Whatever it takes How exactly did Jay Z build his empire?
Let’s start at the point when Jay Z WASN’T a billionaire.
He didn’t come from the average middle-class neighborhood.
He was born and raised in Brooklyn, as Shawn Corey Carter.
Jay was the youngest of four kids, and his family lived in a rough neighborhood.
He sold drugs in his teenage years to support himself and other members of his family.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, he admitted that his mom quote, “simply knew he was
selling drugs in high school” but couldn’t do much about it because they needed the money.
Jay wanted a better life than the one he had, and he knew that he was going to do whatever
it takes.
His family lived in a housing project but when he was 11, his dad left and his mother
was left raising four kids alone.
We don’t need to say the obvious that life wasn’t easy for a young Jay Z.
Just to illustrate the type of environment he was living in, at the age of 12, he shot
his older brother in the shoulder for stealing his jewelry!
Even though he grew up in a tough environment, he still had moments as a young kid of course.
His mom said that he had a passion for music at a young age and that he used to beat out
drum patterns on the kitchen table in the middle of the night.
It wasn’t until a few years later that he’d get a boom box as a birthday present, but
his skills as a musician were cultivated at an early age.
The Inner Talent If you want to be successful, you need to
figure out what you’re good at in life.
Everyone’s good at something, and it’s up to us to figure out what we’re good at.
If you don’t know how to find what you’re good at, just start looking at the things
you enjoy doing the most.
Most people love to do what they’re good at.
As Jay grew up and he got deeper into the game, he knew that he had to find another
way to get out of his situation.
He knew that he was good at rapping, and because there was more of a chance for success through
rapping than the drug game, he transitioned into music.
Jay is a self-professed hustler, and he knew that he was gonna find a way out no matter
what way it was through.
He had claimed from the beginning that he wasn’t a rapper, but that he was a hustler.
It just happened to be that he knew how to rap!
A Helping Hand It’s one thing to be confident in yourself
and your abilities, but it’s completely different to stubbornly refuse to learn anything
new or accept criticism.
In any field, having a mentor or someone to help you expand your views to see another
side and help point out any possible mistakes is crucial for success.
Anyone at the top of their profession can’t do it alone.
Lebron, as a quick example, has his own personal team to support and guide him off the court.
When Jay was starting out, he did exactly that.
He worked together with the rapper Jaz-O who taught him the basics of rap.
Does the name sound familiar?
Jay was first known as Jazzy around his neighborhood.
But he took a similar nickname as his mentor, which kind of says a lot about what he thought
of Jaz-O at the time, even if he did quickly outgrow his mentor.
They even ended up feuding years later, but that’s another story.
Learning doesn’t stop when we get successful either.
We’re either continually getting better, or getting worse, and that’s something Jay
knew.
Jay has had many different mentors throughout his life.
He said he learned about discipline and picked up work habits from Michael Jordan.
He learned about living life your own way while still being successful from Russell
Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Records.
Learning from someone who’s already been through the path that you want to go will
help tremendously and save you a lot of time and struggle.
No Fear Too many people see failure as a bad thing.
If someone never fails, they’re never getting out of their comfort zone and they’re never
learning.
Failure doesn’t mean that we won’t ever make it.
And that was Jay’s attitude.
When Jay was starting out, he couldn’t get any record companies to sign him to a deal.
This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
So he decided to start his own label, Roc-A-Fella records, together with Damon Dash and Kareem
Bigs.
Jay said that the first thing they did was get together and come up with reasonable goals
for the company and then they set out working hard on executing.
Execution Back in those early days of the company, they
started out by selling CDs out of the trunk of their cars.
Later on, Jay released his debut album Reasonable Doubt in 1996 which today is still regarded
as one of the best rap albums ever.
Let’s not also forget about the other classics he’s dropped, such as The Blueprint, or
The Black Album.
Jay showed us that even though it looks like something bad happens, it’s a blessing in
disguise.
