One of the biggest hip-hop stories in the past couple years came when Cash Money CEO Bryan “Birdman” Williams, confronted Power 105.1’s Charlemagne Tha God on the popular and sometimes controversial Breakfast Club morning show back in 2016.

The radio personality upset the “Pop Bottles” mogul with his ongoing joke about Birdman giving out bad deals.

What resulted was a viral moment that can be summed up into one word: ‘Respek’

Birdman was visibly upset because he was called out for doing what every other record label had been doing in the hip-hop industry for years: ripping off their artist in what now is called “slave contracts.”

Look at TLC, who sold up to $10 million worth in records but somehow were only taking home $35,000 a year. Soulja Boy, the OG of internet rap, still can sell out shows internationally with successes like “Crank That”, “Kiss Me Through The Phone” and others sued his ex- manager in 2012, claiming he was coerced into signing multiple bad contracts and we all know from the Straight Outta Compton movie how Eazy-E and N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller dubiously handled the rap group’s finances.

But a trend is changing. Not only are rappers learning to say no to label deals, but they’re becoming savvy businessmen. Here’s a couple MC’s finding a way to make their own bread in a weird time in the industry.

Rich The Kid

Take Rich The Kid for example. In one year’s time, he made the 2016 XXL freshman class, signed to the indie label Quality Control and 300 Entertainment and…. started his own label, signing his own artist in Famous Dex. Who does that? The audacity. I mean, he doesn’t even have an official album out yet.

But this is a new era where artists are taking control into their own hands are redefining what it means to be major players in the most influential genre out right now.

Rich The Kid is taking advantage of having a deal that allows him to pocket most of his change and he’s been capitalizing off of it. In addition to live performance fees and streaming royalties, Rich explained to Forbes mag that recording guest verses or chorus hooks on commission makes for a significant revenue source. He said,

“I make a lot of money off featuring, doing songs with up-and-coming artists… I can charge someone $10,000 to $15,000 to do one song.”

Smart. And when he’s not doing guest verses or doing shows, he’s taking business meetings with multimillionaire business owners, like Gary Vaynerchuk, who gives him advice on how best to expand his brand.

Think of rappers like Wale, J. Cole, Big Sean Kendrick or even Drake. They all made it a point to sign to a label. That was the culture then. Now, artists don’t care about singles or even about releasing albums. They’re starting their own labels, dropping mixtapes on iTunes and signing their own artists. The game has truly changed.

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Chance The Rapper

Chance is another guy who is putting his middle finger up to the ways of old. Quite literally. The 2014 XXL freshman cover finalist came into the game saying no to record deals, then started making deals of his own.

On day one of his “Be Encouraged Tour” in San Diego in mid-April he threw shade at the big time record labels. Dissing Aftermath, Def Jam, and Motown among others during his performance of “No Problem,” where the independent emcee famously warns labels not to try and stop him.

Somehow Chance convinced the Grammy’s to consider free music for Grammy consideration, released his second mixtape (yes mixtape) then went on to win three Grammy’s after that.

The new school is coming in cockier than ever.

Not to mention the endorsement deals. If you see anyone walking around with a “3” on a New Era hat, it’s Chance.

He is a brand ambassador for both the Bulls and the White Sox and he even came up with a new Kit-Kat jingle. And he hasn’t even reached year three in the rap game.

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Lil Yachty

Lil Yatchy aka Lil Boat has damn near heard it all. He’s been called poster-child for whack rappers, his music has been dubbed as “mumble rap” and he caught flack for not knowing much about Biggie and Pac. Whatever your opinion of Lil Boat, it’s clear that the self-titled “King of Teens” knows how to market himself.

Since Yachty first stepped on the scene last year the 19-year-old has become a hot commodity for brands across the spectrum. When PUMA and Pink Dolphin came together for a capsule collection last year, Yachty was brought in to be the face.

Lil Boat is a well-known Nautica aficionado, and early this year they hired the 19-year-old to be a creative director after a successful collaboration with Urban Outfitters last November. Even Sprite decided to use Yachty’s “Minnesota” in a 2016 commercial with Lebron James. Not to mention his Superbowl ad with Carly Rae Jepsen for the remake of “It Takes Two” for Target ad.

How’s that for mumbling?

The young artist has already broken into corporate sponsorships in a way that some rappers can only dream of.

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A$AP Ferg

We first got a taste of the Harlem’s own A$AP Ferg when he burst on the scene with his banger “Work” which appeared on the A$AP Mob mixtape Lords Never Worry, released in August 2012.

Since then, Ferg has dropped Trap Lord in 2014 and Always Strive and Prosper in 2015 —  both received great acclaim — but it’s his interest in fashion that sets him apart from his class and the artists who have come before him.

