5 Lessons Hip Hop Can Teach You In These Hectic Times

People are scared. Across the country folks are losing their homes—and even if you can keep your house it’s worth much less than it was several years ago. Jobs with liveable wages and benefits are rapidly disappearing. With the crashing and burning happening on Wall Street the value of many people’s retirement accounts has plummeted. Last, but certainly not least, affordable health insurance evades more and more Americans. It’s easy to be sucked into the collective fear that is spreading around the country. In Chinese the symbol for crisis is the same as opportunity. It’s therefore not surprising that even in the middle of this financial chaos there are people still making money and living large—and that’s been the case throughout history.

Recently I was listening to T.I.’s single “On Top Of the World,” featuring Ludacris and I started thinking about how successful people are different from the ones caught up in collective fear. Over the years rap artists have advocated boot-strap economics—a self reliance that emerged in the aftermath of being abandoned and ignored by the system. People hustle when they are hungry and they become complacent when they have extra money in their pockets. We all tend to forget that the economy, like life, is about cycles. If there is a boom period, there’s got to be a corresponding bust. While no man (or woman) is an island, it’s almost certain that the more that you farm out your financial decisions to other people, the more likely you’ll remain broke and fearful. I have put together 5 important lessons that Hip Hop has taught me about financially successful people:

1. They have a prosperity mind-set: Successful people refuse to focus on their fears. They are really determined that they are going to get theirs—no matter what. This means that they don’t spend a lot of time thinking that they can’t make it because they’re Black, Latino, female, uneducated/unqualified, too old, too fat, don’t live in NY or LA or too unattractive. There’s a big difference between saying that you want to be wealthy and actually believing that you can be. The success stories are made of up people who truly believed that they deserved the best that life had to offer. These folks also got off their rears and took concrete steps toward their goals. Successful person may play hard, but they also work VERY hard. These people are constantly in meetings, discussing deals and investigating new opportunities. Successful people also surround themselves with knowledgeable advisers who can help them to improve their game and fulfil their vision.. The folks with longevity such as Russell Simmons, Sean “P-Diddy” Combs, Sean “Jay-Z” Carter, LL Cool L and Queen Latifah know that they are exactly where they are supposed to be—it’s not a fluke or an accident.

Action Step: List you top 5 reasons why you can’t get ahead. Read your list and determine why each one is a really just an excuse. For instance, if you say that don’t have enough education; you can go back to school, even if its only one class at a time.

2. They Take On New Challenges: Successful people believe in themselves and as a result they take career risks that allow them to learn and grow. Rap artist, Will Smith (DJ Jazzy J and Fresh Prince) agreed to star in the television show, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” and then he made his film debuted in Six Degrees of Separation, playing a gay man. Will Smith went on to star in films such as Independence Day, Men in Black and Enemy of the State and is now a top Hollywood money-maker. Queen Latifah, who co-founded Flavor Unit Entertainment, which managed groups such as Outkast and Naughty by Nature also starred in the television show “Living Single.” She won acclaim for her acting in films such as Living Out Loud and Set It Off and was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the film “Chicago." Queen Latifah moved from rapping to singing on The Dana Owens Album (2004) and Trav’lin Light (2007). As a fashion designer, Sean Combs has not only racked up millions in sales, but in 2004 he beat out veteran designers Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors to win CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year award for his sophisticated Sean John clothing line. We also can’t forget his addictive MTV reality shows, “Making the Band,” and “Who Wants to Be Diddy’s Assistant? The folks who keep stepping, even in tough economic times keep challenging themselves to reach larger and loftier goals.

Action Step: Think about 1 or 2 things that you’ve been scared to do and commit to doing it—put a date on its completion. It may be performing at the local open mic, applying for a higher position at your job or pitching your business to clients outside your community.

