Tony Moze, a RHYMING Book Reviewer of New York Times, Amazon and International best selling books. He incorporates his love of reading books and hip hop together to form an educational and entertaining experience. recently, i was able to get a few minutes to talk with Tony about his humble beginnings and great future.
Mr. Incredible: What started you on this path to rhyming book reviews?
Tony Moze: At the age of 9, I was in a Performing Arts Elementary school in Yonkers, NY. There I learned how to play the alto saxophone and act in the drama troops. That same year, my mother entered me into a summary library reading contest. I read 14 books in 2 months and became a voracious reader after that. At the age of 14, I began rapping and joined a 5-man hip hop group called “The Verbal Assassinz Clique.” I knew that was my calling after writing my first song, performing in front of a live audience and getting positive feedback. I was going for my bachelors and masters in psychology at Central Connecticut State University. I fell in love with self-help/personal development books. Fast forward to the year 2015. I went through a really tough breakup that left me miserable and I had to seek therapy. What changed my life was a book titled “I am Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment,” by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist philosopher and author. I went to Norway for 2 weeks, and applied the practice of mindfulness in my life, literally stopping to smell the flowers and meditating. When I returned to the states, I got back into reading books heavily and dabbled into making music again after a 3 year hiatus. Because of that book it got me into reading Business and Entrepreneurship books. I love books but what at times can compel me to buy a book is through a peer’s review of one. I sat back and listened and watched several videos on Youtube. I asked myself, “wouldn’t it be cool to add my own spice to this community?” And as of August 2015, I developed the name Tony Moze, “the RHYMING Book Reviewer.”
Mr. Incredible: What hav you learned about yourself jumping into something like this?
Tony Moze: That you have to be opened to new ideas, adapt and think and conduct yourself life a business.
Mr. Incredible: I have noticed you have also taken a big interest in business, what sparked that?
Tony Moze: Around August 2015, I was reading a lot of personal development, business and entrepreneurship books. A pretty female sold me on a life insurance policy as well as recruited me to her agency. I started attending their conferences, seminars and developed an entrepreneur’s spirit. It got me wanting to learn and be a part of it more.
Mr. Incredible: How important is branding towards what you are doing now?
Tony Moze: No matter who you are, you are representing yourself. Everything in life is a psychology, and how people process and remember things is through repetition of the same stimuli. After serving in the United States Army for 8 years, I learned that the uniform you wear is a representation of yourself. From my uniform (the one you will see in almost all my content) to what digital market is consistent. There are so many people who want to be jack of all trades. They want to claim their title as, “Mr. and Mrs. So and So, musician, photographer, data analyst, chef, Jenga player and aficianado of sports.” But there are many problems with that. When you brand yourself to be the expert on 50 million things, you actually lose credibility. You have to see your brand as not only yourself, but as a business. If you want to be an artist who just wants to produce things for the sake of yourself, then fine. But when you start to complain that no one is going to your shows, visiting your website, your engagements are low, then you need to conduct yourself as a business. As a brand, especially when starting out, you need to focus on ONE thing, and do it with excellence!
Mr. Incredible: You have also added very entertaining videos to your reviews, how has the learning process been for that?
Tony Moze: I am a cerebral, very meta-cognitive individual. I learn lessons directly and indirectly from people. Whether that’s someone saying “this part sucked” or “seeing low engagements on certain content versus others, I take everything into account. I have also learned, since I conduct myself as a business, that I need to value my time, and that whatever I lack or weak in, I seek support in those who have those strengths in the areas i’m weak in. For example, I am not the best at video editing and design, but I have networks who are, so I ask them to help me in that.
Mr. Incredible: What have been some of your fav. reviews to do?
Tony Moze: I actually love doing music video type videos, videos with different scenes and characters. My favorites so far from my collection have been my RHYMING Book Review of “Drop Out & Get Schooled” a book written by Patrick Bet-David, and “How To Stop Worrying,” by Dale Carnegie. I have them displayed on my Youtube (Youtube.com/TonyMoze) and Instagram channels (Instagram.com/Tony_Moze).
Mr. Incredible: What advice would you have for people looking to switch speeds and try something new?
Tony Moze: Just do it. Seriously. When I was just making hip hop music, I learned that the culture was always about absolute perfection. The problem with that mentality is that things do not get published/released for days, weeks, months and of course I have seen my peers go as far as 2 years! In 2018, people have become more consumers, and as creators we need to feed these baby birds. It’s now a days about putting out content on a regular basis, packaging and repackaging, and being everywhere with it. For example, if you made an audio track of something, perhaps put a still photo of someone, something or someplace. Then on another iteration, make one with a motion picture. Perhaps put a video game video over it on one, and then perhaps a montage of sexy models. There are so many different things you can do with the same piece of content, and the individual’s mind will always see it as something novel.
But my advice is to stop waiting until that last verse is perfect, that camera shot editing was clear enough, that graphic image was perfectly aligned. Nobody really cares initially, and you only become near perfect through months of practice. As my mentor Gary Vaynerchuk would say to create and document. Put out your stuff and then see how other people will rate it, perceive, etc. Because you may not know that your trash is to someone’s eyes, treasure.
Mr. Incredible: What is next for you and your rhyming book reviews?
Tony Moze: I am starting this up as a business entity, helping schools and universities utilize this content for academics, and for individuals to use for their person pleasure/entertainment. During this time, I plan continuing making content, building a team of artists. musicians and directors who can help this brand get into the eyes and the areas of the people. My goal is to enlighten, educate and entertain 1 million people.
Mr. Incredible: Well thank you for taking time out to do this, is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?
Tony Moze: Before you can get anywhere you want to be, whether that’s a celebrity, president, or making $500,000 a year, it starts with believing in yourself. No one else can believe in you truly but YOURSELF. It starts there, then writing out, on paper, what do you want in life, and, who do you want to be? Once that’s written, it’s then about taking action. It may take you 2 years, 5 years or 10 years, but once you know who and what you want to do, and you believe in yourself and as well as your WHY, you will be able to get to great skies that you thought you could not reach. Think and do BIG.
For more on Tony Moze, check out…
Instagram/Twitter: @Tony_Moze
YouTube.com/TonyMoze
Website: TonyMoze.com
SoundCloud.com/Tony-Moze