Pairing up with Astrid Andersen, a menswear designer from Denmark, for the former’s SS16 show, as the “Trap Lord” was brought in to curate the music for the show. They even worked together on a short film with Red Bull Catwalk Studios entitled, Water, which you can see for yourself below:

The game has changed. Artists understand that they have control. Whether it’s establishing their own labels, to making deals directly with brands, the highest form of currency is their online following.

As the game of hip-hop expands and demands more from the culture, it wouldn’t be surprising to see more and more new rappers out the gate land deals that previous artists had to make multiple albums and millions of sales to snag.

And I’m here for it.

Why is asking for help so difficult? Is it trust? Vulnerability? When did it become shameful to lean on one another? How did isolating yourself get so popular?

In a time where we’re more connected than we’ve ever been it’s a shame how seldom we call on each other for help. The stigma of neediness and the fear of overstepping our friendship boundaries has left us depending on our own understanding.

Rick Ross really has people thinking he’s self-made, and the lie has spread to entrepreneurs and aspiring artists alike.

But here’s a newsflash to all the lone wolves out there: you will fail alone.

It’s easy to get lost in your own head with nothing but your own thoughts. It’s easy to live a life governed by no one else’s perspective but your own. Not letting anyone in takes less effort but you’ll find that it’s during these times when your best effort makes no progress.

And that’s why people who venture alone fail.

No matter what the endeavor, we can do nothing by ourselves. This narrative of Mr. Do-It-All is toxic and detrimental to one’s career.

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The relationships we make, the family that nurtures us and the friends who have our back, all help add up to the total contributions that go into achieving success. Just because we’re not able to see or tell where the help came, doesn’t mean you didn’t receive it.

We begin to understand this best when we kill the ego.

The falsehood of heroism

The secret about assistance is that often times we have no idea we need it.

Our focus may be on our profession or the commas in our bank accounts — which might be doing well — but there may be other areas in our lives where we’re not experts in.

Take mental health for example. One in five American adults experienced a mental health issue and one in 10 young people experienced a period of major depression according too MentalHealth.gov. Because the priority isn’t necessarily getting into med school or nailing an audition, its something that often goes overlooked.

The stigma of heroism and the feeling that we must conquer our demons alone sometimes comes from a sense of responsibility. We know we can do better and, in our heads, we’re “supposed” to be better, so we make our problems territorial.

Call it guilt or call it stubbornness but when we get caught up in fixing our own problems, we get stuck in the same place for years. When we detach from the perceived glory from defeating a problem alone, or overcoming a feat by one’s self, we’ll begin to see that we can make life a lot easier for ourselves.

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Why team matters

We’re not perfect. Planes have parachutes and parachutes have back-up parachutes. The right friends should serve as such: catch falls for what we miss.

They’re not our parents or our protectors, but they’re reality checks to prevent us from seeing what only we project. Without them, pitfalls become easier to fall into and our scope for decision making becomes narrower.

You can see the value of having a team by looking at the individuals who lack one, or who thinks they lack one. There is a despair that come with loneliness.

Who wants to live in a big house alone? Who wants all the money in the world with no one to spend it with? Who doesn’t want someone to tell them when they’ve missed a belt loop or when there’s something in their nose?

A support team provides confidants to vent to, to overcome fear with, to bounce ideas off of, and people who can fuel you when you’re down. It’s amazing how liberating it is to feel like you can go to someone for help a limitless amount of times and not feel any judgement at all. You’d be surprised at what you can accomplish and the network you can establish. That’s the goal.

If you plan on accomplishing your wildest dreams alone, think again. Even if it’s on networking basis and strictly professional, you’re going to need individuals in your life you can trust to check all the spots you may fail to.

The relationships you make now are pivotal, and until we master them, our glow up will be that more difficult. Making sure your surround yourself with like-minded people who make you better is huge in dictating you future success.

The truth is, you really ain’t shit without your team.

The call for Black entrepreneurship has been loud in the urban and hip-hop community over the past couple of years.

You can look as far back as 2016, when Killer Mike and Solange Knowles suggested switching to Black banks, and you’ll see how far back theres been a call for Black empowerment.

And since it’s only gained momentum.

Last year G Herbo’s Humble Beast and Jay Z’s 4:44 albums reiterated the theme of Black entrepreneurship from top to bottom. Herbo came with a street point of view while Jay dropped life gems, yet they both were successful in reaching their audience.

The energy Herbo, Hov, Solange, Killer Mike, and others are on, is the same energy that pushed Marvel’s Black Panther to a billion dollars in gross sales and the same energy that makes Cardi B having the number one song in America special: Black excellence.

In a time where it feels like the Presidential administration doesn’t have our best interest at heart, the most productive and immediate action one can respond with is investing in oneself. The idea of black empowerment though collective wealth is nothing new, but thanks to 45, has the most life it’s had in recent years.

