thank you and hello my name is crystal
sake konichiwa
sounds like who’s this have you ever
been told that you must find your
passion one thing that drives you I was
always told I should focus on one thing
maybe it’s because people think that
there’s limited ability to focus but I
see it differently
focus play and work as hard as you can
on whatever is in front of you at that
very moment not thinking of what to
focus on this might seem strange but it
actually comes together later in life as
long as you work very hard and what you
love I’m here to talk about the power of
a generalist build your hexagon hexagon
no kaki Johannes Ashoka I’ll go into
further details and explain about it
later on but first I want to talk about
myself I was born in New York City I
moved to Tokyo when I was 4 and a half I
was always into sports my first game
with baseball my dream was the was to
play in the high school tournament
Koshien but before going into high
school I fell in love with basketball
and started watching the NBA so in Japan
sadly you have to choose one sport to
play in school so I chose to play ball
basketball
and once I got the high school one of my
teammates had to turn tables and I was
already into music as well so it didn’t
take any time for us to bond we started
hanging out after school after practices
we spend so much time discussing
basketball and music it was so much fun
and he was the ones that encouraged me
to write my very first my own rap verse
and to rehearse it it was really fun we
even made like a mixtape it was still
cassette tapes back then so this is me
when I performed why are you laughing
pretty cool right I had so much fun but
I think you’re laughing because it’s
usually the opposite you lose hair as
you grow old I didn’t have any hair back
then but now I do
right so for me basketball and music was
impossible impossible to separate like
the world-known rap star Drake says in
his song sank me later sports and music
is so synonymous sports stole own Kokua
dog ego without it this is how I grew up
this is how I felt
Korra got a Bakugan Coco no core of
civilization so stay ma Imam ou can
state equal to this but sadly that
wasn’t the case in Japan so my
vision was to bring the basketball world
in the music world together everyone
kept saying like I should focus on one
thing but I didn’t listen to none of
that what I wanted to do so time goes by
and I go to college right here in Alma
as I play basketball I trained really
hard and the hardest training team and
the most celebrated team in college
basketball leagues and as I trained and
played basketball I also developed some
music connections in the music scene I
would do recordings every now and then
and it was one Christmas Eve that I got
got a call from my producer saying Chris
yo you need to hit up the studio blah
blah blah blah
so I rushed into the studio it was a
song for a basketball animation with
full basketball contents and lyrics I
was perfect for the job this later
became my first single leading to a deal
to a major recording company so after I
graduated I still played basketball and
I played excuse me I did music as a
recording artist but soon I would face
this challenge and at that time I didn’t
have the answer to it
everybody kept saying you know doing one
thing is the way to success all our
lives we are told to commit to one thing
is the way to become an expert
so in TV interviews and magazine
interviews people ask me all the time so
which is more important to you music or
basketball see I knew a lot of people
like to ask that question
so I had a answer ready this is what I
said
basketball is the air I breathe hip-hop
is the blood flowing in my veins very
corny but driven very driven
that’s a nominal bikini bikini okuno
toga Nagaoka karate master dice Tina
basket the border daisuki now long back
don’t you know Hogan not only took their
Dyson on the Scott Bakula Soto cuts
kata-kata eight small jimmy state their
basket Tabora or a Kyocera couch hi Nona
can either cookie there he pop-punk Akua
ke cantina guru kids it don’t like a
nasty more each day you can hang that
high kinetic Akatsuki juice so as as I
was saying like Drake said in how I felt
you know sports and music it’s so cool I
wanted to combine the two things as I
performed all over Japan I went to clubs
I didn’t just perform my rap but I would
also do some basketball performances on
live houses in like clubs on on top of
this stage but sadly at one point even
my manager came up to me and said you
know Chris it may be time that I choose
one or another so I started sinking
because that’s a time my latest CD they
really create the buzz I was hoping for
and I started thinking you know maybe
it’s true
maybe I should listen you know it’s like
the old angel and devil on your shoulder
fighting which will win your ear I went
back in force at one time I did
prioritize on music and before becoming
30 and being a rookie at the age 30 in a
Japanese professional basketball league
I did give up music and to tell you the
truth concentrating on one thing did
help I was less tired from the intense
basketball training so I could work
harder on my musical skills
I couldn’t have become a pro so late in
