Who is a boss?

I think I’ll start of with a line from an album I’m listening to. It’s an album by Ill bliss, something I’m really feeling and he has a line where he says: “If you be boss, you be boss.” So if you’re a boss a boss you’re a boss.
But that is if you are a boss. I think a boss just means that the person is supposed to be the highest authority in terms of competence and performance in a particular place. Or field. Originally, I think the term came from people saying: “I’m my own boss.” Which means you answer to yourself.

What do you need to be boss?

In popular hip hop context, if um, I’m correct I think what people call being a boss is having those things that a boss has, nice crib, good clothes, good money, having people respect you. But if you ask me I think the most important part of being a boss is that you acquire that respect. And that it’s not by virtue of the trappings you have. You must have done certain things or achieved a certain level of integrity, whatever that is in that context, to be a boss.

Ambition versus Talent?

I think they go together, but if I had to choose between one or the other. I’d pick hard work over talent. Because talent is potential. Hard work is kinetic.
There a book I’m reading called Talent Is Overrated. And it just talks about top talents in some very wide areas from marketing to business to boxing to music. So for example, people like Beethoven people make so much noise about, truth is it wasn’t his talent so much as hard work. By the time he was 4 he was taught to play the piano and his father taught him everything he knew. So when he was 12 or 13 he had 7 ,8 years of practice that nobody knew about. It’s really hard work that makes you a star.
Everybody is a singer in the shower. It’s really the hard work that makes your work professional.

The thing about talent however is that it shouldn’t be seen to be hard work. It shouldn’t be obvious. What I mean is the real geniuses don’t show when they’re doing their work. The hard work is being done underground, the result is seen above the ground.

And then people see that and conclude, “Oh he’s talented”. But half of that is hard work.

Who do you need to become?

I think everybody needs to work out his salvation. But some people are nasty and ruthless and cold. And some are nice and still bosses. What you need first of all is to be fearless. You need to be bold and decisive as a boss.
Now decisiveness doesn’t mean 100% correct. It just means a 100% action at some points. You need to be able to make cold calls. When push comes to shove someone needs to make those hard decisions, regardless of the outcome.

A boss should try and be calm as much as possible he should also be ready to flair up at the right time, just to pass a message across. But he cannot be angry all the time. He needs to be level headed and calm.

A boss needs to love to mentor people and teach them. You cant be a boss if you’ve not been able to bring some people up and teach them. You can’t be a boss as far as I’m concerned. A boss is a leader. He sows seeds. He doesn’t just harvest. He builds and invests in people. And if you’re really a good boss, one day your students will be bigger than you. If you really want to be a real boss, you must have taught someone well enough for them to come and surpass you. If you don’t do that, means you didn’t give them the best.

What’s happening at Choc City this year?

Too much. It’s just too much. The greatest challenge is being able to deliver on everything we want to. It’s an exciting time for us as a company. We’re very excited about everything. We’re excited about the competition and everything that’s happening. We’re excited about the losses and the wins. We’re not competing against anyone else. We’re trying to get better every day. We don’t think we’re in the same class with anybody. Our vision is clearly different.

We’re excited that there’ll be a lot coming out from us. We have new albums, fresh singles, brand new artistes. We have a clothing line. We’re also going to be involved in a lot of CSR. Personally I’ve had 2 classes were I’ve talked with people interested in operating in the entertainment field. And also talked with them and gotten ideas.

What’s on your playlist?
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