Jay-Z's 17 Steps To Success!!   

        

                                                  Written By: Nick Scheidies

 

The music industry is very well known for chewing musicians up and spitting them out.Apparently Jay-Z didn't get the memo. In the last 20 years Jay-z a.k.a. Shawn Carter) has amassed a personal worth of $450 million while turning the music business on its head. Sure, He's had hit records and sold out shows -but the real wealth comes from his businesses(Rocawear and Roc-A-Fella Records). Keep reading to find out how Jay-Z became not just one of the greatest rappers of all times but one of the greatest entrepereneurs of the 21st century!

#1 HUSTLE "Without the work,the magic won't come." Jay-Z Decoded.

 

# 2 DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE EVERYTHING YOU NEED "It just got to a point where it was like,Make this decision because this is something you really love and you have to do this. Its time to really focus on it and get serious about it, give it your all. Once i did that, It was no looking back from there." Jay-z Interview with Forbes.

 

# 3 PEOPLE HELP PEOPLE WHO HELP THEMSELVES "When people see that you are pursuing a goal, they'll want to help. But don't expect any gifts from others until you're doing everything you can to help yourself."

 

# 4 CARRY A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU " Whether you're a writer,rapper , or an entrepreneur, you never know when inspiration will strike. Make sure you have a way to write it down or record it so you won't forget."

 

#5 DON'T RUN YOUR MOUTH Its tempting to share your dreams and goals with people but be careful not to talk too much. Sometimes even your closet friends and family members won't be able to see your vision and their response will be discouraging. Actions speak louder than words.

 

# 6 SKILLS ARE TRANSFERRABLE Jay-Z never went to business school. But that hasn't stopped him founding $100 million companies and serving as a co-brand director for Budweiser Select. We all have a breadth of experience to draw from. Always keep a look our for how your skill in one field can be used in another.

 

# 7 KNOW HOW TO HANDLE REJECTION Jay-Z was turned down by every label in the industry. So did he give up on his dream of becoming a professional rapper? No. He started his own record label.

 

# 8 MAKE A PLAN Sometimes we think we know how it's all going to play out in our head,but there's something powerful and clarifying about actually writing things out.

 

# 9 DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE PRIZE "You can want success all you want but to get, you can't falter, You can't slip, You can't sleep. One eye open,for real, and forever." Even when Jay-Z was selling drugs he wasn't using them. He rapped about champagne and margaritas he was only a light drinker in reality. Jay-Z prefers to be sober so that he can stay focus on making money."

 

# 10 DREAM ENORMOUS "I'd rather die enormous than live dormant"

 

# 11 ART and BUSINESS can(and should) CO EXIST "The irony of it is that to make the hustle work, Really Work, over the long term, you have to be a true artist, too.

 

#12 DEMAND RESPECT "Either love me or leave me alone.:" Jay-z from Public Service Announcement In 199, Jay-Z won his first Grammy award: Best Rap Album : Hard Knock Life, but he was no where to be found at the ceremony that night. Jay-Z had boycotted the Grammys becasue he " didn't think they gave the right ful respect to hip hop. Even though attending the event would have been good for Jay-Z's career, he passed it by. It wasn't the first time Jay-Z had made such a stand. Since his first album, Jay-Z had been mentioning Cristal luxury brand of champagne, but when Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of the company disrespected the "bling life style" in the Economist, Jay-Z drew a line in the sand: " That was it for me I released a statement saying that I would never drink Cristal or promote it in any way or serve it at my clubs ever again." Jay-Z clearly has a zero tolerance for disrespect and as a result he's very rarely disrespected. " He who does not feel me is not real to me." Jay-Z inter. with Izzo.

 

#13 ACCEPT HELP FROM GOOD MENTORS A good mentor has already been in your position. That means they can see what steps you need to take and what mistakes you need to avoid.

 

# 14 IGNORE TRENDS In 2009, the hot trend in hip hop was auto-tune. T-pain was scoring hit after hit with perfectly pitched synthetic vocals ( see flo rida's "Low"). but Jay-Z didn't jump ont the bandwagon. In fact, his big single tht year was called "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune) " It was everything auto-tune wasn't : dissonant,noisy, and off pitch.

 

# 15 START A BLOG In April 2011, Jay-Z dove into a new industry: Blogging. Why would a rap mogul worth $450 million start a blog? Jay-Z realized taht blogging was more than just another way to speak his mind. It allows him to expand his influence and grow a loya audience which will ultimatel be good for him and his companies bottom line.

 

#16 ENTREPRENEURSHIP EMPOWERS YOU TO CHANGE THE WORLD If Jay-Z had stayed selling drugs he would have kept making good money (though he would mostly would have been caught before long) but he never would have been able to make the postive impact on the world that he has an artist and entrepreneur. Last but not least...

 

# 17 HAVE AN "EMPIRE STATE OF MIND." " I am not a businessman, I am a business!,Man!" As a writer these are key components that I did not know and some I did know but tried it my way. Like so many artists out here we want to ignore the key successful things because we are trying to do things our way but let's face it , If it was working we would be on somebody cover !

 

It could not hurt to follow a successful artist steps. You never know where it can lead you to.

 

-Koko Bee References: Incomdieray.com , Decoded, Izzo, Diamonds of Sierra leorne, and author/musician: Nick Scheidies

 

Source Tip Grindsta is a positive uplifting magazine who wants to see every artist to succeed. Therefore Source Tip is just a way to guide some artists who might need or want to know something to enhance themselves as an artist and their brand. Grindsta brings to you every month guidelines or just anything relating to the entertainment business from different websites and sources. If there is anything you would like to know or wonder about email us at grindstamag@gmail.com and we will post each month a question and gather the information for that particular question.