VA

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” ― Albert Einstein

Growing up I was obsessed with 50 Cent: I signed up to his personal website ThisIs50.Com and spent hours going through the lyrics of his songs. Much to the dismay of my teacher in primary school, I performed Candy Shop in our classroom Stars in Your Eyes show (I still don’t know how that one was signed off to be honest). The Massacre was the first album I had ever bought. I was too young to buy it myself so I remember convincing a man passing by to go in and buy it for me while I waited outside the Woolworths. He came out with it and over the next few months I burned that tape to the ground. Every single day without fail, quite to my mother’s annoyance my Windows Media Player blasted the sounds of Curtis Jackson’s sophomore album. Disco Inferno, Outta Control, God Gave Me Style and the Hate it or Love it G-Unit remix were in constant rotation.

On 50’s debut album Get Rich or Die Trying, he raps on the breakout song “In Da Club”: “In the hood, in L.A, they sayin '50 you hot’ / They like me, I want ‘em to love me like they love 'Pac''. For the most part I’ve heard this lyric many times and took it as a natural sequencing of 50’s rhyming on the song so I didn’t pay much attention to it. I had also listened to 2Pac a few times but not too much outside of his most well known songs. This changed when I reached sixth form and would find myself burning the midnight oil to study with the sounds of 2Pac playing in the background. His words provoked a strong emotion few other rappers could do. So when I came across the video below it resonated with me. 

Keep Ya Head Up is one of my favourite songs by Pac and I’m moved deeply by how strongly it resonated with this young woman. You can see that the sister feels seen by Pac’s words ultimately leading her to tears. Tupac’s honest depiction of the experiences of women resonated deeply with her. His artistry is proof that our gifts are powerful enough to reveal  the truth. Keep Ya Head Up, Changes, Dear Mama, I Ain’t Mad At Cha and Brenda’s Got A Baby are  songs that have had significant rotation in my playlist at certain points in my life. The words hit deep but you can tell the tone and the meaning comes from a place of deep compassion and heartfelt, sometimes burning rage to rectify some of the injustices we saw. One in particular was the death of Latasha Harlins who is mentioned at the beginning of the Keep Ya Head Up music video.

Latasha Harlins was a 15 year old girl who was killed by convenience store owner Soon Ja Du in March 1991. Her death came 13 days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King. These two incidents became key detonators of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. There was no prison time served by either of the members of the Los Angeles Police Department who beat King, or by Du. If “a riot is the language of the unheard” as Dr. Martin  Luther King Jr. said, then 2Pac quite clearly spoke for the people in LA who felt they had been forgotten and robbed of justice. 2Pac was beloved not just by young people in inner-city LA but in all forgotten parts of America because he asked the same questions they were asking. What’s the use? / Unless we’re shooting no one notices the youth, he asked in the 1995 track “Me Against The World” “Dear Lord if you hear me tell me why / Little girl like Latasha had to die?” he said on his posthumous record Hellrazor. For many people across LA 2Pac was more than a rapper; he was a beacon of hope. John Gotty, founder of The Smoking Section says: “Tupac was one of the first artists I remember mentioning Latasha Harlins. He was one of the first guys to really open up our eyes to who she was and what happened in that situation.”

I’ve been moved by that reaction video countless times and when I combine it with 50’s lyrics it provides an interesting observation. The ability to move, touch and inspire people will always penetrate deeper than everything else. In the inner-city communities of LA I’m sure they liked 50, I’m sure his music was played in their clubs and house parties but I’m even more sure that those same people loved Pac because he spoke to their very cores and  money can’t buy that type of love.  The art of Hip-Hop can only be fully grasped by knowing the heart of Hip-Hop. This is exactly what 2Pac did: his value to his community ran deeper than the money he had managed to acquire. Coupled with his powerful lyricism, it was also the times when he would go off-script and speak his heart that would resonate with the people. His value was clear, he was the people’s champion at a time when they desperately needed someone to give a voice to their plight.

