How To Get Rich According To Jay Z

There are a million ways to make a million dollars, and this is one of them. You guys asked for it, so here's how to get rich according to Jay-Z, the rap industry's first billionaire. Jay-Z is at the moment worth a staggering 2.5 billion US Dollars. Smart investments, partnerships, and multiple entrepreneurship endeavors made all of this possible for him.

Warren Buffett had this to say about Jay-Z: "For a young person growing up, he's the guy to learn from." So without further ado, let's see what you can learn from Jay-Z.

Welcome to a Lux!

First up, you gotta break free from the stereotypes. Jay-Z always promoted the idea of breaking free from the stereotype society tries to put you in. Like he said, society teaches you to spend your money foolishly on things like jewelry and watches, but you should aim to be at a higher level. It's important to start your journey with a blank slate. Nobody can tell you who you are or what you're capable of doing. You're just as smart as everyone else.

It's an idea that was also mentioned by Steve Jobs. He said that if you look around you, everything is built by other people—people who are not smarter, more talented, or more capable than you. They just saw an opportunity and took it. People will say things like "those like us will never be rich" or "people like us are not meant for that." But it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. In every family, there's one person that will break the poverty cycle, and that person could be you.

So the first step in Jay-Z's guide to getting riches is to be your own person and not let the status quo dictate your limits.

Next up, you gotta hustle. Whatever your hustle is—from his early days on the streets of Brooklyn to his hundred million dollar deals—Jay-Z has always been a hustler, and he advises you to become one as well. In his words, a hustler is anybody that gets up every single day and figures out a way to make good for themselves. In this society, anybody who's got the drive to make something happen for themselves.

It's about the drive that makes you go at it every single day. In a way, this is the leverage that only people who grew up in unfavorable conditions can have. When there are no real job opportunities, no way to make a career for yourself, or to get educated on a higher level, your only real option is to go after it with your own two hands. Use this as energy and motivation rather than a thing that holds you back.

Create your own brand. Like Jay-Z famously said, "he's not a businessman, he's a business man." He decided he'll create his own brand, his own product, and his own merchandise rather than being the pawn of others. This mentality has allowed him to see opportunities in the market with a clearer vision. That vision led him to create his own music label, his own clothing line, and so on.

So here's the thing, and we can actually talk about this on a personal level. Years ago, here on YouTube, there were agencies that were supposed to help young creators with better tools, better reach, and so on. Think of them kind of like talent agencies, and the way they profited was by getting a cut from the revenue their creators generated.

But the thing is, it was a pretty hefty cut. We were actually approached ourselves by such an agency a while back, and we respectfully declined. The thing is, once you give up control over you, you're done. This happens a lot in any industry.

We're living in a time where the tools you need to create your own thing are widely available. It'll always be a good idea to create your own thing rather than selling your soul to the highest bidder. Ownership is key.

The trend of owning your own stuff is prevalent through Jay-Z's music. He started Rockefeller Records in 1995, which allowed him to keep most of the profits from the music he made. That allowed him to have enough resources to start additional endeavors like his clothing line, Rockaware, which he later sold for 207 million U.S. back in March of 2007.

And if you've watched our previous videos from this series, you'll see that ownership, or better said equity, is something everyone mentions in one way or another. The only way to get wealthy and make big jumps in quality of life is through owning things that increase in value over time.

So what should you do if you don't have the means to own big things? Well, if you can't own the building, at least own the stock. Like Jay-Z said on Pharrell Williams's "Entrepreneur," "if you can't buy the building, at least stock the shelf."

And then keep on stacking until you stocking for yourself. In business, like everything in life, there are baby steps. If you can't make the big moves yet, make some smaller ones that build something bigger. If you can't buy the building, buy the apartment. If you can't buy the company, buy the stock. In other words, if you can't buy the full thing, buy a percentage.

There will always be a minimum that you can do just to put yourself on the right path, and that minimum is what you need to start with if you're at the very beginning. This lets you in the game. It makes you aware of what's happening and how things work. It brings you into the conversation, and you start understanding things a bit better.

