Get with the times. Forget getting signed.
It’s nice but you won’t make money from sales
If ya got hype and ya timing’s right
You can make money from everything else
- "Upload", The Signature LP, Sway

Sway knows that many people don’t and won’t buy music anymore – if they did, he’d be rich already. His financial objectives must be met by other means if he wants to make even a penny from the millions of unrepentant pirates scouring the web for his immaculate verses. Rather than whine about it, Sway intends to profit from the attention ; making money from the type of endorsement deals that have seen 50 Cent sell water for $400m while strolling about in his own line of Reebok pumps.

What is stunning about the success of rappers like Fiddy, Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne in our politically-correct era, is that they are literally on-record, saying things sure to make a man notorious. That is the subtle trick of the rap entrepreneur. Their words made them controversial ; the media-fuelled controversy made them unforgettable.

ps: Attention of any sort will bring you power. Use the limelight wisely and you will create a following . What you choose to do with that following is up to you. Just remember that once the spotlight is on you, the display of insecurity is not an option.

credit: cessemi

“A vain man can never be utterly ruthless: he wants to win applause and therefore he accommodates himself to others” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(‘Ruthless’ has several powerMAD conotations, so, for the sake of argument, i’ll exchange it for its synonym: relentless.)

A vain man can never be utterly relentless. Well-timed applause or gushing approval will knock him off-course quicker than my golf-swing. As Stephen Colbert knows, some people will applaud anything! Accordingly, what matters is not the quantity, but the quality of response. In fact, for the most audacious, spectacular acts, the applause is silent; the reaction being muted by disbelief. Applause is not better than such silence.

Over time i’ve grown accustomed to treating applause as though i am a King or a President. I will give thanks, but i will not let my estimated-time-of-arrival be altered. I’m not in the entertainment biz. Applause is not my destination. My destination is...

Most people clap for a King, not because they know him, but because they don’t know what else to do; because they see other people clap; because they are in awe; because they want him to give them favour. Would a King ever get to his destination – and still remain King – if he swooned at every compliment given?

The answer is no. Rather, the powerSANE live the words of Edmund Burke, relentlessly:

“Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.” – Edmund Burke