3. They own their own businesses: The reality is that if you work for someone else, you are always financially vulnerable. The company, not you decides how much money you can make, how quickly you can advance and whether you’ll even have a job next week. When the company decides to eliminate your job it’s irrelevant to them that you’ve got rent to pay, a car note that’s due or kids to feed. Although owning a business can be financially risky, it’s the only way that you can directly control how much cash flows into your wallet. Whether it’s rap music entrepreneurs or traditional business people, the wealthiest ones are those who own their own businesses: Jay-Z (co-founder. Roc-A-Fella Records); 50 Cent (G-Unit, an umbrella for several businesses); Sean Combs (Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group); Warren Buffet (Bershire Hathaway); Bill Gates (Microsoft); Jeff Bezos (founder, Amazon.com). Even for people who don’t want to be full-time entrepreneurs they need to have a second hustle that can tide them over if their main gig disappears.

Action Step: Make a List of 10 different low-cost businesses that you could start TODAY with the skills that you’ve already got. Research start-up costs, marketing/promotion expenses and what it would take to turn a profit.

4. They Watch Their Money: Despite all of the Cristal sipping and bottles of Patron that are consumed every weekend, the truly wealthy usually let someone else pick up the tab. It’s the wannabees who are going broke trying to impress the next man (or woman). Ironically the more that people make, the less that they tend to spend. Not only are the wealthy usually inundated with “comps” (Complimentary or FREE gifts/perks), they expect NOT to pay for their drinks or to get into a club. In comparison too many average joes simply spend more than they earn. While the rich buy appreciable items, such as recession-proof real estate in high-end communities, art work, or invest in their companies, the average janes buy/lease luxury cars and McMansions that they couldn’t afford. These average joes usually have closets full of designer clothes and accessories but not a dime in emergency savings. They are literally one pay check away from welfare. Getting on track financially means cutting back on all non-essential spending and putting some money in the bank.

Action Step: Determine what in your life are “needs” versus “wants.” If you don’t have at least three months of salary in the bank for an emergency---immediately dead the “wants” and bank the money. Think about selling your non-essentials clothes/gadgets on Ebay.

5. They Have a Life Plan: Most successful people have a good idea about what they want to accomplish in a given time period—whether that’s five years, one year or a month. They don’t wake up every morning and just wing it. This doesn’t mean that every move is written in stone—but they’ve got an outline. Sometime your desires, your circumstances or your industry change and you’ve got to embark on another course. As veteran music industry exec, Kevin Liles said in his book Make it Happen, “There’s a big difference between building an overall vision about what you want to achieve in a lifetime, and tying yourself down to one path.” The key point is not to live solely in the future. Do your best with the project or job that’s in front of you, but keep in mind how it fits into where you want to be tomorrow. An important part of having a viable life plan is being prepared—are you positioning yourself for new opportunities? Whether you want to own a record company, buy a house, become a rap artist, open a charter school or become an NBA player, you need to find out what takes in terms of education/credentials, money, time and connections. Granted, there’s no law saying that you’ve got to do it like everyone else. For instance, 19 year old Brandon Jennings is the first U.S. basketball player to play professionally in Europe straight out of high school. In the 1990s the Wu-Tang Clan changed the music industry by having a recording contract with Loud/RCA that still allowed members to record solo projects with other labels. However, you’ve got to be knowledgeable of the system before you can successfully buck it.

Action Step: Write down what you would like to achieve in the next 6 months or year. Figure out the major steps you’d need to take to achieve your goals.

There’s more to life than the paper chase, but don’t discount the importance of money. It may not buy happiness, but it can buy you a nice home in a safe neighborhood, a reliable car, health insurance, stellar attorneys, vacations, college tuition for your children and the ability to help your parents financially as they enter their golden years. It’s in these times that we’ve got to realize the regardless of whose in the White House, we need develop a “do it your damn self” mind set that will help us to adapt to a changing world. In this latest financial crisis the government ran to bail out Wall Street while people on Main Street are still suffering. The rich and powerful instinctively look out for their own interests. They’re no different from any other clique or crew. Lil’ Kim summed up how the system works on The Lox’s single, “Money, Power and Respect,” “First you get the money, then you get the power, after you get the f–in’ power, motherf—ers will respect you." The take-away is to begin to rely more on yourself and rely less on other folks to make sure that you and yours eat.