It's cool to have your principles: The things you're for and against. Certain things you always do and a set of things you'll never do. While you have those, understand that any game you want to win has some rules that you will have to play by if you want the rewards of that game.

I have a rapper friend who embraces his "underground" status and corresponding fan base. At the same time, he doesn't like that his place in music doesn't grant him the financial rewards of more "commercial" artists who make music that reaches a broader audience than the underground.

I've told my friend what hip-hop mogul  Russell Simmons says: If you don't embrace the mainstream, you ain't gonna make any mainstream money. I tell my rapper friend that if he's more concerned with "keeping it real" than he is with the money, he should get comfortable with where he's at, because that's where he will remain.


I'm not telling you to alter your principles just to gain material things. What I am telling you, though, is every game has its given factors which lead to "success", as that game defines it. If you want to win at that game, you must adjust to the rules within.