I saw Jay-Z in concert this past weekend. It was inspiring, invigorating and can't-stay-sitting-down fun. Maybe he is just that great of a showman, but I could feel his awe that he had made it from the projects in Brooklyn to a stage with thousands of fans cheering for him. His message to the crowd was to dream big and not let anything or anyone get in the way. But he has obviously done a lot of things right beyond just dreaming. Here are some of the keys to his success from my point of view -what do you think?
1. Surround yourself with successful, like-minded people. I read somewhere that the success of your five closest friends reflects your own potential for success. Although Jay-Z is absolutely self-made, he has created an even larger personal brand by hitching himself to other stars across various genres and within the hip hop community: Coldplay, Linkin Park, Rihanna, Kanye West, Alicia Keyes, just to name a few. Many of these collaborations resulted in his biggest hits.
2. Hustle! ie. Work your a$$ off. Malcom Gladwell wrote in his book Outliers, that it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to truly master a skill. No matter how talented he is, he couldn't have made it without consistency, persistence and just simple hard work.
"I'm far from being God but I work God damn hard" - Breathe Easy, The Blueprint
3. Fully invest in his passion. In a recent interview with Oprah, Jay-Z talks about a point when he realized he would have to fully give up dealing drugs to pursue his passion for hip hop. It sounds funny (slash scary), but drug dealers were the role models in his neighbourhood because they brought in cash. He had to have long term vision to realize that if he wanted to follow his dream, he needed to fully commit to his passion. He continues to do that today by looking for new ways to grow in his music.
“Treat my first like my last and the last like my first and my thirst is the same as- when I came.” - My First Song, The Black Album
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
GREAT post! I love this man, he is an inspiration.
Inspiring post about about being inspired...Also, Jay-Z surrounded himself with other successful musicians, producers, etc even before the musician collabos you mentioned: Damon Dash, Biggy, Puffy, Premier...I'm sure they fed off of each others' talents and aspirations as I'm about to feed off of yours...
Fantastic post Kp.
Killer Kena! Such a great post. I also was in AWE of this man! He also appeared unbelievably humble, allowing others to not only share a stage with him but allowing them to shine (for example allowing Drake to run with his own track not Jayz track I think says a lot about him).
'Inspired by Jay-Z' --- yep sure am!
Very good point Elena....it has definitely been a defining element of his career.