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I cried reading Gucci Mane's autobiography.

There, I finally said it. *Sigh of relief*

Most people know Gucci Mane, the trap artist. But when you read his autobiography, you learn more about his struggles with drugs and mental health.

I'm 3 years sober and still struggle with depression so even though I'm a white Jewish dude from the suburbs, man I related to his story and it hit hard. When he was younger, he was just an ambitious creator like us trying to make it on the internet.

On top of hitting all sides of the emotional spectrum, Gucci Mane's autobiography taught me a lot about the creative process. He's like the trap Andy Warhol. He owned a studio where he invited his friends to work all day everyday just like Warhol's Factory. Like Warhol too, he's unafraid to admit that he loves making money. I respect both of those things and I hope I can one day own an IRL place for creators to hang out, create cool work, and make some money.

In this post, I'm gonna reflect on a few long-term content strategies from Gucci's career, his autobiography, and some of his music. Guuuuwop!!!

Mimic The Greats

When Gucci was a kid, he and his friend studied rappers' music, so much so that he memorized the lyrics. This is a common pattern amongst rappers: study and mimic the greats. It's not just rappers though. It's everything from painters to bloggers like me.

When I was studying english in school, they had us do an assignment: write an essay in the style of [insert author here]. The Hustle founder Sam Parr even teaches a course where you just copy other writers' work word-for-word to learn their style. SNL writer Alan Zweibel used to write a joke in the style of [insert new comedian here] everyday.

"It's not stealing if you put a spin on it," writes Steven Pressfield.

As I've said before, we're all remix machines and content-kleptomaniacs. No idea is truly original. When you try to mimic the greats, you end up naturally building your own style. You need to learn the rules to break them and develop your own rules.

Also hot take, it's not a bad thing to be associated with another author or creator. It makes yourself easier to sell. I had Hollywood screenwriter John Swetnam on my podcast a while back. He told me when he sells movies, he often says "This is [insert movie here] but with [different twist]". So something like "This is James Bond but with a woman". He admits it's a bit of a hack, but he doesn't give a fuck. He gets paid and movies made.

When you're trying to sell your brand, it's fun to give this hack a try.

Investing platform Stonks uses this strategy. Their Twitter bio is legit "Like Twitch, AngelList, and Shark Tank had a baby". I steal this strategy too. If I'm talking to someone about my writing, I often say something like "My writing is like a mix of Balaji Srinivasan and Mac Miller. I think like a tech founder but curse like a rapper."

Play With The Best

Future is another rapper from Atlanta. He releases a ridiculous amount of work every year. I want to zoom in on Gucci's comment about work ethic and competition.

They were collaborating on a mixtape, but Gucci obviously felt some competition over work ethics. Not a bad thing. Competition between creators can actually be really healthy. You should have some creators who are like rivals.

They don't need to know you're in a competition (but it's more fun if they do). My friend Liam and I did a race to 10k followers and it pushed me to get there ASAP. Liam is a smart dude, internet hustler, and a great shit-talker so it made the win much sweeter for me.

Choosing your competitors is just as important as choosing your business partners. Competition fuels growth. You should have enemies, rivals, or at least some friends you can compete against and shit-talk.

As Luke Burgis writes in Wanting, "choose your enemies wisely because we become like them." When we're competing with someone, we often mimic them or mirror them as inverses. In the literary world, this is called a "foil character" — a character that was placed in the book solely to highlight the protagonist and give them a challenge.

"If you have no enemies, find a way to make them," writes Robert Greene in 48 Laws of Power. I've always been of the belief that if you have no enemies, you haven't pissed anyone off — which means you're probably doing something very boring and forgettable. To quote Taleb's Bed of Procrustes, "If powerful assholes don't find you arrogant, you are doing something wrong."

Plus as you can see with Gucci Mane and Future, sometimes your competition becomes your collaborators and friends. I published a podcast yesterday with Randy Ginsburg, another web3 writer who is objectively my competition. Once we got that out of the way, we've become tight and work together a lot. Competition → Collaboration

Be Your Own Boss

The first bar is really funny. Most rappers happily freestyle on interview shows for free. Gucci is like nah, I don't freestyle for free.

I've taken that approach. If a potential client asks me to write a sample piece or trial piece for free, I tell them "I don't write for free, you can look at my portfolio for quality samples". I've definitely lost some deals this way, but made thousands and cut out the clients who really don't value writers' time. No one should have to write, work, or freestyle for free.

I love the second bar. I do what I want cuz I'm signed to me.

I love the freelance and solo LLC life. I take my dog for walks whenever I want and I nap when I'm sleepy. I feel like a mercenary with a pencil. I write for companies that fit my vibe and pay well. If something doesn't sound fun or the budget is too low, I don't do it.

Then the fourth bar is solid. They get the bag, have to cut it in half.

He's just saying when other people get money, they have to cut it in half because other people own part of their business. It's the same thing as diluting equity in startups. Cyber Patterns is my business. I get 100% of the revenue (minus taxes). No cutting the bag in half for me.

Then the last bar is just funny. Need the rehab, I'm addicted to cash.

Gucci struggled with drugs and it's just a funny line. Like I said, I respect Gucci's candor in admitting how much he loves making money. We all do, just some of us lie about it.

In the words of Venkatesh Rao, "If you don’t develop what I call a money-positive attitude, you risk both failing to make money and developing unhealthy and fearful attitudes towards it."

Follow the Money

Man I feel this song.

The first 2 bars are way too true.

When you follow the money, it follows you back. Sometimes it feels like it's calling. Sometimes it really is calling. Ever since I left journalism to pursue freelance content writing, I keep getting DMs with new opportunities.

The 1st bar in the 2nd part is funny.

"El gato" means "cat" so he's saying he hates rats or backstabbers. There's backstabbing in any industry from rap to startups and venture capital. If you hear people are talking down about you, they're about 1 step away from doing some real backstabbing shit.

There's a line from Russ that I really like. I can spot a fake before they even dap me up. Tbh, I can do the same pretty fucking well. You need to have a good bullshit detector in startups and in NYC in general. One funny story and then I'm out.

A month ago, I met this this 20-something crypto dude at a party. Let's call him Mike. He followed me on Twitter and I was friendly with his boss so I think he felt some envy or something because he kept smiling when he talked to me and then when I wasn't looking, he'd frown and get all freaky and anxious. It was weird as fuck.

I said something to my girlfriend after the party, something like "That dude hates me, I can just tell." Not even a week later does this guy call me a dick and insult me because I wouldn't write a blog post for $100 for his friend. I screenshotted the text message and tweeted it and got some clients. In the words of Gucci Mane, it's best not to "fuck with the clowns" in the first place.

P.S. You can find my podcast and my goofy tech videos at jlev.me.