Diddy has taken this energy and has flexed his personality and money behind it to a degree only the Bad Boy CEO can.

Every morning he tweets out a motivational message, he’s changed his name to Love, and, as he revealed in his magazine cover article with GQ, he and Jay-Z are in talks of developing an app that helps users find black-owned and black-friendly businesses near them.

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“This is not about taking away from any other community,” Combs said. “We’ll still go to Chinatown. We’ll still buy Gucci! But the application will make it possible for us to have an economic community. It’s about blacks gaining economic power.”

The app has yet to be named and we’re not clear how far in negotiations the two moguls are, but if brought to life it would simplify the task of circulating the Black dollar.

Having a rolodex of  black businesses at your fingertips not only conviences navigation, but shows that there are other entrepreneurs like you, and will encourage you, and possibly others, to go out and start their own business.

“I don’t believe in passiveness,” Combs added. “At some point there has to be some kind of fight. I feel like we’ve done a lot of marching. It’s time to start charging.”

Jay- Z has been just as, if not, more busy. The news of this joint venture comes days after investing $3 million in a startup company named Promise —  an alternative for non-violent offenders who can’t afford to be in prison or make bail.

Jay has always been vocal about his disdain for the justice system. He was a producer on the Netflix docuseries Time: The Kalief Browder Story, which spread light on the $9 billion dollars wasted incarcerating people who’ve not been convicted of a crime. Hov also helped bail out locked-up dads on Father’s Day, and he’s been very active in speaking out on the injustices in Meek Mill’s case.

Establishing longstanding nationwide economic stability for Blacks and POC is difficult, but is something that Jay and Diddy clearly believe they are in part responsible for given their net worth and influence.

There is no date on when the app will be released on any details on registering for the app, but at least we know a significant seed has been planted.

We all know we have a part to play to help improve the quality of life for ourselves and hopefully this app will make that responsibility a little easier.

Following your dream requires bravery. No matter what that profession or life looks like, it often feels like a giant leap is needed when it comes to pursuing it.

This “free-fall” feeling — where it seems like your heart is in your throat — happens because it takes drastic measures to shift your life. To go somewhere you’ve never gone, you have to do something you’ve never done.

However, there is a practicality that has to be included if you want any of it to come into fruition.

Without calculation, the ability to learn from your mistakes, and a clear strategy, you’ll find yourself jumping in place, or even worse — backwards.

We should dream with no limits. We shouldn’t have restrictions on what we envision ourselves accomplishing. But if we don’t guide those dreams with logistics, we’ll end up doing more harm than good.

You don’t have to starve to be an artist

Somehow, somewhere the term “starving artist” came into popular culture and was engrained in the idea into brains of creators that must struggle in order to be an artist.

Similarly, the mantra of following your dreams was universally adopted without adding that in doing so, it takes great detail and calculation as well. These days, being “all-in” means living strictly off the crop of your talents and anything else is a cop-out.

Not only is this ideology backwards, but it’s toxic misinformation and fundamentally contradicts any example of success you can find.

It’s okay to have a 9-5 or a 5-1. Yeah, you’re “selling your soul to corporate,” but you’re keeping the lights on, paying bills and being a responsible adult, too. Just make sure that you’re dedicating your extra time to the bigger picture.

You cannot discredit progress. A vision is alive as long as it’s not lost. So we shouldn’t feel less of an rapper, or business owner or actor just because we don’t do it full-time.

Planning doesn’t mean that the plan will 100% work. Or that you won’t take risks. Planning just means you have a focus. 

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You have to start somewhere

Success takes just as much risk as it does planning. You have to put yourself in a position to win and sometimes that takes leaving your family or friends behind, locking yourself in your room for ten summers, or sacrificing your quality of life.

A lot of us are afraid to embrace that jump. Some of us are too comfortable with being cozy, and that’s why a lot of us are stuck.

Now, that doesn’t mean flying across the country and planting yourself in a different city to live out your car, either. You can commit to your passion from right where you are now.

You can take a class to hone your talent, put money aside for potential resources or work on that vision on the side. As long as we start somewhere, that’s the most important part. Then it’s a matter of not giving up.

There’s no excuse to keep a dream dormant when we live in a day and age where putting yourself on can happen in a matter of clicks. No matter the hobby, passion, or  desire, a dream without signifiant individual investment will never prosper.

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Methodology

Success is game of taking calculated risk. It’s a constant tug-of-war between self-sufficiency and the much larger life you’ve always envisioned for yourself.

It takes aiming, missing, adjusting, and aiming again, only to maybe getting a breakthrough, then repeating all over again. It’s the scientific method to pursuing your dreams. Shooters need to shoot.

A nuance of both calculation and risk-taking must be mastered to achieve your dreams.

