Simon Illa Autobiography

This is a congratulatory post for my friend and mentor, Simon Illa. He recently completed his autobiography, and he didn’t just give us the cliff notes. After dedicating himself to writing 2,500 words per week during most of 2015, he finished off his book with 110,000 words! If you’d like to read an excerpt from his book, you can check it out at simonilla.com/book. I already pre-ordered mine, which you can also do at the link, and I can’t wait to read it. Here’s why:

I met Simon when I was only 12 years old. At the time, other than the kids I met at camp, which was for kids with Muscular Dystrophy, I didn’t know many people in wheelchairs, especially adults in wheelchairs. And while our friendship was initiated because I was the hottest rapper out of Montgomery County and he was a well-known producer on the Philly circuit, it did a lot more to influence how I look at life than it did my music career. Clearly, right?

My first impression of Simon was that he’s a cool dude, and I’m not just saying that because we were practically wearing the same outfit. We both had on the Carmelo Nuggets jersey; I think I had the white one and he had the blue one, but nonetheless, we were both fresh as hell. After introducing myself and spending about 15 minutes in his company, it was clear the guy was a boss. Now I know boss is a term that is thrown around loosely these days, but to me a boss is somebody in control of his or her own life. Simon isn’t just some guy in a chair who let his wheelchair dictate his life, where he’d live, the money he’d make, or the people he’d be around. The first thing he did after meeting me was bring me upstairs to the studio in his penthouse apartment where he lived with a childhood friend. He didn’t even need somebody to hit the elevator buttons for us. The guy was independent.

Hanging with Simon as a kid showed me what life could be like as an adult. I identified with him, and not just because he’s in a wheelchair. We both have dreams beyond what most people expect of us. If you read the excerpt from his book, you’ll learn how his “grampa” had a difficult time imagining him moving away from home. He was so good at producing music that he got to work alongside Scott Storch and Timbaland, two of the biggest names in the business. He lived in the city independently, and each time I visited my eagerness to move to the city grew until I finally did it to attend Temple. We both loved music. His taste varies more than mine, but we could always talk hip hop. He’s just somebody I always aspired to emulate.

For everyone, in a wheelchair or not, I think it’s extremely inspirational to know someone paving a path for themselves that you can learn and grow from. It’s why I can’t wait to receive my copy of his book so I can learn more about his journey and how he got to where he is today. Even if you don’t want to be a music producer or pursue a career in music just like I don’t anymore, the qualities and principals described in his book I’m sure wouldn’t hurt you on your own path to success. After all, there’s only one guiding rule in accomplishing success in anything… DISABLE YOUR LIMITS. ??

In order to support my friend Simon Illa, $5 off every item sold for the next 30 days will go toward his nonprofit, Mind for Music, bringing music education and technology to people with disabilities.