In this episode of The CJ Moneyway Show, JD Mass outlines a seven‑step framework for moving from cultural ignorance to a future of shared humanity. He argues that America’s historical arrogance stems from a lack of exposure to other cultures, and proposes a progression: (1) recognize ignorance, (2) appreciate the economic and human value of other peoples, (3) calculate reparations as a valuation of past harms, (4) repair those harms, (5) adopt new mindsets drawn from more peaceful cultures, (6) continuously learn from these new perspectives, and (7) manifest humanity. Mass promotes his book, available at raceforwhat.com, which expands on these ideas. The conversation then shifts to Mass’s personal history as Nelly’s business manager. He recounts meeting Nelly in middle school, forming the “Freaks of the Industry” crew, and transitioning from a banking career to managing Nelly’s burgeoning music empire. He describes the rapid rise, the challenges of trust and betrayal, their eventual split in 2004, and the lasting respect that persists, including Nelly’s son recording Mass’s audiobook. Finally, Mass shares his own athletic background—baseball, basketball, tennis—and his college‑era tennis‑teaching venture for inner‑city youth, illustrating his long‑standing commitment to community empowerment. Throughout, the tone remains conversational, reflective, and optimistic, emphasizing personal growth, cultural respect, and actionable pathways toward reparative justice.
Chapters
We have learned so little about any other culture that we are naturally ignorant. But we do learn that America is so great that we now become arrogant and ignorant. That is a horrible thing to, to try and change. And so letting go of that so that step 4, we can appreciate the value of others. And really, you know, I use the terms appreciate and value because those are economic terms as well as just life-giving terms, appreciating this conversation and the relationship that we can have, appreciating what you bring to the table and your wisdom, appreciating what— that Black folks throughout history have not massively attacked us the way we've massively attacked them, whether it was churches or Rosewood and Black Wall Street or all the things that we've done. So let's appreciate that. And step 5, if you can appreciate the value, then we can find the reparations for that because that comes with a value to it, right? It's not just this cost that— how much is it going to cost us? No, there's a value to that. So step 5 is repairing the harm and the case for reparations. Step 6, now, if we repair things, how do we make sure we don't go back and do the same stuff over again? We need a new mind to teach us. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results. So we have to go to these cultures that are more peaceful, more focused on health and, and having a good time. Let's go to the barbecue properly and just learn how to be a part of it, right? And show up differently. So step 6 is learn from a new mind. Step 7 would be manifesting humanity.
That's manifest— manifestation. I, I like that. So, so, uh, uh, JD, man, before I— I got one more question for you, and before we go any further, where can we find your book at, man? You got a website?
Raceforwhat.com. It is on Amazon, but raceforwhat.com will take you to all the links of my social media, uh, my blogs, um, to get me as a speaker. Uh, and it also has all the links to everywhere that it's sold. There's an audiobook version, there's an ebook, and a paperback.
Raceforwhat.com. Go check out my man JD Mass. Hey, he got something, uh, in store for you. Hey, if you want to, uh, book him as a public speaker, he says on his site too. So, uh, JD, man, I just gotta ask you one more question. You talked about it earlier. That you was, uh, Nelly's business manager, man. So I just gotta know, how was it? What was the experience like, man, uh, uh, working with one of the hip-hop legends of our times, man?
Right. So when we were— we met Nelly in the 7th grade. He moved from the city of St. Louis to U-City, and by the end of the 8th grade, uh, going into 9th grade, he started to come over with my best friend Shondo, and we started hanging out very regularly. And then, you know, we grew a crew that we called the FOTI, the Freaks of the Industry, right? The song had just come out. And so that was our crew, and that was the crew that took the picture on the front cover of the book. And Nellie was always super talented. Football, he was a receiver, the cornerback, and the punt— I mean, the kickoff returner, right, on— or punt returner, one of those two. On, you know, on basketball, he had— he was lethally fast and had a great jump shot, but he was shorter. And in baseball, we thought he would be the next Ozzie Smith, but he was a dancer. He was, you know, if you wanted to be good at a talent and be the best in the school, you had to be better than Nelly when it came to it. And he had this funniness to him, so we thought he'd be the next Will Smith anyway. We kind of saw him as that great talent. Um, and I remember his mom and my mom would always be like, yeah, that's great, but both of y'all need jobs. Forget what you're talking about.
Yeah.
But when his career took off, I was already very entrepreneurial, and he had some entrepreneurial ideas, and he was like, JD, let's do it. And so I was working at a bank. I was just starting to move my way up or really learn the banking system. And that was going to be the way I wanted to change the world, was get inside the banking world. And, you know, he came and he was like, I'll pay you what they're paying you, but come help me develop these businesses. And so I became his business manager that way. His management team, because his career took off, we didn't have the luxury of a 500,000-sold album and then a million-sold album and then we came out the gates with a 10 million sold album. So, you know, it— a lot happened super fast, and all of a sudden we went from unknown to really being accessible to the top of the world. I could call anybody and say, this is Nelly's business manager, and I could get anybody on the phone at that time. So that was amazing time. But because it happened so fast and because we did have some people in the crowd that were not, you know, too looking out for everybody but more so looking out for themselves. There were instances where— and it became true that Nellie and I let people come between us in ways that I think we both regret. I certainly do. And so in 2004, we went our separate ways, but there's the genuine love and respect for one another still exists. His— I see his children. His son, matter of fact, recorded my audiobook, so there's still love there.
Oh man, that's pretty cool, man. Just to, you know, just had an experience for somebody that you grew up with and, and y'all, you know, made it together. You seen it from, from the, from the rocks, you know, from the start. So let me ask you, uh, JD, man, before we, before we get out of here. So you say Nelly was, you know, a dancer. He was Uh, great shortstop, basketball player, football player. Did you play sports? I did.
I played baseball, and I learned from basketball real quick. I was only good at setting screens because no one could see me coming. I'm 5'9"— I'm 5'3.5", and I like to round up to 5'4" whenever I get the chance. So I played second base, uh, up until high school, and, um, and I played, uh tennis, and I actually made St. Louis U's tennis team before I needed back surgery, and then I knew I wasn't going to go pro, so I just stayed. I actually formed a tennis teaching company in college for inner-city youth and other municipalities with my tennis coach at the time. But I'll tell you one quick baseball story, right? Our last year of playing, you know, not for the school but in the school district, we formed this kind of all-star team and I actually made the team. Our first game was in East St. Louis, right, so I know you've heard stories of East St. Louis, right, and it gets compared to like the Gary, Indiana because it's right near and on the other side of the border and all of that, and on our way over there we