my ages if I kept doing the early
morning you know the late nights to do
morning and they all switched a chaos’
musician kind of lifestyle my body would
have given up before my mind okay so now
I’m close to 35 and I’m the MBA analyst
for a Japanese broadcasting company it’s
a dream come true so how did I become
NBA analyst you know nothing that I did
went to waste I have no regrets I have
no regrets of maybe oh I should have
focused on basketball sooner or I wasted
my time doing two things trying to do
two things at one time
everything peed off every pass I took
every detour some may call led to what I
am now in that those things all those
skills that
developed as a musician and etc I’ll
explain later
lot of things all these skills separates
me from the other commentators for me to
be the best at what I do
this is something I know for a fact this
is another rapper’s word that I would
like to introduce today he said I chose
my own fate
I drove as a fork in the road and went
straight this is by jay-z when I my very
favorite rappers cochamo a boku no suki
na na pas no koto Baranski Domo Missoni
so nosy bruno llamada no kata o Yokohama
silicon automata in your system or a
master kumoi miss Cara cajeta Walker
emits magic they’re focused on oh mama
16:16 stop so there are a few things
that I develop – I came here and
speaking to you
you’re a lot of people said oh he’s just
lucky of course luck helps but it’s
that’s not all you have to put in the
work and these are represents some of
the skill sets that I earned and
developed through my career the first
one is my language skills I spoke
English but could not read or write at
all it was so bad at one point I had to
stay back in my classroom every time I
got a F on my spelling test
and I was really embarrassed because you
know how I look so I started studying
and at one point I think it was in my
junior year I started to think of
applying to u.s. colleges to pursue my
basketball dreams in the States so I
studied even harder I studied Japanese
like you in school I was never a book
person I didn’t read them much but once
I started rapping seriously I carried a
dictionary with me
I studied metaphors proverbs to use to
my advantage in the points that I wrote
I think I spent more time writing lyrics
on the edge of them in notebook than
writing down what my math teacher was
saying so the next skill is enunciation
skills enunciation cuts this so the
language skills enables me to fit the
words in a musical bar in how I want to
express myself but enunciation actually
helps me to send it out even clearer for
the listeners so it’s more easy and soft
to your ear I didn’t know when I was a
rapper but this actually helps me as a
commentator to have a clear commentary I
have a so let me explain a musical bar
just in case this is a sound of a
metronome one click is the click for a
metronome for clicks is a single music
bar and with my language skills any
enunciation skills this is what I can do
come on baby girl
I could be a ESCO comma hands to tail
total let’s roll
you look
so fun I could eat a dress code to be
the a capella has mother Crystal
Japanese English and in a station my
next kill is that I listed up is my
ad-lib skills when I started working for
a music channel my my director didn’t
give me any script all just basic
information so all the other things I
had to make up on my own and libbing as
I went and of course when I interviewed
two artists and celebrities I had
prepared questions but I had to be quick
and responsive this actually helps me
now in my commentary because a
basketball game goes so fast I have to
come up with the best word to describe
the action in a split second my next
skill is communication skills
communication skill when I was
performing on stage most of the crowd
were drunk not sober like you and they
were also more eager to find a date
other than paying attention to what I
was rapping about but that experience
actually helped me develop a better
communication skill to make more
connections to different kind of
audiences now in my commentary I have to
connect with the basketball geeks of the
world and the people that are watching
the game for the very first time
entrepreneurship okay when when I was
performing as a rapper I will go out to
Shibuya passing out flyers for my shows
and I put up posters and I write wrote
blogs to publicize myself to create my
own brand I needed to make myself stand
out in
highly competitive business I think not
a lot of basketball players think this
way
mostly athletes branding or marketing is
left up to their team I don’t think they
really try to market themselves right
now I am the first one to call myself an
NBA analyst in Japan this name itself
distinguishes me from the other
commentary commentators I created a need
in the market for myself the last one
this one might be the most important my
work ethic walk ASIC Quran nihongo neox
ANOVA sugoku machinist Kodomo but she
stays in that area kitty 2.30 Zumba
staccato note I said sir given no duty
create a monogamous practising 8 hours a
day in a basketball court I learned the
importance of preparation the
preparation shows in a basketball court
