I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about a chick in Cali with a great blog (Flourish In Progress), who boasts her ghetto tendencies, love for TuPac, and bad-ass attitude. She is a co-contributor of another blog that’s taken the world by storm and officially drawn me in: Inside the Mind of a Ghetto Genius.
Ghetto and genius aren’t exactly two words you are accustomed to hearing side by side, right? People assume that people who are ghetto aren’t educated; and inversely, a genius would by no means appear “ghetto.”
Well, founder J-Wunder might just encompass both attributes.
He created the blog a few years ago after some friendly encouragement. Little did J know, the site would eventually turn into the blog mogul it is today. With over 168,000 Facebook fans and over four million hits, the writers at Inside the Mind of a Ghetto Genius have found their niche in terms of an audience. They’ve made quite the splash to say the least; even a shout out on Facebook from Jamie Foxx.
In so many words, the blog is unsightly, offensive, and over indulgently taboo. The crude, barbaric content these guys write is so despicable, you are almost in disbelief; yet you can’t look away. But in all reality, they share content from across the web, just like other bloggers. They respond to reader questions, they tell stories about their lives. The only differences are: they hold nothing back, they tell it like it is, they keep it real and they straight up, just don’t give a fuck.
I, for one, like to think of this as–for lack of a better word–genius. For those of us who have a sense of humor and an appreciation for the derogatory, these guys are really on here for one reason: to entertain. They aren’t writing for money and they don’t bother with advertising out of respect for their readers.
Even with the extensive list of followers, J-Wunder still made a point to get back to me this afternoon when I sent an email. That right there shows true appreciation for his readers, and it made me all the more intrigued to have a chance to talk to him.
J explained to me, “I really wanted people to go to a place where they could escape for 10 minutes a day to get away from a hard day’s work and the rest of the bullshit. Believe it or not, laughter can change one’s mood and make a huge fucking difference to the outcome of their day. That’s the beauty of the blog.”
J is more than entitled at this point to try and make some money off his success. While he insists he will keep the site ad-free, he does have a book proposal out to a couple of editors, and other projects in store. He truly hopes to keep the momentum going and his fans happy, enthused and tuned-in.
People are always so afraid of being different, taking the path less traveled. But what most don’t seem to recognize, is that it is the innovators and leaders who are remembered. Inside the Mind of a Ghetto Genius may be just what the doctor ordered; and maybe we could all benefit from gettin’ a little ghetto from time to time.