Andre Nickatina: "You gotta be a business thug"

Adisa Banjoko interviewed Andre Nickatina back in 2000 but his points remain worth considering:

"One quick thing. I wanna talk to all you cats out there rappin' man. You givin' up...your children - meaning your ideas...You give it to these record companies who giggle in your face at the time. Then, as soon as you sign on the dotted line - it's war. You gotta fight for your money. You gotta fight for your rights. They know exactly what they are doing when they sign you. So, you gotta know WHY you are getting signed to them in the first place. Why you signing? Other than that, you just gonna give up classic stuff that you made and classics to come in the future that ain't even gonna be yours!"

"You goin' state to state, on the frontline. Goin' into all these hoods and running into all these gangstas, pranksters and thugs. While the record companies are sitting back on silk sheets sending their children to college! So all you rap cats man, you gonna have to dig into this technology. Know these books! I'm not gonna pretend that I read books all the time. But took licks for not knowin'!!...I'm not gonna tell you what to do to get there. If someone owe you five dollars, you want it back! Imagine if it was one hundred thousand dollars?! And you got no way of getting it back unless you bring firepower. And I don't mean guns...I mean lawyers or knowing the right way to get the money they owe you..."

"So, to all you rap cats, I love all rap cats that wanna BE rap cats. But there are new rules to the game. You gotta business man, and you gotta be a thug. You gotta be a business thug then!! You just can't be no ignorant thug. That time is gone."