in every successful path in shot my work
developing a strong work ethic and
mental toughness really paid off and I
carry with carries that with me wherever
I go
during the commentary I research the
players where they went to college what
kind of styles they have I research the
coaches in their winning strategies I
research the trend of the NBA I have to
stay on top of everything throughout the
season and even before games it really
intensifies more it’s like I’m in my own
zone during the season I live and
breathe basketball
so putting these skill sets I can make a
hexagon koko de tocar kini
yato father excuse this is my hexagon
let’s say we fill it up with some water
my water fills up to the very top this
represents the total ability that I have
each surface is the skill set that are
developed and now let’s look at somebody
else’s skill set there’s five surfaces
that come to the same height but one
stands low this is that person’s hexagon
let’s fill this up with water and you
can see it only comes up to the height
of the lowest block and it’s sad to say
this person’s ability is way lower it’s
in what my hexagon could feel so people
told me to focus on one strategy but
what would I what would I’ve been now if
I listen to them
developing one strength is the most
important I didn’t pay any attention now
why should anybody listen to me okay
I didn’t sell a million records 1
million two million I didn’t I’m not
traveling worldwide performing I’m not
earning billions of salary through sport
I’m not that kind of guy I’m not a one
in a million
but how many of us could be one in a
million
think about that it’s never too late to
follow your heart
lastly I want to quote from one of my
favorite movies Jerry Maguire I don’t
have all the answers in life could be
honest I’ve failed as much as I’ve
succeed but I love my wife and I love my
life and I wish you my kind of success
hi Connie generous Toto stay driven or
low cut chaotic so Nazi owe me 300 games
freeway de beaucoup de la esquina
yogacara
yo sistema I’m Ashton what a cigar
Sabatino Hotel Montero Acadian I saw
zucchini at all
yeah pari say con Okazaki by mistake
team otsuma lysis Riccardi say mokhov
Cunha tatoeba Nima’s mina-san nemo unus
Girona see also nigga team us so once
again it’s never too late to follow your
heart trust and stay true to your
passing follow your intuition to follow
your intuition you have to develop a
strong self-confidence
but it’s the only way to build that
self-confidence is to give it your all
bring your a-game
Dancing’s and a facing your committee
then doc talk you every day thank you
[Applause]
sake konichiwa
sounds like who’s this have you ever
been told that you must find your
passion one thing that drives you I was
always told I should focus on one thing
maybe it’s because people think that
there’s limited ability to focus but I
see it differently
focus play and work as hard as you can
on whatever is in front of you at that
very moment not thinking of what to
focus on this might seem strange but it
actually comes together later in life as
long as you work very hard and what you
love I’m here to talk about the power of
a generalist build your hexagon hexagon
no kaki Johannes Ashoka I’ll go into
further details and explain about it
later on but first I want to talk about
myself I was born in New York City I
moved to Tokyo when I was 4 and a half I
was always into sports my first game
with baseball my dream was the was to
play in the high school tournament
Koshien but before going into high
school I fell in love with basketball
and started watching the NBA so in Japan
sadly you have to choose one sport to
play in school so I chose to play ball
basketball
and once I got the high school one of my
teammates had to turn tables and I was
already into music as well so it didn’t
take any time for us to bond we started
hanging out after school after practices
we spend so much time discussing
basketball and music it was so much fun
and he was the ones that encouraged me
to write my very first my own rap verse
and to rehearse it it was really fun we
even made like a mixtape it was still
cassette tapes back then so this is me
when I performed why are you laughing
pretty cool right I had so much fun but
I think you’re laughing because it’s
usually the opposite you lose hair as
you grow old I didn’t have any hair back
then but now I do
right so for me basketball and music was
impossible impossible to separate like
the world-known rap star Drake says in
his song sank me later sports and music
is so synonymous sports stole own Kokua
dog ego without it this is how I grew up
this is how I felt
Korra got a Bakugan Coco no core of
civilization so stay ma Imam ou can
state equal to this but sadly that
wasn’t the case in Japan so my
vision was to bring the basketball world
in the music world together everyone
kept saying like I should focus on one
thing but I didn’t listen to none of
that what I wanted to do so time goes by
and I go to college right here in Alma
as I play basketball I trained really
hard and the hardest training team and
the most celebrated team in college
basketball leagues and as I trained and
played basketball I also developed some
music connections in the music scene I
