I would imagine that most people reading this are somewhat familiar with my work. But then I had never heard of some of the random mixtape DJs XXL, for whatever reason, decided to have blog here, and it occurred to me that it does seem rather presumptuous to assume that people would know who I am just because this is a hip-hop site and I run the only hip-hop blog on the Internet.

I mean, it's not like I've got my own series of quasi-legal CD-Rs of "freestyles" and garbage studio outtakes, though that is something I may consider going forward. Lord knows a brother could use the money[1].

My name is Byron Crawford, though most people on the Internets call me Bol, which is Swahili for "The Gulliest One." As you can see, I take no small amount of pride in my African heritage. When I'm not working like a hebrew slave at a series of soul-crushing minimum wage jobs I devote most of my free time to doing community outreach with black and "latino" youth.

No homo.

I run a website (perhaps you've heard of it) called ByronCrawford.com: The Mindset of a Champion in which I educate today's youth on some of the most pressing issues of the day, including racism, homophobia, healthy living, respect for women, tolerance for religion, and who really runs the record industry.

A committed feminist, I also donate as much money as I can (sometimes more) to underprivileged female college students in a small, rural town called Sauget, Illinois. Because as far as I'm concerned, it's one thing to talk about it on the Internet, but it's a whole other thing to put your money where your mouth is. Literally.

I've lived in an around St. Louis, MO all my life, except for a five year period I spent in a tiny, rural town called Chicken Switch, MO. I hold a degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in marketing, from Truman State University, as well as a certificate in Food Safety I earned at White Castle.

In addition to hip-hop, I'm also a big fan of the album New Miserable Experience by the Gin Blossoms.

That website:

[1] If you have the tools and talent to put one of these together, contact me. I'd be willing to lend my name (and also XXL's) and my likeness for a small cut of the profits. Say 85%.

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