Meebo

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Why Dre and Ice Cube Succeeded and NWA Did Not

The unforgettable, yet unforgivable impact of America’s first gangsta rap group is the stuff of legend.  NWA is responsible for prophetic songs like “F*ck the Police,” which told the world about LAPD brutality before the Rodney King incident, but they are also responsible for injecting hip-hop with a dose of toxic violence from which it has yet to recover (I’ve written about that problem too).

But putting the social impact to the side for a second, I was asked to give my thoughts on NWA this week for a BET documentary on the impact of Hip-Hop on Black culture.  One thing that came to mind is the way Dr. Dre and Ice Cube were able to climb out of the war zone that was Compton and Death Row Records to become captains of the industry, while many of their homeboys simply perished. In that regard, their success makes for a case study that would be a fit for any business school in the country.
Here are some things that made Dre and Cube different from the rest:

1)      The ability to see the bigger picture: 
The easiest way to stay broke and powerless is to think small and to be short-sighted.   In fact, visionaries are regularly able to exploit the short-sightedness of those who have no discipline.  While other members of the group were thinking about spitting rhymes, getting women, and buying yet another gold medallion, Ice Cube’s mind was able to visualize multi-million dollar franchises.  I would much rather be a dumb person who thinks big than a brilliant person who thinks small.  This can make all the difference.

 2)      Education and a desire to understand how business works: 
Ice Cube and Dr. Dre succeeded not just because of formal education, but because they became educated on the industry within which they operated.   Far too many singers, dancers, rappers and athletes think that all they have to do is worry about their craft, and end up putting themselves into dead end financial situations.  A good example would be the singer Fantasia, who never learned to read and ended up signing a contract that made her into a high-paid slave.

3)      Why be a King When You can Be a King Maker? 
The Black community never ceases to have plenty of talent for the stage, but even the most talented among us are accustomed to waiting by the phone for some white-owned corporation to give us an opportunity. At the end of the day, your entire reality and everything you can or cannot be is managed by forces beyond your control.  Your well-being, success or failure is entirely contingent upon a world that someone else has created for you, effectively making them into a corporate version of God.

Ice Cube and Dr. Dre weren’t just satisfied with being kings. Instead, they chose to become King Makers, giving them greater and more lasting power than any king can possess Ice Cube has launched entire careers with his “Friday,” “Barbershop” and “Are We There Yet?” franchises.  Dr. Dre has been the engineer of Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and a host of other powerful artists.  Even Diddy (or Puffy or Puff Daddy, whatever his name is now) remains in power, even though he hasn’t made good music since Biggie was alive.  A king makes money by working.  A King-Maker gets money when other people are working.  That’s what it truly means to be a boss.

4)      Enough discipline to delay gratification: 
 Ice Cube often tells the story about how Jerry Heller, the white guy in charge, put $80,000 checks in front of each member of NWA, next to contracts for them to sign.  The contract was basically a deal with the devil, locking Heller in for all of the group’s upside potential, while helping him to evade the downside.  Even in the year 2012, you can get a lot of folks to sign away their grandkids for $80,000, so you can only imagine how much money this was in the 1980s.  The only person who walked away from the contract was Ice Cube.  To this day, he’s the one with the biggest bank account and the highest net worth.  Artists may rap about booty, bling, weed and all of the trappings of negative Hip-Hop culture, but those with real and lasting power don’t get high on their own supply when it comes to that nonsense.

5)      Good ole fashioned ambition: 
Ambition and high expectations can mean everything when it comes to success in life.  If you aim for nothing, you get nothing.  If you do nothing, then you’ll always be nothing.  It was the ability to squeeze the trigger and go for their dreams that led Cube and Dre to a different reality than the rest of NWA.  By stepping away from their situations and getting off the corporate plantation, both Dre and Cube have built empires that will benefit their families for many generations to come.  Having all the talent in the world means nothing if you are afraid to take a chance.

source - http://newsone.com/2016744/dr-dre-ice-cube-hip-hop/

15 comments:

  1. Now thatis some nice write up - I will be taking a little a piece a day for motivation.
    Now that - explains why Dre is not releasing Detox.

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  2. because detox is not coming out and you have nothing else to talk about!

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  3. this is no longer a detox blog...

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  4. ^^ read the blog sub-heading/description:

    "...news & rumours of Dr Dre and his highly anticipated album."

    This blog is about detox AND any other dre news.

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  5. http://twitter.com/dangerookipawaa/status/205407272556437504

    Casting for the recipe video, he posted earlier about it also

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  6. dont know about the rest of the world, but the receipe is not being played this side.

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    Replies
    1. recipe is in power 106 all of the time here in L.A.

      Delete
  7. i understand this about detox and any other news but the main selling point of this blog is detox i give you a lot of props since i keep checking this blog just to see if anything dre related is going to happen i've been waiting on this album since like 2004 back when i was in 6th grade i am almost a junior in college and i know a lot has happened to aftermath during that long period of time but i think i really have to move on from this detox album i had been getting my hopes up alot in 2010 and 2011 but with the whole coachella performance and no new dre material and he doesn't even mention it anymore i think the album is non-existent i just hope that some day we hear the thousands of tracks he recorded for this album

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  8. not that it matters even a little bit but I believe fantasias contract, like other idol singers, is predicated on where they placed in the show. like how contacts work in the nba draft. in any case all those idol singers get terrible contracts. I also believe cowell and the rest of the executive producers of the show get a sort of right to first refusal to sign any artist that appears on the show, winner or not. its part of the release agrement and whatnot you have to sign before trying out.

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  9. uzee you should change the photo back to the one where dre had his head in his hands stressing.. that one was more appropriate.

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  10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxC606hwA5s

    new dr dre beat?

    -kizman-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That man on youtube said that he will release "Hey young world" soon (the real track)...

      Anyway the beat is cool, but it is really for Dr.dre ? Impossible to say yes or no.. and that voices on the track...

      Manthor

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    2. I'm not sure anybody knows this track, what would you say if i put a wrong name like "New Dr.dre Detox Beat" and a pics a Dre on the video.., i'm probably sure 80% will believe me.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ZVGRMUMAM

      Manthor

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  11. http://twitter.com/ichibanWillie/status/207176194968387585

    ReplyDelete