Jay-Z: You know, money is just a byproduct, and that sounds really cliche, but it's true,
of doing a great job.
Jay-Z: I have more fear of going back, you know, I like to advance every year, to advance
myself. You know, spiritually, mentally, everything. I like to advance myself. I have more fear
of going back than losing money. Like I said, I've lost money. I've been broke, I've been
rich, I've saved and blown bread. It's a lyric, you know.
Jay-Z became a legend against all odds. And it is no COINCIDENCE.
It is no coincidence he is one of the most successful hip-hop artists of all time. It
is no coincidence he is an expert businessman, worth US$1.4 billion.
He wasn’t born having it all. He grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn. He was raised,
along with three siblings, by his mom after his dad abandoned them.
He had all odds against him, but he decided to pursue his dreams anyway.
He bet on himself. After getting a boombox as a gift from his
mom, he started rapping on the neighborhood. Even though he started to gain some attention,
no label wanted to sign him. But there was no obstacle great enough for
Jay -Z. He united with some friends to create his own label Roc-A-Fella Records and sold
his CDs out of his car until striking a deal with Priority.
From then on, enormous success ensued, proving to everyone he had made the right choice by
sticking to his dreams. His unrelenting will and determination to
always improve, and to always grow make him a relevant artist and entrepreneur to this
day. He’s not interested in pleasing anyone but
himself. He follows his inner voice, despite outside opinions, and that makes him stand
out from the crowd. He built his success from his knowledge. Anyone
who wants to be successful needs to study his methods and put them into practice.
Jay-Z: There's a, there's a knowing in being an artist. There's a knowing, you can't guess,
you can't think. There's a knowing, you have to know that even if it doesn't work today,
tomorrow, this artist that I played that wasn’t popular at the time that I play more than
I play current artists, Shuggie Otis. I suggest you just go look up Shuggie Otis. He was amazing.
At the time that was, you guys know Shuggie Otis? At the time it wasn't this hugely popular
thing but I think, I think when it all is said and done we will play that music more
than any other music, right? So you have to have this knowing that, okay, it may not work
today it may not work tomorrow but this is the right thing and this is what I'm doing
and this is what's feeding me.
Jay-Z: Believe in what you're doing and if it's, and if you don't believe in it, then
you're not doing it, you haven't figured out the thing that you do best yet. When you feel
it and when you know no one can tell you, you only have to be right once.
Interviewer: Do you people feel like people consume music too fast, cause you create these
amazing moments, but then the moment is fleeting. As soon as you put the album out it's like
people want it for a few days, then okay Jacole came out, Wally comes out the next week. Wally's
out, now Hove's out. You know what I mean?
Jay-Z: Yeah, yeah, it's just, yeah, again, the time that we in, right? We have to figure
out, I mean, it's up to the individual to figure out how to slow it down, because you
know, it's just going faster and faster. Everything is moving, you know, quicker, you know, information
is going quicker. Again, like you said, you know, these great things are fleeting. They're
going faster and faster and it's up to the individual to slow it down and be like, okay,
I'm living with this album. This is what I choose to ride to, this is going to be the
soundtrack to my life for these next couple months. You know what I'm saying? That's an
individual thing, I'm not going to let anybody speed up my process, I don't care what's happening
out there. That's the great thing about, you know, having ultimate confidence in yourself
is it doesn't matter what's happening. I don't care what's happening, I don't care what you're
on, or this person's on. This is what I like.
Other people’s opinions will be the death of you.
There is always someone to tell you how you should do something.
There is always someone to tell you what you are doing isn’t enough. Or that you should
change yourself completely in order to be famous and successful.
But I guarantee you if you look at any success story from the thousands of people that changed
the world, they stayed true to themselves. Be true to yourself.
People who follow others never become great. They may achieve some level of fame and attention
for a while, but soon they are forgotten. Because they had no identity.
You can’t be successful without knowing who you are. Without knowing what is important
to you, what moves you. What do you want to do with your life?
