How to ACTUALLY Get Rich From Nothing | Jay Z 10 Rules

It doesn't matter what's happening. I don't care what's happening. I don't care what you're on or this person's on. This is what I like. You know, my life is tailor-made for me. If I was going to be successful, I had to be successful with myself. I couldn't be successful doing what other people were doing. I had to do what I believed in. I like to advance every year, to advance myself, you know, spiritually, mentally, everything. I like to advance myself. I have more fear going back than losing money.

He's an American rapper and businessman. He's one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold over 100 million albums. He has an estimated net worth of $610 million. He's Jay-Z, and here's my take on his top 10 rules of success, volume 2. Rule number 1 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 stick with you as well. Enjoy.

I love what I do, and when you love what you do, you want to be the best at it. You know, you don't, you don't make music to be second best. You make music to be the best. So you, whatever you do, whatever you do, it don't have to be music. You're not sitting here trying to, you know, be second to Piers Morgan on one of those cutting— Zane Lowe. Zane Lowe. You don't want to be second to Zane Lowe. You're looking at Zane Lowe like, are you kidding me? In a good way. I mean, you know, in a good way. Like, are you kidding me? Like, I do this. Like, I've been doing this a long time. So sometimes you have to throw your stats out there to remind people, your last shit ain't better than my first shit. You know? It's a true statement to me. Like, there's a lot of people last shit ain't— I mean, it's reasonable doubt. It's hard to beat, you know what I'm saying? And, uh, you know, you just have to put your stats out there to remind people like, yo, this is, you know, I'm, I'm the real deal. The worst thing to be is successful as someone else, right? That's a very difficult thing to upkeep and it's very tiring, you know. I feel sorry for someone who has to walk out the house every day as someone else. To make this art and to make something that people, um, connect and whatever you've made is not you, and you don't— you're not happy about it, but it's successful. Just to maintain that level of success, it has to be very draining and, you know, very sad existence, because at some point you have to go home. And when you go home, you know, all the lights are off and all— everything's off, and you have to look in the mirror and you have to look at yourself and say, man, I like who I am, or I'm not very happy with who I am. Why am I On the third album, I had the combination of failing with those pop records and the true and real music that I wanted to make, and I blended those two together, and I made a song called "Hard Knock Life." And that album was when I knew that I can do it. No one cares whether you live or die. And that's where that mentality arose at. I'ma get it or I'ma die trying. If I don't try, what am I doing? What kind of life am I saving? Like, these things is wicked in these mean streets. None of my friends speak. We all trying to win. We all trying to win, and a lot of times we bumping heads because we all trying to get out. That's like the crabs in the barrel mentality, you know, that we have because everyone's trying to survive, and we trying to survive at any cost. You have to look at that. You got to look at the environments and places we live in and how things are set up and how things are structured and how we're always the last on the totem pole, even from our school and to our roads to, you know, everything that all the obstacles that's placed in front of us, even our living conditions. And broke is a great motivator. Have 26 floors and there's a ton of them, right? These low-income houses and everything is messed up there. So living— that's like living dormant. If this— if this is like— this is what I have to live for, then I'm going to take a chance to get more. