Starting with his first mix-tape, and his uncle stifling him, to his self-publishing his first album after being rejected by numerous record labels, Sean Carter has built himself into one of the wealthiest and most influential musicians in the last 15 years.
Connecting with a broad audience through his flows, he has inspired many from around the globe to get up, and hustle and grind to get their dream. So, Here are the Billionaire's 30 quotes on Success, Music & HUSTLE;
1. “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of not trying.” – Jay-Z
2. “Everyday hit every wave, like I’m Hawaiian. I don’t surf the net, no I’ve never been on MySpace, too busy letting my voice vibrate, carving out my space in this world.” – Jay-Z
3. “I’m feeling like the worlds against me Lord, call me crazy, cuz strangely I love the odds – they gunning for me, they want to see me fall, they know my story, I been through it all, nights I felt like dying, but I ain’t crying, what didn’t kill me, made me strong as I am. I am. I am.” – Jay-Z
4. “Some said ‘how’d you fly?’ I said from not being afraid of trying to fly” – Jay-Z
5. “Next time you see the homie and his rims spinnin’, just know my mind is workin’ just like them…the rims that is.” – Jay-Z
6. “We all have the same fear, the fear of failure. We all have the fear of failure…as someone successful the weight of all that you’ve done is on you.” – Jay-Z
7. “The responsibility is to keep pushing it forward, and not relying on the same old gimmicks. You have to push it forward.” – Jay-Z
8. “Do things that are true to you. Most things that I’m involved with is being creative and things that I like. Get involved with things that you love and be sure to have a standard and integrity with what you’re doing.” – Jay-Z
9. “Told me don’t wait on nobody, go get your own, so it’s me, myself, and my Microphone.” – Jay-Z
10. “Only thing that’s on my mind, is who’s gonna run this town tonight.” – Jay-Z
11. “There are 2 possibilities: 1 is that there’s more to life than the physical life, that our souls ‘will find and even higher place to dwell’ when this life is over. It that’s true, there’s no reason to fear failure or death. The other possibility is that this life is all there is. And if that’s true, then we have to really live it- we have to take it for everything it has and ‘die enormous’ instead of ‘living dormant’, as I said way back on ‘can I live’. Either way, fear is a waste of time.” – Jay-Z
12. “I try to work with brands that have some sort of partnerships there. I don’t do one off deals, but try to work on partnerships as opposed to one off endorsement deals.” – Jay-Z
13. “A wise man once told me luck isn’t some mystical energy that dances around the universe randomly bestowing people with satisfaction and joy, you create your own luck.” – Jay-Z
14. “The truth about talent is first, that it’s G-d Given. When you want to unleash that talent, your mind lets it go. Because its there. You have to have that belief that when you draw from that well of talent that it’s going to be there.” – Jay-Z
15. “I believe that the energy you put out in the world, you get back.” – Jay-Z
16. “The record company would be my bridge to those people I could connect with, but they didn’t give me that bridge, so it was very important part of my career that we didn’t give up right there. That belief in myself, and belief that I had something to offer, so we built our own bridge, and I started my own record company.” – Jay-Z
17. “Only two things can get you through this: that’s patience and persistence.” – Jay-Z
18. “They say you put the right artist with the right track in the studio, leave the door cracked, and let G-d in.” – Jay-Z
19. “You have to find your genius level talent, and then to apply it in a way that supports that genius level talent.” – Jay-Z
20. “A wise man once told me don’t argue with fools, because from a distance you can’t tell who is who.” – Jay-Z
21. “I’ve never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people. I’ve always wanted to stay true to myself, and I’ve managed to do that. People have to accept that. I collect art, and I drink wine… Things that I like that I had never been exposed to. But I never said ‘I’m going to buy art to impress this crowd’. That’s just ridiculous to me. I don’t like my life like that, because how could you be happy with yourself?” – Jay-Z
22. “Always be inspired.” – Jay-Z
23. “By far for me the most important thing is inspiration.” – Jay-Z
24. “I couldn’t even think about wanting to be something else: I wouldn’t let myself visualize another life. But I wrote because I couldn’t stop. It was a release, a mental exercise, a way of keeping sane.” – Jay-Z
25. “Whenever inspiration won’t find you, you have to find it.” – Jay-Z
26. “It was drive: we toured the whole eastern seaboard…we would just drive ourselves and do a show with just 20 people in the show.” – Jay-Z
27. “You have to realize what’s behind it (criticism), because I don’t know these guys (critics), but I know it’s more of a competitive thing, and it just comes with the job.” – Jay-Z
28. “It’s the discipline to not get caught up in the moment (fads), people tend to get caught up in emotions and jump on the next hot thing. So for me just to have the discipline and the confidence in who I am, and if I go into a studio and I find my truth for the moment, there are a number of people who can relate to what I’m saying, and what I’m doing. Not because it’s the new thing, but because it’s my genuine emotion, and how I articulate the world.” – Jay-Z
29. “I’m inspired by life, and all sorts of things. You could say something right now and it would inspire me to write a song.” – Jay-Z
30. “Life is about balance, you have to have time for work, and time for play. If you don’t allow these two things to co-exist you have an imbalance.” – Jay-Z