"DON'T be SCARED to take chance" - Dom Kennedy's (@DOPEITSDOM) Top 10 Rules

When I first started rapping, I just wanted to make $2,000 a month. People that's big or that you perceive to be big, they're not big. They're just big because they treat themselves like they're big. I wasn't gonna be a doctor. Okay. You know, I wasn't gonna be a lawyer. I wasn't gonna be, you know, I didn't see myself putting on a suit and tie every day.

He's an American rapper from Los Angeles. Since 2008, he has released 5 independent mixtapes. He's known for his laid-back flow, wordplay, and unique storytelling. He's Dom Kennedy, and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 3 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. And as always, as you're watching, if you hear something that really resonates with you, please leave it in the comments below, put quotes around it so other people can be inspired as well, and when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick with you as well. Enjoy.

What I try to do is always, you know, better myself, you know what I'm saying, as a person, as just a human being on God's earth, or, you know, what you want to call it. I feel like, you know, focusing on too much today— kids focus on, and even a lot of my friends, the end result, which is the money, you know, the fame and all of that side. But it's like, if you don't learn anything about yourself, if you don't take anybody with you, you know what I'm saying, if you don't change anybody's life for the better and you do alone, it's not going to mean nothing, you know what I'm saying? You going to end up somewhere by yourself unhappy about it anyway, you know? So that's kind of like what I tell my friends and how I try to live my life. Was there ever a point that you were so close to quitting?

Yeah, it was.

I wouldn't say— I, I don't— I couldn't say like so close, like I don't know how close, you know? But it was definitely a time where I was just like, you know, I, I done— I didn't have many— a lot of expectations. Like I said, I didn't You know, I just, I got to a point where I had done a lot of things. I had kind of passed, like when I first started rapping, I just wanted to make $2,000 a month. That's what I honestly told my friends.

I heard that.

Like, man, if I could make, figure out a way to make $2,000 a month, you know, I would be happy. So you're almost there. Wow. Yeah, man. I'm grinding, man. $24,000 a year, brother. It's coming. Exactly. At a certain point I did, I put out music, I traveled, and it was just like, yeah, I was questioning like what, you know, you gotta find a reason every day to wanna still do something. So had to kind of refocus. But yeah, it was though. Man, take yourself serious. You know, don't wait on nobody else to validate you. Take yourself serious. You know what I'm saying? 'Cause people only gonna mess with you as serious as you take yourself. So if you think you small time, everybody gonna think you small time. You know what I'm saying? Nobody ain't gonna have no reason to. People that's big or that you perceive to be big, they're not big. They're just big 'cause they treat themselves like they're big. You know what I'm saying? They act important. They're important people to themselves. So the world has to take you as such because, you know, that's who you are. Most important lessons I learned was just, man, don't be scared to take a chance, you know, on yourself. Like nothing is guaranteed. There's nothing that you ever gonna do where you gonna know exactly for sure that the outcome is gonna be successful, but you gotta go anyway. You know, you gotta protect yourself and only The only way you could do that is by working hard, you know, to guarantee that the outcome will be one that you will like, you know what I'm saying? And that's all— and that's what it takes a while to get to that point where it's like, you know, you're okay with putting music out and putting out albums and stuff. But I like to do it until I feel like I've given enough to that project. And then when I'm at that place and I'm satisfied and I feel like no matter the outcome, I'm happy with it, that's when it comes out.

I was reading an article on you on Forbes, which is amazing, because for you to be on Forbes, they were really studying your work as an independent artist and kind of how you are in a position where you can tell a label, this is what I want, and then tell them, nah, I'm not gonna take that deal because I already got my movement. Tell me about how you got to that place, because obviously that didn't happen overnight.

Nah, it happened gradually, you know, out of necessity, really. You know, it started with me not really just being a fan of music, first of all. I say that like, I wasn't— when I was a kid, when I was younger, you know, and I was, you know, in my early 20s, You feel me? I wasn't really, let me be a rapper, let me, you know what I'm saying? I always wrote. Like, I feel like a lot of kids in the inner city can rhyme, or you know what I'm saying? And they love rap and they buy albums. But then as I be, as I start putting out music and learning more, you know, it kind of just prepared me for this, you know? So every project I did, every failure I had, it made me smarter, it made me stronger, you know? Every, every time I slipped, right after I slipped, I got up, you know what I'm saying? And it just kept going, it just kept building. Fill a void, you know, fill a void. It's jobs out here. Figure out what, what you can make better. That's better than any job. Like, you could go get a job doing something, whatever you don't want to, but figure out where you could really fit in and be happy, and then worry about the money's gonna come. That's not gonna be a problem because if you fill in a void and you add into, you know, whatever, you might, you might be like, you know what, they don't have good food at Ben Hughes, you know what I'm saying? And you might just be the person, the next billionaire to just have bomb food at concerts. Like straight up though.