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what happens to me. Do you feel like people consume music too fast because you create these amazing moments But then the moment is fleeting. As soon as you put the album out, it's like people are on it for a few days, then okay, J. Cole came out, Wale comes out the next week. Wale's out, now Hov's out. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, it's just, yeah, again, again, the time that we in, right? We have to figure out, I mean, it's up to an individual to figure out how to slow it down because, you know, it's just going faster and faster. Everything is moving, you know, quicker. You know, information is going quicker. You know, it's Again, like you said, you know, these, these great things are fleeting. They're going faster and faster, and it's up to the individual to slow it down and be like, okay, I'm living with this album. This is what I'm— this is what I choose to ride to. This is gonna be the soundtrack to my life for these next couple months. I'm saying, yeah, that's, that's an individual thing. I'm not gonna let anybody speed up my process. I don't care what's happening out there. That's, that's, that's the great thing about, you know, having ultimate confidence in yourself is It doesn't matter what's happening. I don't care what's happening. I don't care what you're on or this person's on. This is what I like. You ever got to watch— My life is tailor-made for me. I've learned more from failures than success. And it can be paralyzing, this failure and the fear of it. My first album I made was an album called Reasonable Doubt, which in the small circles was considered the album, like a classic album, like the album for that generation and the voice of, you know, people that were going through similar situations. But it didn't sell massive numbers worldwide, right? It was still very niche. Then my second album, because of, you know, Reasonable Doubt and its lack of commercial success, you know, I tried to make these records that were bigger and will be more popular, which was a failure. Going for that success really messed up that project and, you know, set a bad tone. It was a huge learning lesson for me that if I was going to be successful, I had to be successful with myself. I couldn't be successful doing what other people were doing. I had to do what I believed in and what felt real to me and felt true to me. I started even in my beginning, you know, I just lived such a rich life, you know, a full life, you know, that, you know, my first album came out, I was 26, and I had seen so many things in the streets. So my attitude was like, man, You know, I've seen so much and, you know, I don't have anything to prove. I know who I am. I'm a very self-aware person, you know. So when you're self-aware, even when you're dealing with someone's ego, you know when to allow it to— you allow their ego to live in its own space. You know, the only problem is when you engage that energy, that's when there's a problem. If you engage the ego with your ego, then it's like, okay, now something has to happen. It could keep escalating to a level that can be irreversible, you know. But if you don't engage the ego, if you know how to manipulate or play around with the ego, or that's within itself to people, and you give light back to darkness, right? It's very difficult. I have more fear of going back, going back to, you know, I like to advance every year, to advance myself, you know, spiritually, mentally, everything. I like to advance myself. I have more fear going back than losing money, you know, like I said, when I was— I lost money, I've been broke, I've been rich, I've saved and blown bread. It's a lyric, you know. Yeah. Oh boy. But it's real, you know, money is just a byproduct, and that sounds really cliché, but it's true, of doing, you know, a great job. As it started approaching, you know, I got on this side again, starts approaching September, I thought it was only right to bring it full circle being that the first one came out on the 11th. Yeah. And this being the end of the trilogy, they put it out on the 11th, and this way we could recognize what happened that day. Because the first time, of course, it wasn't playing, right?

