Senior studies, sings, scores
Campus Times
April 30, 2004
When University of La Verne senior Jibril Latif is not working two jobs,
practicing with the Long Beach Jams of the American Basketball Association and
working on his music career, he's on-air every Tuesday from 4-6 on KULV. Latif
played professional basketball overseas in Germany for one year and has a music
CD out called “Jibril Jamal, Warm Up: The Mixtape.”
Many of us have a hard time deciding what to do with our lives. It is a daily
struggle to figure out the path we are meant to take.
For some, like Jibril Jamal Latif, the path is self-paved and the future is
whatever you want it to be. You just have to go and get it and keep striving
for it.
Latif, 24, a senior communications major with an emphasis in multi-media,
is a modern-day renaissance man, venturing into everything from playing basketball,
making music and acting on the side, to even traveling across Europe. All of
this while studying full-time at the University of La Verne and working two
jobs.
Latif was born and raised on the tough streets of Los Angeles where he quickly
fell in love with the game of basketball, using it as a way to propel his life
to great things.
Growing up in a bi-racial home with an African American father and a Spanish
mother, Latif found it hard to fit in, so he took it upon himself at age 16
to make things right for himself by moving up and down the West Coast looking
for the right fit.
“I had a difficult time at first,”Latif said. “I needed to
find the right situation and place that fit me the best, so I have lived everywhere
from Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Portland. But after growing up, I realized
being bi-racial has a lot to do with the way you turn out.”
Moving around the West Coast resulted in a great experience for Latif when
he played high school basketball in Portland, Ore. – a move that might
pay off in the long run.
“When I moved to Portland my senior year to play basketball, it turned
out to be one of my best experiences playing basketball,” Latif said. “It
was one of the best experiences because I was playing with guys who are in the
NBA right now, like Fred Jones, the guy who just won the slam dunk contest.
He and others were on my all-star high school prep team and I became real good
friends with them.”
“To this day, I still remain friends with them and they give me confidence
that I can still make it to some kind of higher level. I practice with NBA players
everyday and they let me know that I am not that far away,” he said.
Latif then came to La Verne and played basketball for the Leopards, which
did not work out the way he planned. So he took his talents overseas and began
his professional career with a team in Germany, where he played one year.
“When I played overseas in Germany, it was a great experience but it
did not work out the way I wanted it to,” Latif said. “So I decided
to come back to school because I promised myself as well as my family that no
matter what, I would finish school and get my bachelors. In order to do that,
I had to put basketball on hold.”
By coming back to school, Latif fit right in as La Verne offered him everything
he was looking for and more.
“Coming back to school has really paid off so far,” Latif said.
“It’s paid off because the communications department here is really
good. I’ve gotten an all-around education in a couple different avenues
that I might pursue later on down the line.”
The hands-on learning here at La Verne has paid great dividends for Latif,
not only in his education but for his up-and-coming music career and his newly
released CD.
Latif’s new album, titled “Warmup: The Mixtape,” was self-written
and produced in hopes of a big breakthrough into one of the world’s toughest
industries.
Latif recorded his CD at Infidelity Recordings under the watchful eye of producer
“Big Dave” and house engineer “Brett.”
“He is doing a lot of things that he has set out to do,” said assistant
professor of communications Maia Kinsinger. “It seems like he has some
pretty lofty goals and he has accomplished a lot of them already. I think what
he is doing takes a lot of drive and it shows he is a real go-getter. He is
not afraid to do what he wants and it seems like if he keeps this up, he will
really accomplish things in life.”
Besides working 110 percent on his music as well as working on his basketball
game seven days a week, Latif works two jobs which increases his already hectic
schedule.
“Both of my jobs are at group homes for boys,” Latif said. “One
of them is during the day and the other is over night. Between both of my jobs
I work around 60-70 hours a week, I have to stay up and I don’t get much
sleep, but I have to do what I have to do.”
Despite the long hours and hard work with working two jobs, going to school
full-time, working on his music and basketball, Latif still finds it all to
be very rewarding for his life.
“By working at the group homes, I feel it gives me a great reward,”
Latif said. “Its great. I take the kids and we go out and I show them the
fundamentals of basketball and stuff like that and you can see they really appreciate
it, and it feels good.”
For Latif, the future in many ways is on the rise as he has plenty of projects
in the works with his music and basketball.
This summer, Latif is playing in a professional summer league at the Pyramid
in Long Beach, which features NBA players getting ready for their upcoming season.
Latif will be a part of the Frontline Agency team. He also has a tryout this
summer with a professional team in Spain.
“Hopefully this summer, I will be the starting point guard for Frontline,”
Latif said. “If I am the starting point guard, I would like as many people
as possible to come watch me play. The league will start sometime in late July.”
With his basketball career full steam ahead, Latif is also putting the pedal
to the metal with his music career.
In the summer of 2004, Latif is releasing his first full album, “Witness
A Workaholic: The Album.”
Besides the many projects going on in his life, Latif has set a few lifelong
goals he wants to accomplish.
“Before it is all said and done, I want to write a full movie script,
learn two languages and write a book on the path I have taken in life,”
Latif said.
Whether you see him rapping on a big name record label or draining three’s
on the floor of the Staples Center, the curious can keep a close eye on him
through his Web site, www.jibriljamal.com,
and witness the work of a true workaholic.