I came up in the inner-city of London. Where I’m from, we call the inner-city “the ends” and in many ways we share a similar context to the people who grew up in the LA of the 1990s that witnessed the 1992 LA Riots. The death of Mark Duggan on the 4th August 2011 provided the impetus for the 2011 riots which began in Tottenham, North London but within days had cascaded across the whole of England. I grew up not too far from Tottenham so I have a personal understanding of the socio-economic tensions that ultimately erupted when the police fatally shot an unarmed black man. Whenever I speak to young people who grow up in similar environments from which these riots emerged, I hear the same cadence of language in relation to the pursuit of money. There seems to be a burning desire to accumulate money  which makes sense considering how imperative money is for the functioning of a society. However, I often left these conversations a bit unsure as to how sustainable the money making methods they were planning to use were.

When we look at the state of economic performance in the West, we’re offered a rather bleak picture for the future. The U.K. has been navigating a cost of living crisis which has seen prices reaching heights that haven’t been witnessed in almost 40 years. Central banks are having a very difficult time trying to manage inflation without impacting employment too negatively. These macro concerns upon observation seem to have also deeply permeated at a micro level and there seems to be an ever growing anxiety in regards to money. We clearly see this as certain narratives, perpetuated by algorithms that amplify fringe content, have cultivated a sense of angst amongst young men by telling them that they are only as valuable as the amount of money they manage to acquire.

After countless conversations with young brothers who feel extremely burdened by a pressure to make money I decided to write some thoughts that may be helpful for them as they navigate their respective journeys. The aim of writing this essay is twofold:

1) Reframe the concerns of young men in regards to the pursuit of making money 

2) Provide a new way to look at their desired aim - building a path to financial success 

What is money? 

In order to achieve the two aims stated above I think it's important to begin by providing a breakdown of what money actually is. At its core, money is a tool—a medium that humans have developed to facilitate trade, measure wealth, and store value over time. Its evolution from barter systems to digital transactions reflects humanity's ongoing quest for efficiency and reliability in exchange processes. But to fully grasp the impact of money on our lives and our pursuit of value, we must examine its three fundamental roles in society:

Money serves three primary functions in society, each revealing both its utility and limitations. As a medium of exchange, it facilitates transactions and replaces the inefficiencies of barter systems, allowing, for example, a teacher to trade their skill for essentials like food and clothing, yet it cannot buy fulfillment or purpose. As a unit of account, money standardizes the measurement of value for goods and services, aiding in economic decisions and planning, but struggles to quantify intangible assets like friendship or well-being, exposing the discrepancy between monetary and true value. Finally, as a store of value, it enables individuals to save and delay consumption, but remains susceptible to economic instability and fails to encompass personal growth, relationships, or societal progress, pointing to its inherent limitations in capturing what truly enriches human life.

We do not pray to have money but to have more kinsmen. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. An animal rubs its itching flank against a tree, a man asks his kinsman to scratch him.” ― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

In chasing money for money’s sake, we miss the entire point of money to store and distribute value. The real emphasis, if we want to live in a better world our focus should be plainly set on providing and adding value in our endeavors. By doing this we live much more meaningful and purposeful lives and as a byproduct, actually accumulate more money along the way as we are adequately rewarded for the value that we create.

Why do metrics matter?

Metrics determine what you choose to value and ultimately define your priorities. If I want to improve my sales quota at work, then I’m going to spend time learning about how to facilitate discovery calls whilst learning how to handle any objections raised by the prospective customer. If I’m tasked with improving the GDP of a nation then I’m going to spend significant time building out infrastructure to help the productivity of individuals and businesses. The metrics we determine for ourselves determine our course and pursuits both consciously and subconsciously.

Let’s switch lanes quickly to football to borrow a metaphor that will be helpful in explaining the importance of determining the right metrics: If I’m looking to achieve a 30 goal season then I’m going to spend a significant amount of training and preparation working on my finishing drills. If we consider the aim of success in a football match is to have scored more goals than the opposing team - then it makes sense for a player whose position is solely determined by the amount of goals they score to have goal scoring as the main metric assessing them.. In this case, the ultimate goal is served by the metric used to assess the individual. 