Yeah, that's true.

Straight up though. Or just figure out a way to involve like media in concerts, like where people could be there and you could like, you know, whatever, some type of way. But just figure out something that people is not doing, you know what I'm saying? That you feel like people could utilize and do that.

What's your sort of definition of success?

You know, for me it's just peace and happiness.

You feel me?

That was the last song The Yellow Album, you know, and that was really the message, you know, that I learned in all that time and all my time doing music up to that point. For me, that was success, you know, peace and happiness. And for me, you know, happiness is just giving my all, you know, to whatever I'm doing at the time. Again, it's not, you know, like I haven't— I only sold 2 projects. Like, that was my biggest project today and I gave away for free, you know. And so it wasn't really, you know, obviously if I You know, proving to myself like I would do this for free, so I definitely would do it for money, obviously, but it's not really for that, you know, it's for something else for me, you know, and it was definitely at that time, and it was just to be dedicated to something for your life to have a purpose.

I decided around 2005 that I wanted to be, you know, an entertainer. Okay. And rap was something I had already been involved in, you know, just as a childhood, it was like It was a passion of mine, so I figured that it was my best, you know, route to take, applying everything I know and everything I had. Like, I wasn't gonna be a doctor, okay, you know, I wasn't gonna be a lawyer, I wasn't gonna be, you know, I didn't see myself putting on the suit and tie every day, you know, just being honest. So I, you know, you kind of look down the list of like, what's your possibility, you know, what are you gonna do?

So, you know, it's kind of like we chose each other, I guess.

You know, with any project, you kind of hope it would. Yellow Album was a little step further than what I normally do, you know, musically. And it was a very ambitious project, you know. And there was times when I was making it that I didn't really know, you know. But that's the fun part about being an artist, you know, is to challenge yourself. And, you know, I think that's why it's been my best project. So I worked really hard on it. You know, it was a lot of nights I was like, you know, sat up and thought and listened to songs like, man, I wonder what people are gonna think or if they gonna even like this. But you know, I'm more than happy with how it turned out for sure.

Like, I get inspired by life a lot, and that's my way of, you know, giving back and expressing. And people, you know, I get inspired by people basically, and that's my way of, you know, of showing that is music. So the only way I could do that is the way I do that is with rap songs. So as soon as I find a beat or music that I love, I could get to, you know what I mean, giving back. So it's like I sit around, I go to studios, I wait for those moments to hear music that I love that I could write something I've never written before and make a song that I feel like the world has never heard before. Kids, you know, from my area and people like they never heard before, just inspire them to do something different and be themselves even more, you know what I'm saying? Like, if you listen to my music, you know, it varies from time to time, but it kind of stays the same in terms of uniqueness. I would think so, you know. Like, I just look for unique— I want to say professional, legit, you know what I mean?

Sound like a real person that really knows what they're doing made it.

Like, I don't like to, you know, I don't know, it's different levels of, you know, musicianship. But the people that I tend to work with are more like, you know, like how I am. They're sure about what— like, I'm sure when I write a song or when I'm down here or when I hit the stage, like, I know what I'm gonna do, you know. So I look for producers that have that same confidence in what they do, you know, and is not worried about trying to do what everybody's trying to do and just have their own thing that they bring to the table. So that's what I look for.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Mikey Linen asked me to. Also, if you want to nominate someone for the next top 10 video, please check the description for a link to a video where you can vote for people and put in your suggestions as well. I'd love to know what did you take from this video? What was the most important lesson that you learned that blew your mind that you're going to immediately apply to your life or your business somehow, please leave it down in the comments below. I'm super curious to find out. I also want to give a quick shout out to Clyde Hayes. Clyde, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, taking that picture, posting it on Instagram. I love the effects you put on it. I really appreciate the support and I hope you're enjoying the book. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon.

I can't tell no man or no kid, nobody, that you should try your best in school if I'm not trying my best at what I'm doing. You know what I'm saying? They gonna know. They gonna be like, man, you, you just getting over it. Like, you like, I want to just be like you. But it's like, no, I'm not getting over it, dog. I don't go to sleep. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'll be up Stressing nights, working, trying to figure out perfect ways to, you know, express myself and, you know, come up with t-shirt designs. Like, this is, this is something I do because I love it, you know what I'm saying? And I love it, and I work hard at it, and it rewards me for being loyal to it, you know, not the other way around. Like, you don't just get paid just because you show up.

So I know after you released the album, you sort of toured the world and all that sort of for the first time. How did those kind of experiences affect you and sort effect?

First of all, it showed me just really the power and just, you know, believing in yourself, you know, because me making the Yellow Album, you know, it was— it wasn't a risk at all. It was a calculated risk, if anything. But it just showed the power of me, to me, of believing in yourself and believing in your art.