How to beat a Rapper with Spartans, Medals and Good Vibes by Justin T Manning
Let's all agree- Unless you are a rapper, should never ever, ever go toe-to-toe with a Rapper.
Have you not seen the classic YouTube series of 'Supa Hot Fire'?
But Im not a rapper. Actually, I'm more of an athlete.
Yet somehow, I found myself in a battle with one of the hottest rappers out of StereotypeCo- M Dolla.
Thanks, Dave Noodlez.
The time was about 7:05pm that Friday which was the deadline to vote in the inaugural StereotypeCo 'Dreamer Of The Month' contest. Rapper 'M-Dolla' had surged into the lead with 50% to my 45%. Our other two opponents weren't too active ( wrestler PB Smooth was one of them!), as they split the remaining 5% evenly. But there was still 4 hours and 55 Minutes to go. And the vote count continued to escalate toward the rapper.
Of course it would.
427 votes. 4 hours and 55 minutes. And I'm down 5%. Thanks David Noodlez
For the past 2 weeks, I had called everyone I knew at least 5 times a day for their vote. And for the most part, They didn't care about the Stereotypeco. They simply wanted me to win. Yet, the questions were annoying and the contest was taken as a joke.
"Do I have to register before I vote?"
"Justin, What do you win?"
"Justin, Can I do this later?"
"Justin, can't you make your own T-Shirt?"
" Yeah I got you tomorrow"
.... The deadline is tonight at midnight...
"Don't worry I'll find a way"
My voter base was exhausted and annoying. But eventually, the votes stopped coming in.
My voter base was no longer passionate. And as a result, The MedalAddict, with his bachelor degree in Political Science and a Masters Degree in Public Administration, would take his firat inaugural online-election "L" for an inaugural contest. Damn.
I called the girlfriend after vote #490 and told her that I had this election lost. It was over. And that's when she reminded me that I didn't use all of my resources.
"Babe, you forgot to ask the Spartans"
You don't mean...
"Why wouldn't they? They know you for MedalAddict.com and your Instagram. Did you try asking them?"
If I learned anything while managing the @MedalAddict account, racers care about Race Codes, Medals, and Fitness. The hell would they care about voting? In fact, 99% don't personally know me.
Do I dare ask my MedalAddict community, a group of random individuals who love mudracing, for their vote? Well, when you battle a rapper you pretty much dont have a choice.
I posted a passionate plea onto the Spartan page of what I have done for the sport of Mudracing, and how I really wanted to win the Stereotypeco 'Dreamer Of The Month' vote. And within a minute, no one had responded.
I put my phone down, performed a 1 hour session of Tae Kwon Do, and looked back into my phone.
With 20% battery, my phone was vibrating harder than 50Cent in 2003. Spartans, from all over the world, were rallying behind me. As though King Leonidas himself shouted, "For Glory!" And sent 300 votes my way.
And now, the Spartans had me in the lead by 5%. Unbelievable. Take that David Noodlez. Take that M-Dolla. I'm the captain now.
2 hours left....
I called the girlfriend and asked her to refresh her browser, but of course, she was watching the polls the entire time. And we celebrated over the phone for nearly 20 minutes. But then I recieved a Facebook message from fellow Spartan S.Rod aka Sir Memes A lot.
"Yo this M****F*** has you up by 2%!! This thing ain't over yet!"
I cussed M-Dolla under my breath.
How in the hell could this man catch up? As I looked onto the Spartan thread, the Spartans also began to experience what my previous voters failed to do- they were exhausted. And then, M Dolla cut the lead to 1%.
And then, the Spartan bubble burst.
"How's he doing that?"
"Spartans, assemble!!!! Vote for Justin AROO!"
"Cmon Justin you can do it! AROO!!"
I'm not making this up.
The Spartan Race community is extremely passionate when it comes to lifting each other up emotionally and physically. We post daily of our personal issues, of PTSD, divorce, physical abuse, and ask for assistance all the time. And the last thing you want to do with a Spartan, is to allow our fighting spirit to catch fire. And that's when someone finally did what I THOUGHT was happening.
Everyone was reaching out to someone else.
One Spartan even stated that she had her mother and sister In a room for 20 straight minutes calling family and friends.
And all My girlfriend and I did was sit back shocked, watching the poll numbers grow.
The vote increases to a 2% margin.
10 minutes later, the vote increases by 3%.
And then the vote decreased back to 2%.
At this point, this is no longer an election. I'm at war with a rapper, except this time, the terrain isn't on stage
The terrain changed into the goddamn mud. And the contest would be treated as an Elite Wave.
Checkmate.
Eventually at 11:45, the gap was too wide for M Dolla to catch up. And the Spartans continued voting for me beyond the time the polls had closed. It's now midnight, and I had won by 5%.
Dave, Creative Director of Stereotypeco, called me and asked what I type of shirt I wanted to design, but he didn't have to ask. He just knew.
MedalAddict is ready to become a Big name in the Mudracing world.
And the Mudracing world took on a tough opponent, M-Dolla.
2 days later, Spartans were STILL voting for me until David took it down. See? You don't mess with Spartans. You just don't.
I had the privilege of meeting MDOLLA in persona. Few weeks ago at a StereotypeCo fashion show. It was probably the greatest connection I had with person in a long time.
"You're MedalAddict?"
"MDOLLA?"
We capped and laughed our asses off, reminiscing of the battle that had happened. We didn't have to say much, but my first impression of M Dolla was that he was a humble and hungry artist that brought out the best in me and my community. I am forever thankful to him for that.
And now, the MedalAddict shirts are available for Pre-Order. As the only medal-chasing social media community in the GLOBE, I aspire to build awareness for the Racing community through fitness, highlighting athletes, and providing sponsorships.
By buying a shirt, MedalAddicts are buying a dream.