You have to ask that question EVERY DAY. And every day your actions and the things
you seek MUST be aligned with the answer. Dare to be different!
Dare to be yourself! Dare to change the world!
(Dramatic stop. Change the mood. Some kind of disruption)
Jay-Z: My advice is just do things that are true to you. Most of the things that I'm involved
with are an extension of being creative. Rocawear is a clothing company. It's part of who you
are and hip hop is your attitude and what you're trying to express, how you dress. I
loved sports growing up. I grew up in a household where sports was on 24/7 so these are all
things that are comfortable for me. These are things that I like. So, I would just say
get involved in things that you love and also have a standard for yourself and have some
sort of integrity and try to find some sort of truth in what you're doing.
Jay-Z: I started, even in my beginning, you know, I just lived such a rich life. A full
life, you know, that my first album was, it came out I was 26, and I had seen so many
things in the streets, so my attitude was like man, I've seen so much, and I don't have
anything to prove. I know who I am, I'm a very self-aware person. So when you're self-aware,
even when you're dealing with someone's ego you know when you allow, you allow their ego
to live in its own space. You know, the problem is when you engage that energy. That's when
there's a problem. If you engage the ego with your ego, then it's like okay, now something
has to happen. It keeps escalating to a level that can be irreversible.
Don’t listen to people who see only the negative or try to drag you down.
There are two main reasons people will try to dissuade you from your dreams.
The first reason is because of their ego. These are the people that want the worst for
you. They want to be better than everyone else. But instead of putting in the work to
actually become better, they try to keep people around them mediocre.
That is a sure way to fail. You can’t level the game down by stopping others. You can
only level it up by improving YOURSELF. There will always be someone who won’t fall
for that and who will actually try to be the BEST. Be that person and don’t let the naysayers
stop you. The second reason is most people are afraid.
People will say you can’t make it because they’re afraid. They may even have your
best interest at heart, but you shouldn’t listen to them.
These are the people closest to you. They think they are protecting you by trying to
stop you from doing what they think is impossible, but they are only holding you back.
Their impossible can be your possible. Just because they didn’t make it, it doesn’t
mean you can’t. Just because they didn’t get up after defeat,
it doesn’t mean you won’t. Only you know what you can do!
And what you can do is exactly WHAT YOU BELIEVE you are able to do.
BELIEVE and MOVE FORWARD.
Jay-Z: Like, you know, don't listen to anyone. Everybody is scared, you know, everyone tells
you how things worked out but it worked out for you that way. So don't listen to anyone
because their experiences is unique to who they are, you know what I mean? And then a
lot of people will try to put their fears on you. You can't do that. No, you can't do
it. But you know what I'm saying? So they’re just projecting, they're putting things that
they don't believe that they can do on you. And you may possibly do it. Like my uncle,
like, I don't think he meant not, and I know I'm killing him, I'm saying it so many times.
I know he's gonna be at Christmas like “why do you keep bringing this up?” You know,
my uncle, he was telling me like I'm never gonna, my uncle said it'd never sell a million
records, I sold a million records like a million times, you know. So he was, I'm sure, I'm
his nephew, I know he, I don't think he meant any malice, he just was injecting his fears
and things that “are you crazy? How you gonna do that? How? You know, I'm sure there's
things I do now that he can't believe that I was able to accomplish. We couldn't even
see it at the time, so he was just projecting putting his fears on me. So the whole thing
is just you know... and always believe you’re great even before anybody else believes it.
You are GREAT. You must be the first to believe that.
You can’t wait for the world to appreciate you so you can appreciate yourself.
That is not how this works. If Jay – Z hadn’t taken a leap of faith
even when nobody believed in him, he wouldn’t have achieved all the incredible things he
achieved. If you want to make all your dreams come true
you have to believe in yourself. GREATNESS comes from the inside.
Anything on the outside is just a consequence of what you harnessed in your own self.
Stay true to your beliefs! Take action!
Accomplish the impossible!