We cannot sit on our hands and wait when there’s something that can be done, and at the same time, we cannot invite unnecessary struggle just because we think that’s how it works. There are enough necessary struggles for everyone. 

Pursuing a dream doesn’t always mean changing the scenery or your look. Unless we learn how to go about our ambitions practically, we’ll end up making the journey longer and more difficult.

Take leaps of faith when the opportunity presents itself, not when there isn’t a place to land.

Curren$y is a national treasure in the rap game and should be protected at all costs. Although placed on the 2009 XXL freshman cover the New Orleans-based rapper was signed to Master P’s No Limit Records in 2002 and Baby and Lil Wayne’s Cash Money Records in 2004. He’s been out here a minute.

However, it was through his underground hustle after leaving the major labels when Curren$y found himself and the sound that ultimately gained him his loyal fan base.

Instead of adapting to the subject matter of his peers, Spitta embraced his own interests and turned his lifestyle into a rap career. Weed, sneakers, mobster flicks, lowriders, and getting women was the lane of his devotion all which was backed by great production and his patterned relaxed non-stop flow.

But once he mastered the content he didn’t stop there. He began to outwork everyone, ushering himself into the “Most Prolific Rapper of All-Time” conversation by having over 50 projects under his belt.

That toil of pumping out mixtape after mixtape after mixtape got Curren$y signed with Asylum/Warner Bros. Records and securing a label deal for his company Jets International in the signing.

That’s boss shit. Not only did Spitta leave the big leagues, he did it his own way and maintained his integrity in the process.

So I took the liberty of going through just a couple tracks of his prolific discography to find some hints that may reveal how exactly he conducted his hustle. This is what I found.

Coming from New Orleans and not fitting the particular mold for of your typical rapper, if there is anyone that can tell that anything is possible it should be Curren$y the hot spitta.

We’re talking about a rapper who wears jogging pants and basketball shorts the majority of the time and plays with toy cars on his Instagram.

His creed that remaining true to self can still bring forth success is not only evidenced in how he dresses but in his career trajectory as well. It’s easier to hustle and go get it when you’re living as your best possible self as well.

As a lover of mob films, it’s quite natural to hear Curren$y make references to films like Casino, Scarface or, in this case, The Godfather.

Curren$y understands business. It would be impossible for him not to in order to navigate the underground world. Between managing his own label and apparel, it’s imperative to maintain focus, so naturally he’s got little patience for distractions or people who do not match his work ethic. Even when it comes to blood ties.

Next time you’re wondering why you’re not where you want or where you think you ought to be, take a look around and make sure that you have nothing but like-minded soldiers around. Even if that means excluding family.

So many people make it to the top, get some money, then lose focus and stop grinding. Here, Spitta puts us on game and sheds some light on just how his mind works. He goes after the money, gets the money, then plots on securing the next bag.

It’s a non-stop mentality that may be hard at first but can develop into a healthy habit. Have an engine like Curren$y and you’ll find yourself reaping benefits beyond what you’d dreamed.

It’s counterproductive to have anyone on your team who does not share your vision.

To me, when Spitta says paper chasers, he’s not only talking fellow artists or even anyone in his industry per se, but he’s speaking to anyone who does not match his level of ambition.

When you’re on your grind, no matter how hard you try or the level of success you may appear to achieve, you won’t peak unless everyone around is motivating you. And that’s a key to Spitta’s success.

He surrounded himself with hard workers and it pushed him to work hard as well.

Hustling is going to bring success. It’s inevitable. When you plant seeds, eventually they will yield a return. Curren$y is saying when that opportunity comes, stick to the vision and do not falter for offers that even remotely deviate you from your dream.

Curren$y knows this first hand. As someone who was signed to a major label, worked the underground circuit, then resurfaced when he found the right deal for him, take it from Spitta, you can pave your own lane.

Curren$y is one of the least flashy paid rappers in the game. Between his revamped old school whips and his Ferraris, he does not move like someone who can afford these purchases, but that’s because he also knows about investing and stacking.

In an age of the (often fake) stunt and the flex (ask Shad Moss), take it from Curren$y that your hustle should involve stacking for rainy days.

This is Curren$y’s gangster way of saying everything that sparkles isn’t gold, and the concept is still brilliant.

Whether it’s labels, sponsors, or even features, your hustle should be calculated and should lack compromise.

You cannot amass the loyal following that the Jet Life leader has without jumping on every perceived plane. Be wise in your “yes’s” as well as your “no’s”.

Know your worth. When you put in the work, no one besides you can tell you what you deserve.

Curren$y believes in himself as a rapper, and even more as a businessman, and decided to take matters in his own hand. For you that could mean quitting your job and creating your own platform, or demanding a raise.

Whatever it may be, make sure you keep your value in mind at all times. It’s how you protect your hustle.