That situation was just a situation to Jay.
He just knew that he was going to make his own path instead.
Maximizing opportunities Even after his success as a rapper, Jay never
stopped looking for opportunities to make his life better.
Jay didn’t believe in staying in his comfort zone or staying in his lane.
He knew that he still had opportunities for success elsewhere.
Once he had the blueprint for success, he knew that he could apply it in other areas..
Instead of just pigeonholing himself as a rapper, he decided to continue his success
in the business world.
Apart from winning FOURTEEN Grammys, he’s built an empire of many other thriving businesses,
some of which he sold.
For example, remember the clothing brand Rocawear?
Jay sold majority ownership of the company for around $200 million dollars.
But he kept a stake in the business and still actively participates in some company decisions.
He also launched his own sports agency, Roc Nation Sports.
He’s bought out the champagne brand Armand de Brignac champagne, or better known as Ace
of Spades.
He’s also invested in tech companies, cigars, and a lotta other things we just don’t know
about.
Jay likes to describe all of his brands and business, saying that they’re all “a part
of him”, and that there’s a lot of “emotional attachment”.
Focused We’ve seen it plenty of times when someone
doesn’t know how to deal with the fame and the money.
The easiest example is with professional athletes, and there are reasons why such a large percentage
of professional athletes go broke after they retire.
The biggest reason is that Cash flow is king.
And in all fairness, it IS easy to get caught up in the partying and traveling lifestyle.
If you think the cash flow isn’t going to stop, the next thing you know, you end up
blowing a few hundred million like a young Iron Mike!
Find out more in this video!
But Jay was too smart to make those mistakes.
The key thing that Jay did was staying focused on achieving his personal goals.
It’s not like he and Beyonce are staying home every Friday night to read about business
strategies, but Jay knows his limits.
Even though he’s rapped about spending money and partying, he’s actually a light drinker
and prefers to quote “stay focused on making money”.
Continuous Improvement Jay prefers to put his energy into things
that will bring him more success.
For example, spending $55 million dollars on a horse seems like an expensive luxury.
But that was a racehorse with a pedigree that creates cash flow for him.
Jay is relentlessly focused in achieving what he set out for himself and his success and
achievements speak for themselves.
Giving Value When you get good at something, there comes
a point when you just want to see others around you do just as well as you.
Having one of the more interesting rags-to-riches stories, Jay knows what it’s like to start
from the bottom.
Jay said in a song that quote “the greatest form of giving is anonymous to anonymous”.
That’s because it’s different when people do nice things for other people and then show
it off on instagram.
Jay has been using his power and influence to reach other people less fortunate for quite
a while.
In 2003, he founded The Shawn Carter Foundation together with his mother in order to help
talented students who struggle to pay out college.
But he’s also helped out other people who’re trying to reach the top.
Rihanna owes Jay for the start of her successful career.
And who can forget Jay was one of the most influential people to Kanye at the beginning
of his career as a rapper?
Kanye made an entire song about him.
Environment You’re only as good as the average of the
people who you surround yourself with?
Jay knew exactly how that goes.
He’s extremely careful who he hangs around with.
If you want to be successful at something, you’ll need to surround yourself with people
who are trying to achieve the same goals.
For example, if you’re trying to get in shape, surrounding yourself with people who
want to get in shape gives you a much higher chance of getting in shape.
If instead you surround yourself with people who are into playing video games and eating
out, then guess what, working out is on the back burner.
When you associate yourself with people that are trying to get to the next level or are
already successful, you’re putting yourself in a position where you have a much higher
chance of succeeding.
Jay was able to surround himself with the right people from the beginning with Damon
Dash and Kareem Bigs.
Jay kept himself with people who had similar goals, from Biggie to Russell Simmons to Michael
Jordan.
Jay knew how important it is to keep the right people around in his life and keep the wrong
ones out.
Even for someone as talented as Jay, he didn’t do it alone getting to the top.