I listened to ‘The Art & Science of Respect’ in 2019. This blog will be more about how I generally feel about the book rather than a ton of specifics. J. Prince is a mogul from my hometown of Houston. He’s a rap industry legend, as well as an accomplished boxing promoter, and philanthropist. This book was inspirational, and I always enjoy it when authors read their own book. It makes the stories that much more personal.
Main Takeaways
Although I listened to the book a while ago, there are still so many lessons that have stuck with me. The first lesson is that sometimes we must move backwards temporarily, to move forward long term. Prince was up early in his life as a dope boy. In his 20’s he realized he no longer wanted to take that path, and he’d already had his first son. He made the decision to chase sustainability. He sacrificed temporary bread from selling dope, and dove head first into the music industry. He learned everything he could and the rest is history.
My next biggest takeaway was Prince’s ability to follow the music promoters’ path before him. He was able to learn from their success, then tweak their methods to work for him. In the book, Prince writes about how Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons, and Master P were doing business along the lines of how he wanted to. These figures had created a path to creating record labels of their own. Prince knew the same things that worked in LA or NYC wouldn’t work in Houston. He learned to combine some of their processes and add his own genius, to could carve out his own path in the business. I think it’s important to study people we admire, and learn from them what we can. Then it’s equally important take that education and develop our own process.
Related to creating process. The last takeaway I have from this book, is being willing to pivot. After becoming established in the music industry. Prince pivoted on multiple occasions. He moved into the boxing business, ranching, invested in his church, started a condom company, among other things. This taught me that there’s time in life to explore all of our interests. It’s all about looking for opportunities to pivot and taking risks to progress.
Who It’s For
This book is for anyone interested in rap history. Prince tells stories about his dealings with the likes of Biggie, Tupac, Scarface, Mike Dean, and Drake. Among many other talented musicians. If I were to be more specific, this is a must-read for any southern and Houston rap history fans.
Considering he was instrumental in getting Floyd Mayweather Jr,’s career off of the ground. I would also suggest this book to any boxing fans. Lastly, I would suggest this book to anyone who is looking to overall do things the right way. Although J. Prince sometimes has a ruthless reputation. I believe he represents black excellence. There is much a young black dreamer such as myself can learn from a man like him. He has a very distinct story that has produced a lot of success.
Walking away from this book, the idea that will stick with me the most, is to dream big. Always aim for what I truly want to do currently. In the course of achieving my goal, I’ll look for opportunities to pivot. And when it’s time to pivot, I’ll pivot.
-GP
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