Do they have a strong skill-set? Can they contribute to your bottom line? If you can’t be honest here, you won’t make it far.
This is an elaboration on commandment #5, but don’t hire family or friends just because they are who they are. Keep your family and business completely separated. This goes back to commandment #3, don’t trust anyone. Never provide someone a service without compensation offered on-sight. If you do mix the two, you may need to break the connection to make the right decision. Never sell no crack where you rest at.ĭon’t mix business with personal life. While you may think you have it under control, your customer should come first. Discover the customers’ needs don’t substitute your own. Your resources are there to optimize your business worth, not your personal pleasure. Live by this motto: “Everybody signs something.” Because… who knows what the future will bring? 4. It is tempting to talk about your plans or techniques, but just like commandment #1, sometimes it’s just best to shut up. Don’t make the mistake of bragging about how well or mentioning how badly you’re doing unless you have a very good reason for it. When it comes to finances, it’s just better to keep things to yourself. Never let no one know how much dough you hold. Here’s why the “Ten Crack Commandments” isn’t just for drugs, but for success too. However wisdom and guidance can be found in the most unlikely of places. Some might see this song as an anthem for the hustler and wouldn’t expect to really gain anything remotely educational. In fact, that’s why you’ll hear rappers refer to it as so. on his classic song ”Ten Crack Commandments.” On the surface it would appear that Biggie’s rapping about illegal drug sales, but if we pay close attention the knowledge dropped in this song actually applies to all businesses no matter the industry.įor Biggie, crack meant work. A step by step booklet for you to get your game on track.” rapped Hip Hop legend The Notorious B.I.G. “If you listen to the scratches, before I added “ten” later on when Biggie got it, I just keep going to five right after the beat drops because it was for the top 5 at 9.“It’s rules to this sh**t. Premier told The Combat Jack Show in 2013 about how the jingle came to be the beat for “10 Crack Commandments.” “The track was actually a promo that me and Jeru did for Angie Martinez on Hot 97,” he recalled.
Producer DJ Premier created a simple countdown to introduce the show. At the time, she hosted a show called the “Hot 5 at 9,” where she would play the top five records of the week at 9 o’clock. But the beat of the song came from somewhere else entirely: Angie Martinez’s radio show on New York’s Hot 97 station.Īngie Martinez has been a renowned figure in hip-hop radio for decades. The lyrical material of “10 Crack Commandments” came from the Source article as well as Biggie’s own experiences selling drugs on the streets of Brooklyn. | Chris Walter/WireImage The beat for ’10 Crack Commandments’ came from Angie Martinez’s radio show
Biggie’s “10 Crack Commandments,” like many other hip-hop songs about drugs at that time, was about selling drugs as a means of survival rather than for recreation.
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The article was part of a Source series looking back on the previous decade of the crack epidemic, which had ravaged Black communities across the country in the 1980s and ’90s. Biggie’s mother even held the same issue of The Source in the music video for his beloved hit “Juicy.” The article, “On the Rocks: From 1984 to 1994, Ten Years of Crack,” included a small sidebar titled “A Crack Dealer’s Ten Crack Commandments” that warned against things like letting people know how much money you have and selling drugs out of your home. Much like the actual 10 Commandments, the song outlines 10 crucial guidelines for every drug dealer to follow to achieve success.īiggie was reportedly inspired by an article in the July 1994 issue of The Source magazine, written by an actual crac. “10 Crack Commandments” was never released as a single, but it holds a place in many Biggie fans’ memory. | David Corio/Redferns Biggie’s song ’10 Crack Commandments’ was inspired by a real crack dealerīiggie’s 1997 album Life After Death was released just two weeks after the Brooklyn-bred rapper was gunned down in Los Angeles.