Heyo,

I just started watching the Kanye West documentary that came out a while back. Im about 1-4 years behind on anything that isn’t kid-related. 

I don’t really follow him or anything. It’s not that I don’t like him, I’m indifferent to his music. I’m always curious about how people (a rapper in this case) start their journey and the drive needed to get to the top. In Kanye’s case, I knew very little about him. 

**Note, he went off the rails for awhile and needed help. I do not support many of his views. 

Two scenes have jumped out to me so far in the doc.  

First, the immense belief and support from his mom. They are chatting around her dinner table after he gets a record contract and she’s talking about a rap he wrote about Chicago. 

She starts to rap it and she remembers more words than Kanye did of the song he wrote years ago. You can tell that she believed in Kanye 100%. Never wavered. 

She even supported him when he walks in with a huge gold chain and says, You don’t even have a house yet! While pointing at the chain. But she said it in lovingly and supportive manner.  

We all need someone to believe in us. Someone who believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. 

Find that someone. 

Second, he had to reimagine his identity. He had to reinvent who he was to himself and the public. 

He knew he could be great but…

For the longest time he was known as the ‘beat guy’. Kanye would sell his beats to other rappers to get by. He was so good at it that it was extremely difficult to break out of that mold. Rappers wanted him to work for free sometimes but no one gave Kanye the opportunity to rap over his own beats. 

At every sliver of opportunity, Kanye seized it.  He walked into Roc-a-fella records offices and just started playing his CD to anyone. The receptionist. The admin. Some rando in the hallway. 

Kanye wanted it more than he wanted to live. Kanye believed in himself more than anything else in the world. 

My older brother growing up had a Nike poster in his room with some sayings…I still remember some of them. 

Get back up. 

Push through the walls. 

Ask her out. 

Just do it. 

Kanye then started showing people his beats BUT with his raps over the beats. Everyone was like….Who’s that?!? 

Kanye would just say, “Me.”

Whatever you are fearing this morning, it’s probably the most important thing to do for your life. 

*I didn’t realize that he wrote and produced ‘H to the Izzo’ with Jay-Z which was his big break. So cool. 

Dilios…

Last night, I got 4 hours of sleep. It’s not to brag. It more sucks. It’s about that every night. :)

My wife had a baby a few weeks ago and let’s be honest, if you know you know. 

No deals today. Maybe next week. 

But check out these resources below. 

Darren Neilson is an acquisition attorney who focuses on bankruptcy sales. He helps transition businesses during bankruptcy and is a wealth of knowledge around legal, acquisitions, and interacting with attorneys.