The 50th Law – 50 Cent & Robert Greene
The 50th Law by 50 Cent & Robert Greene is due September 8th from HarperStudio.
Robert Greene discusses the process of writing the book at his blog. Power, Seduction and War, in the first of a four part series. He said he was sceptical when 50's people first contacted him because he tends to avoid the world of celebrity and then pretty much describes why I have no interest in interviewing Russell Simmons or his ilk:
"By necessity, anyone who has reached the top has had to resort to all kinds of manipulative maneuvers, but most people in the limelight try to disguise all of that as best they can. They want to project to the public their angelic, spiritual side, highlighting the progressive causes they support, their inner goodness."
Greene feels that 50 Cent is a different phenomenon for a variety of reaons including the fact that he doesn't hide his power struggles though, from a distance, that just seems like another game to me, not necessarily superior to playing the spirituality card. Greene feels that 50 Cent is what Machiavelli termed a "New Prince":
"New Princes…start at the bottom–with no privileges, connections, or money. What they have in abundance is ambition and hunger for power. If they make mistakes, they quickly analyze what they did wrong and learn the lesson. Considering the odds against them, they must stay focused, alert and patient. If they begin to rise up the ladder, it is almost purely by their own actions."
"They do not depend on others. They can handle downturns in fortune because they are used to adversity and turning negatives into positives. Since their education comes from experience and observation, they can think in the moment and adapt to their environment. They re-write the rules that others then slavishly follow."
He goes on to describe their working method and the emergent focus on the power of fearlessness leading to the organization of the book:
"Together we mapped out ten common types of fears and the reverse power that you can obtain by overcoming them. We found stories from his own life that would illustrate these ideas, many of them culled from his days as a hustler and even highlighting mistakes along the way that taught him valuable lessons…
"I would bring in examples from other historical figures who exemplified this trait. Many of them would be African Americans–Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, Miles Davis, Malcolm X, Hurricane Carter, et al–whose fearless quality was forged by their harsh struggles against racism. Others would come from all periods and cultures–the Stoics, Joan of Arc, JFK, Leonardo da Vinci, Mao tse-tung."
Malcolm X and JFK? I'm looking forward to this book but I already find it rather amusing to watch this variant mythmaking process in which 50 Cent and Greene are engaged. Just different forms of the game at a time when 50's claimed lack of fear seems overshadowed by his reliance on connections to Eminem and Dr. Dre, his limited and quite specific skills as an artist and his tendency to drive away anyone under him who isn't a total yes man.
I'm not so interested in fearlessness myself. Every act of success I've experienced has involved facing my fears and doing what I felt needed to be done despite them. I certainly haven't experienced 50 Cent's success but, man, I would not want to be in his f*cked up shoes, that's for certain.
More importantly, anyone that tells you they have no fear is not to be trusted and and I don't believe that famous people who behaved in a fearless manner were necessarily fearless themselves.
So, yes, moving forward despite one's fears is huge and that does put one in a state of being in which one appears fearless. Actually having no fear is a different story. So I'm looking forward to finding out what they reveal about overcoming fear just as much as I'm looking forward to seeing how they build the myths of 50 Cent and Robert Greene.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Interview w/Adisa Banjoko: Robert Greene on 50 Cent
& The 50th Law [of Power]
Robert Greene, That 48 Laws Of Power Guy, Talks With 50 Cent
50 Cent and the Violence of Money