You know, but the thing about Blueprint 1 is people hold that album like sacred to their heart. Like, that's a lot of people's favorite album. It's like a classic.

My favorite J album.

It's my favorite J album ever.

And I'm like the underground, you know, backpack nerd dude, and I think Reasonable Doubt, but then Blueprint actually probably eclipsed it as my favorite J album. Yeah.

So then when you put out Blueprint 3, people obviously gonna compare it to the first one. Why didn't you just put out another album? Why did it have to be Blueprint 3?

I'm used to that type of pressure. I put out Blueprint— I put out Reasonable Doubt, you know, that was supposed to be the classic, you know.

Yeah, but you never did a Reasonable Doubt 2.

Hold on for a second. That's why I don't get up at 6:30, man. Guys cut you off and everything.

I'm listening.

Volume 1, right? Then Volume 2, then Volume 3. That was another trilogy. So I wanted this, the Blueprint series, to be a trilogy because of what it represented. The first Blueprint was, you know, those soul samples that I grew up on. It was my blueprint. Then the Blueprint 2 was me searching for all the different type of music, you know, that I like. But I didn't have a reason to do the third one, so I didn't do it for a while, and I held it off. I did the Black Album after that and then all those other albums. But, you know, it just was fitting right now where I am in my career for, you know, me to set the blueprint for my next journey. Rap and music is really a microcosm of life. You know, my music is based on life and the things I've experienced. Like, I made a song called "Give It to Me," which was inspired totally by a party that I went to by Mary J. Blige. When she hears that song, she's there. Knows exactly, because she was there, she knows exactly what I'm talking about. So it's pretty much inspired by life. So anything is inspiration. A lot of times you're flying at, uh, 50,000 feet. You need someone to always keep you grounded. I have great friends around me who, you know, I don't shun their advice. You know, I encourage their advice, which I think is very important. You can live in your own alternative universe with how people treat, uh, celebrity these days. But, you know, as long as you keep, uh, good friends around you and also not putting yourself in the box and becoming a prisoner of your fame— a lot of people, once they become famous, they stop doing things that they did. They don't go to the store, or you become a prisoner of your fame. And, uh, I've always been, uh, aware and, uh, cognizant of that, not to let that allow that to happen to me. Little boy from Brooklyn made it from the start. Girl out the South made it to the shots. Okay, I'm freestyling this. Okay, okay, you're just making it up right now. Here we go. What am I supposed to do? Made it out the start. Girl from out the South made it out the shot. Oh, made out the shot. Girl, that's it. Made it out the shot. Only goes to show that the limit is the sky. If they give you lemons, then you make lemon pie. No, you got to do it. Oh, that's good, man. Me, I'm from Brooklyn. That's sty. So I made it out the sty. You from out the South. You made it from— Made it to the shy. Made it to the shy. Shy town. Got it. Only goes to show— Only goes to show— That the limit is the sky. Only goes to show that the limit is the sky. Life give you lemons and you make— Lemon pie. Yeah. OK, let's do it one more time. OK? OK? Start the beat over. I'm from Brooklyn. It's stop. Stop. I'm from Brooklyn. Hey! Hey! That's— OK. Well, you're going to start it, right? OK. Little boy from Brooklyn made it from the stop. Girl from out the South made it to the shop. Made it to the shop. Made it to the shop. Yeah. Made it to the shop. You don't need the hand. Just— OK. Yeah. Just keep it smooth. Swag. Get your swag. Swag. Yeah. Boy from out Brooklyn made it around the star. Girl from down south made it to the shot. Only goes to show that the limit is the sky. Life give you lemons, then you make lemon pie.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Eduardo Guzman 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 John Jenkins. John, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and doing the review on your YouTube channel. I really appreciate the support, man, and I'm glad you enjoyed the read.

I just wanted to tell you about this new book I bought.

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.

Someone has to experiment and go do it first, and then, you know, there'll be artists, you know, artists will sit back and watch it and be like, okay, I like this, I don't like that, you know, I like this part, and they'll perfect the methods. And then, you know, and it all pushes the genre forward. Anytime that you try to do something different, and you should always try to, you know, push push forward in whatever you're doing, it's going to be problems because it's never been done before. So you can't— again, you can't anticipate all the things that's going to happen. You know, I don't write anything when I'm recording. I don't write lyrics. I just listen to the music and I formulate the song, like, just off the top of my head. I just go over the lyrics again and again until I have the song, and then I just go in there and record it. So it's definitely God-given talent, and it was drive also. It was drive. I mean, it was tough. I mean, we toured the whole Eastern Seaboard because that's where our records would get played. We couldn't— we wasn't national yet. So we would tour all the way up to North Carolina. We just hit that area. Not even Atlanta. We just all the way up to North Carolina we would tour. Just jump in the van and just drive ourselves and just do endless, endless shows. I mean, with 20 people in the building sometimes. Just right. Yeah, always believing would get better and better and better. I just shot it. I shot a commercial, um, when this album came out, and it was like going back through times through all my album covers. And, uh, you know, I had to recreate them, and it was— and I realized how easy it was to recreate. I had the same haircut and the same thing in every single shot. So I don't know if I've been great at reinventing myself, but as far as the company, we have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves for— out of necessity of everything that's going on. You have to reinvent yourself. The playing field has changed. It's difficult in the music business because the internet and everything that's going on. But if you're fearless, it's a beautiful time for entrepreneurs. The most fun I had in the music business was us having this little rinky-dink record company and, you know, growing up in radio stations and, you know, other places as if we were Universal, you know, and speaking as if we, you know, we sold 100 million records when we in fact we sold nothing. So it feels like that time again for me because The models have to be redefined, and, and that's exciting to me. I don't know if you've ever done, right, it's almost like climbing a mountain and you see another mountain and you go to the next one and the next one. My goal was to have one gold album and that was it. It became more from there, you know, and all the way up until The Black Album, then it became, I want, I want, I want to show that, you know, artists can ascend to the executive ranks, you know. It just kept redefining itself, you know, and which is why I took the presidency of Def Jam. It just keeps reinventing itself and redefining itself every single day.