There are many similarities between music and entrepreneurship. To be successful, musicians must have talent, establish a brand, build a following, find distribution for their product, and handle their money properly.
Entrepreneurs must also do these things. If they don’t, they won’t grow their firms and reach their full potential.
Hakeem Seriki, better known as Chamillionaire, is a Grammy Award–winning rap artist. He’s also interested in technology and entrepreneurship, and frequently attends tech-related business events. He’s open about his interest in business, and asks questions and shares his thoughts at the events he attends. He’s also given several interviews about how he built his career and his interest in entrepreneurship. The interviews are riveting.
Chamillionaire comes across as an authentic, inquisitive, hard-working person whose success is anything other than accidental. In fact, the way he built his music career provides lessons not only for other musicians, but for entrepreneurs.
Chamillionaire began his career in the late 1990s selling CDs from the trunk of his car. As an independent artist, he built a following of hundreds of thousands of devoted fans. He signed with Universal Records in 2005. In 2007, he won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Ridin.” He is currently a rapper, singer, record executive, and entrepreneur.
The following are 10 takeaways from a synthesis of Chamillionaire’s public comments. A table at the end of this feature provides the URLs for two of Chamillionaire's best interviews. If you listen to the interviews, you’ll hear the sincerity in Chamillionaire’s voice. Of course, you may not agree with everything he says; but, we believe you’ll be struck by his business and entrepreneurial savvy and the heartfelt way in which he expresses his views.

Discussion Questions
1. For each of the 10 takeaways discussed in this feature, write a short “lesson learned” for entrepreneurs.
2. If you could ask Chamillionaire a series of five follow-up questions, what would the questions be? Briefly describe why you’d ask each question.
3. Which of the 10 takeaways struck you as the most compelling? Explain your answer.
4. Are you surprised that a rap artist is so interested in entrepreneurship and technology? To what degree do you think other musicians might benefit from following Chamillionaire’s lead? How about entrepreneurs? Do you think there are things that entrepreneurs can learn from musicians? If so, what do you think those things might be?
Application Questions
1. Why do you think Chamillionaire is speaking out about the importance of technology and entrepreneurship?
2. Listen to one of the interviews with Chamillionaire included in the table. Comment on the interview. List at least three takeaways from the interview not mentioned in this feature.