would do recordings every now and then
and it was one Christmas Eve that I got
got a call from my producer saying Chris
yo you need to hit up the studio blah
blah blah blah
so I rushed into the studio it was a
song for a basketball animation with
full basketball contents and lyrics I
was perfect for the job this later
became my first single leading to a deal
to a major recording company so after I
graduated I still played basketball and
I played excuse me I did music as a
recording artist but soon I would face
this challenge and at that time I didn’t
have the answer to it
everybody kept saying you know doing one
thing is the way to success all our
lives we are told to commit to one thing
is the way to become an expert
so in TV interviews and magazine
interviews people ask me all the time so
which is more important to you music or
basketball see I knew a lot of people
like to ask that question
so I had a answer ready this is what I
said
basketball is the air I breathe hip-hop
is the blood flowing in my veins very
corny but driven very driven
that’s a nominal bikini bikini okuno
toga Nagaoka karate master dice Tina
basket the border daisuki now long back
don’t you know Hogan not only took their
Dyson on the Scott Bakula Soto cuts
kata-kata eight small jimmy state their
basket Tabora or a Kyocera couch hi Nona
can either cookie there he pop-punk Akua
ke cantina guru kids it don’t like a
nasty more each day you can hang that
high kinetic Akatsuki juice so as as I
was saying like Drake said in how I felt
you know sports and music it’s so cool I
wanted to combine the two things as I
performed all over Japan I went to clubs
I didn’t just perform my rap but I would
also do some basketball performances on
live houses in like clubs on on top of
this stage but sadly at one point even
my manager came up to me and said you
know Chris it may be time that I choose
one or another so I started sinking
because that’s a time my latest CD they
really create the buzz I was hoping for
and I started thinking you know maybe
it’s true
maybe I should listen you know it’s like
the old angel and devil on your shoulder
fighting which will win your ear I went
back in force at one time I did
prioritize on music and before becoming
30 and being a rookie at the age 30 in a
Japanese professional basketball league
I did give up music and to tell you the
truth concentrating on one thing did
help I was less tired from the intense
basketball training so I could work
harder on my musical skills
I couldn’t have become a pro so late in
my ages if I kept doing the early
morning you know the late nights to do
morning and they all switched a chaos’
musician kind of lifestyle my body would
have given up before my mind okay so now
I’m close to 35 and I’m the MBA analyst
for a Japanese broadcasting company it’s
a dream come true so how did I become
NBA analyst you know nothing that I did
went to waste I have no regrets I have
no regrets of maybe oh I should have
focused on basketball sooner or I wasted
my time doing two things trying to do
two things at one time
everything peed off every pass I took
every detour some may call led to what I
am now in that those things all those
skills that
developed as a musician and etc I’ll
explain later
lot of things all these skills separates
me from the other commentators for me to
be the best at what I do
this is something I know for a fact this
is another rapper’s word that I would
like to introduce today he said I chose
my own fate
I drove as a fork in the road and went
straight this is by jay-z when I my very
favorite rappers cochamo a boku no suki
na na pas no koto Baranski Domo Missoni
so nosy bruno llamada no kata o Yokohama
silicon automata in your system or a
master kumoi miss Cara cajeta Walker
emits magic they’re focused on oh mama
16:16 stop so there are a few things
that I develop – I came here and
speaking to you
you’re a lot of people said oh he’s just
lucky of course luck helps but it’s
that’s not all you have to put in the
work and these are represents some of
the skill sets that I earned and
developed through my career the first
one is my language skills I spoke
English but could not read or write at
all it was so bad at one point I had to
stay back in my classroom every time I
got a F on my spelling test
and I was really embarrassed because you
know how I look so I started studying
and at one point I think it was in my
junior year I started to think of
applying to u.s. colleges to pursue my
basketball dreams in the States so I
studied even harder I studied Japanese
like you in school I was never a book
person I didn’t read them much but once
I started rapping seriously I carried a
dictionary with me
I studied metaphors proverbs to use to
my advantage in the points that I wrote
I think I spent more time writing lyrics
on the edge of them in notebook than
writing down what my math teacher was
saying so the next skill is enunciation
skills enunciation cuts this so the
language skills enables me to fit the
words in a musical bar in how I want to
express myself but enunciation actually
helps me to send it out even clearer for
the listeners so it’s more easy and soft
