The combined net worth of the hip-hop artists listed on the Forbes Five is over $2.6 billion. Their bank accounts benefited from multiple streams of income over the years. Some have invested in clothing lines and alcohol brands (Jay Z, Diddy and Drake), others made millions from technology companies and touring (Eminem and Dr. Dre).
Though there is no single blueprint for success in the music business, there are a few characteristics all of rap’s royalty have in common.
Hire A Team Of Professionals
It’s impossible to do everything yourself. In the beginning of your career, it may be necessary to wear multiple hats, but finding a way to delegate tasks to a team of trustworthy professionals is the key to scaling your art.
Each hip-hop heavyweight has someone they can rely on to handle emails, inquiries, scheduling, and everything associated with running a business. Such is the case with Nas and his manager Anthony Saleh. In addition to staying atop of rap’s pinnacle, the two co-founded Queensbridge Venture Partners, a venture capitalist firm that has invested in startups such as Lyft, Genius and Dropbox. Recently, it has been reported that Nas will earn $40 million thanks to his early investment in the Amazon-acquired doorbell company Ring.
Long-Term Planning
“10 years from now, we’ll still be on top,” Diddy said in “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” in 1997. He had every intention of keeping his word. Nearly 20 years later, Diddy topped the Cash Kings list bringing in $130 million in 2017. According to the aforementioned lyrics, the best way to ensure that you’ll be successful for years to come is to plan for it.
Success is built over time. Be patient and work with the resources around you. Create one, three, five and ten-year game plans for yourself. Even if you only come up with loose ideas, this method will give you a standard to hold yourself to.
Choose Battles Wisely
One night in 1999, Jay Z stabbed Lance “Un” Rivera for selling bootlegged copies of his then-unreleased album Vol. 3…Life And Times of Shawn Carter. The incident almost landed the rapper behind bars for 15 years. Fortunately, Jay avoided jail time and has not been involved in any similar temperamental spats since.
With that said, not everything deserves your attention. Not every comment needs a response and not every deal that comes across the table needs to be signed. When it comes to disagreements amongst your team members, everybody should be focused on finding solutions, and cooler heads must always prevail.
Give Back
A number of the rappers atop the Cash Kings list have donated funds to various causes. Dr. Dre, alongside Jimmy Iovine, gave $70 million to create an undergraduate degree program at the University of Southern California. Drake made headlines for giving nearly $1 million away to high schools, college students and families in need in his “God’s Plan” music video.