The importance of credit. You want to know what's more important than throwing away money at a strip club? Credit! That's one of the lines from Jay-Z's "The Story of OJ." Now here's the thing: you can buy a house with cash, but you can buy the whole neighborhood with credit.

At the end of the day, this is all about understanding how to leverage financial tools. Rich people use banks to make money while poor people use banks to lose money. Financial education is at an all-time low, and because of it, people always fall victim to the predatory behavior of this topic.

Just take a quick look at the YouTube comments. We bet most of the comments on these videos are scammers trying to sell you on a get-rich-quick scheme with some obscure investor. And you know why scammers and bots are so rampant? Because people don't know any better. They think financial education is for bankers and accountants.

Generational wealth. Some people think about money in terms of months or how big their monthly paycheck is. Others think in terms of years or how long until they get promoted. For others, it's in terms of decades or how long until they can retire financially safe. And then there are others who think in terms of generations or how many generations after them will their families still have a comfortable life.

It's a totally different level of thinking, and Jay-Z is a part of this mentality. Like he said multiple times, he can't wait to leave this to his children. It's all about legacy—taking the money and spreading it across families, making sure that everyone is covered, and that money is used for good.

When you think in terms of generational wealth, you stop paying attention to the mundane things the average millionaire thinks are important. It's all meaningless. You only care about how your work benefits your people, and that gives you a whole new level of energy.

Actually, we dedicated an entire video to generational wealth, which you can check out by clicking the link in the description.

What's better than one billionaire? Two. In the race of who was going to become the first rap billionaire, Jay-Z and P. Diddy were the front runners. Only it wasn't much of a race since both are great friends and business partners.

As a matter of fact, P. Diddy mentioned that the only people he allows to call him by his birth name are his mother and Jay-Z. And like Jay-Z said over here, "we measure success by how many people are successful next to you."

The point he makes is that you can't be successful if everyone around you is poor. This isn't about hanging out with other people; it's about building something greater together. Nobody can do it alone, especially not jumping from one social circle to another hoping the environment alone will provide for them.

Find like-minded people, then elevate each other to new heights. Stay close to what's close to you. Every business Jay-Z ventured into was always closely related to something he was already involved with. Roc Nation was for his music, Rocawear was made after he saw people at a concert not wearing anything related to him, and Tidal was made for the industry as a whole, with a big focus on giving more control and more revenue to the artists.

As for our Malta Brignac, the champagne he bought in 2014, well, that's a bit of an interesting story. You see, back in the day, Cristal was the preferred champagne in rap videos. That was until the manager of the company said this when he was asked what he thought about the champagne being featured in rap videos. He said, "What can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it," which, as you imagined, didn't sit too well with Jay-Z.

So he bought one of the competitors of Cristal and turned it into an empire. And that's how the now-famous Ace of Spades came to be.

And lastly, don't listen to anyone. We want to end this list with something that we consider extremely important and something you need to keep in mind when watching this type of content. Jay-Z said, "You can't listen to anyone who told you what worked out for them because it worked out for them, not you."

Like we said in the introduction, there are a million ways to make a million dollars. Some will work for you; some won't. Some circumstances are similar while in other cases you're at polar opposites. Are you going to build an empire out of the profits of your records like Jay-Z did? Well, no, probably not.

You need to understand what applies to you and what doesn't, and in the process, forge your own path. Cherry-pick what works. This is also the reason why we think this series has great potential because after you see how hundreds of people did it, the vision for your own path starts to get a little bit clearer.

We hope you found this video to be helpful. Alex, sir. And as a thank you for sticking with us until the end, here's a bonus: If you can't buy it twice, you can't afford it. This is one of our favorite Jay-Z quotes, and we mentioned it a couple of times. There's a difference between what you can pay for and what you can actually afford.

A good rule to figure out if you can actually afford something is if you can buy it twice easily. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Alex, sir. Take care.