy that dictates how good the quality of living you can have if any. With the rising global issues, social issues and economic issues – I think NFTs are just as much a scam as pyramid schemes. They’re being sold off to people with the promise they’ll be worth more however I’ve yet to see anyone do more than put them as profile pictures and make carbon emissions.
That’s just my take.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ichiban_tez/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/IchibanTez
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quentez-tyrus-9b7717a4
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/TezIchiban
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCU_cuMhHcaJGvP4j1A8qwRQ
Image Credits
Treshaun Blount (@Tre_Topnotchphotograpy) Cherisse Bynoe (@Shezfrommercury)