Some of the greatest minds in business

“Go farther, go further, go harder,

Is that not why we came?

And if not, then why bother?”

It makes sense doesn’t it? If not, why bother indeed. I’m reading The Dip by Seth Godin right now. A short book by the marketing guru and best-selling author, who reasons that every new project (or career or relationship) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point – really hard, really not fun. At this point you might be in a Dip, which will get better or a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better no matter how hard you try. According to Godin, what sets the successful apart from everyone else, is their ability to give up in a Cul-de-Sac and press on through a dip.

The quote at the top of this post could easily come from there, or any business book for that matter.

It doesn’t. It was actually said on Lil’ Wayne’s latest album – The Carter 3 – by Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, the multi-platinum rapper (pictured above with Bill Gates). Rap is one of my favourite genres of music and business is one of my favourite types of literature. And I don’t think the rap world and sharp business thinking are a million miles away.

Here are two examples:

“I took quarter water, sold it in bottles for two bucks,

Coca-Cola came and bought it for billions, that’s what’s up!”

I Get Money, 50 Cent

Here Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, breaks down Coca-Cola’s business model – in one sentence. He should know, he was a major beneficiary of the billions that Coca-Cola paid for Glacéau last year, pocketing an estimated $400 million for his personal stake in the brand.

“I’m not a business man, I’m a business, man,

Let me handle my business, damn!”

Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix), Kanye West (feat. Jay-Z)

And Jay-Z is a business in his own right. In April this year, the widely-perceived greatest rapper alive, signed a deal with Live Nation, the entertainment company, that will rake in $150 million in return for just about everything he produces, including albums, tours and merchandise, over the next ten years. You can see where he was coming from when, on announcing the deal, he said: “I’ve turned into the Rolling Stones of hip hop.”

These two examples barely scratch the surface of how much good business sense exists in hip hop right now. So next time a rap song comes on and you go to click skip, stop and listen: you could be getting three minutes with one of the world’s top entrepreneurial minds.