In the book The Outsiders, William Thorndike draws an interesting comparison to the management style and ethos of a baseball team to determine how different metrics bring different results. In a passage from the book he writes: 

“Iconoclasm. Similar to Billy Beane’s as described by Michael Lewis in Moneyball. Beane, the general manager of the perennially cash-strapped Oakland A’s baseball team, used statistical analysis to gain an edge over his better-heeled competitors. His approach centered on new metrics -- on-base and slugging percentages--that correlated more highly with team winning percentage than the traditional statistical troika of home runs, batting average, and runs batted in. Beane’s analytical insights influenced every aspect of how he ran the A’s -- from drafting and trading strategies and trading strategies to whether or not to steal bases or use sacrifice bunts in games (no, in both cases). His approach in all these areas was highly unorthodox, yet also highly successful, and his team, despite having the second-lowest payroll in the league, made the playoffs in four of his first six years on the job.” 

The word Iconoclasm is an interesting word: it is the action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices. When we look at some of the cherished institutions we were taught to be put faith into we have seen in recent times just how fallible they are. A financial system that we never once questioned imploded on itself in 2007 bringing lasting adverse impact to the global economy. 

In a world of ever-increasing change the most riskiest thing we can do is not adapting our mental frameworks and cognitive understanding of the world in alignment with the real-time shifts that are taking place. Just as Michael Beane adapted the most important metrics for his team to ensure his team’s success; we are called to do the same. Our thinking of 5 years ago will not help us adequately navigate today if the changes in the last 5 years have monumentally shifted us into another time. If our thinking must adapt then so must the metrics we use to determine success in lives both personally and societally. But if money isn’t a viable metric anymore, what metric could make more sense? 

Value as the metric

One of the ways I’ve been able to shift my thinking in accordance with the times has been by observing the principles of Ancient texts, in particular The Bible. In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon speaking to his son, provides him with sage wisdom: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Your reputation will always be the most valuable thing you have. Not the clothes, cars, houses, or any other trinket we use as a sign of status. Who you are, the state of your heart, the content of your character and the things you choose to stand for. Those are the things that when all is said and done, will be the main marker of the life you lived. 

This is incredibly insightful for this present age especially in a world where brands are increasingly becoming built and centred on individuals with personal brands as opposed to faceless institutions and companies. Your reputation matters more than ever. Perhaps instead of making money the main metric for one’s life, a more viable metric should be one based on value provided to others. No one person is the same as another and therefore we have a unique set of experiences, skills and gifts that we should use in service of others. Our voice will always matter by virtue of the fact that we are the only one with it. Think for a moment: what pressing problems can you solve? What impact can you make? Value is solving problems, meeting needs and asking questions. Ironically, if we make value contributed to others a metric for our lives we will quickly see that money will come as a natural by-product. 

In closing, please allow me to clarify I’m not saying money isn’t good. It definitely is helpful and additive to society. It provides us with the opportunity to exchange value between ourselves - probably one of the most important interactions human beings engage in. Money also provides us with the opportunity to insert our worldview and ideas into the world at scale. Money is important but we shouldn’t stop there. Rather, we do well to understand that money just facilitates the exchange of value and capturing the value we can uniquely provide to society becomes a more meaningful metric to measure ourselves against. 

In the weeks that would lead up to 2Pac’s death he would spend much time lobbying and presenting Death Row East. Death Row East would be the East Coast arm of the infamous Death Row Records - the label that Pac himself was signed to. In one of the interviews he mentioned the purpose for Death Row East’s presence on the East Coast (particularly in a time when tensions were flaring between the Hip-Hop communities of the East and West coast). “We here to bring money and to bring change”  This was the value 2Pac brought even in his last few weeks alive - he deeply understood and empathized with the ills that plagued his community and sought to respond in a way that uniquely and compellingly reflected his gifts. This was his lasting memory and the reason for why he is so beloved in LA. 

So as we look to organise our lives perhaps money shouldn’t be the metric we should use primarily to measure our success - perhaps value provided to others should be. 

“You see the old way wasn’t working so it's on us, to do what we gotta do to survive” - Tupac Shakur

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