to your ear I didn’t know when I was a
rapper but this actually helps me as a
commentator to have a clear commentary I
have a so let me explain a musical bar
just in case this is a sound of a
metronome one click is the click for a
metronome for clicks is a single music
bar and with my language skills any
enunciation skills this is what I can do
come on baby girl
I could be a ESCO comma hands to tail
total let’s roll
you look
so fun I could eat a dress code to be
the a capella has mother Crystal
Japanese English and in a station my
next kill is that I listed up is my
ad-lib skills when I started working for
a music channel my my director didn’t
give me any script all just basic
information so all the other things I
had to make up on my own and libbing as
I went and of course when I interviewed
two artists and celebrities I had
prepared questions but I had to be quick
and responsive this actually helps me
now in my commentary because a
basketball game goes so fast I have to
come up with the best word to describe
the action in a split second my next
skill is communication skills
communication skill when I was
performing on stage most of the crowd
were drunk not sober like you and they
were also more eager to find a date
other than paying attention to what I
was rapping about but that experience
actually helped me develop a better
communication skill to make more
connections to different kind of
audiences now in my commentary I have to
connect with the basketball geeks of the
world and the people that are watching
the game for the very first time
entrepreneurship okay when when I was
performing as a rapper I will go out to
Shibuya passing out flyers for my shows
and I put up posters and I write wrote
blogs to publicize myself to create my
own brand I needed to make myself stand
out in
highly competitive business I think not
a lot of basketball players think this
way
mostly athletes branding or marketing is
left up to their team I don’t think they
really try to market themselves right
now I am the first one to call myself an
NBA analyst in Japan this name itself
distinguishes me from the other
commentary commentators I created a need
in the market for myself the last one
this one might be the most important my
work ethic walk ASIC Quran nihongo neox
ANOVA sugoku machinist Kodomo but she
stays in that area kitty 2.30 Zumba
staccato note I said sir given no duty
create a monogamous practising 8 hours a
day in a basketball court I learned the
importance of preparation the
preparation shows in a basketball court
in every successful path in shot my work
developing a strong work ethic and
mental toughness really paid off and I
carry with carries that with me wherever
I go
during the commentary I research the
players where they went to college what
kind of styles they have I research the
coaches in their winning strategies I
research the trend of the NBA I have to
stay on top of everything throughout the
season and even before games it really
intensifies more it’s like I’m in my own
zone during the season I live and
breathe basketball
so putting these skill sets I can make a
hexagon koko de tocar kini
yato father excuse this is my hexagon
let’s say we fill it up with some water
my water fills up to the very top this
represents the total ability that I have
each surface is the skill set that are
developed and now let’s look at somebody
else’s skill set there’s five surfaces
that come to the same height but one
stands low this is that person’s hexagon
let’s fill this up with water and you
can see it only comes up to the height
of the lowest block and it’s sad to say
this person’s ability is way lower it’s
in what my hexagon could feel so people
told me to focus on one strategy but
what would I what would I’ve been now if
I listen to them
developing one strength is the most
important I didn’t pay any attention now
why should anybody listen to me okay
I didn’t sell a million records 1
million two million I didn’t I’m not
traveling worldwide performing I’m not
earning billions of salary through sport
I’m not that kind of guy I’m not a one
in a million
but how many of us could be one in a
million
think about that it’s never too late to
follow your heart
lastly I want to quote from one of my
favorite movies Jerry Maguire I don’t
have all the answers in life could be
honest I’ve failed as much as I’ve
succeed but I love my wife and I love my
life and I wish you my kind of success
hi Connie generous Toto stay driven or
low cut chaotic so Nazi owe me 300 games
freeway de beaucoup de la esquina
yogacara
yo sistema I’m Ashton what a cigar
Sabatino Hotel Montero Acadian I saw
zucchini at all
yeah pari say con Okazaki by mistake
team otsuma lysis Riccardi say mokhov
Cunha tatoeba Nima’s mina-san nemo unus
Girona see also nigga team us so once
again it’s never too late to follow your
heart trust and stay true to your
passing follow your intuition to follow
your intuition you have to develop a
strong self-confidence
but it’s the only way to build that
self-confidence is to give it your all
bring your a-game
Dancing’s and a facing your committee
then doc talk you every day thank you
[Applause]
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