SLIM THUG

1 Act like a boss, not a thug.
There’s a line between being a thug and being a boss. A boss gonna tell you, “Think business, be smart.” A thug like, “Nigga what?!” Being a boss, you can’t slap this nigga because he gonna sue you and you gonna be paying a $50,000 civil suit to this clown. That’s the line you draw.

2 Take responsibility for your own career. 
I got burned a lot of ways putting my trust in other people. The Pharrell thing—it wasn’t my idea, it was a label idea. I ain’t mad at it. I thought the music was jamming and I put my trust in somebody else on that one. But I just really want to do it my way. If shit don’t work, you can blame yourself.

3 Invest in the future.
I got two kids, that’s my future. But the way the game is going now, you gotta have side hustles. It ain’t all about rapping. I invest in real estate, college funds. You don’t depend on rap, you have to use it like a hustler’s tool. You get money over here, flip that shit when you know you don’t gotta rap. A motherfucker on to something, invest in that nigga.

4 Respect your elders.
I always show respect to a nigga that paved the way. I just bought a Harley, and Scarface motherfucking told me everything I need to do to the bitch and I ain’t even think twice—I listened. I got that type of respect for him. When Pimp C and Bun B call me, I listen because I know these niggas is like, for real, they on a different level from us.

5 Expand your horizons.
I was at Play-N-Skillz’ crib, listening to beats, smokin’. He said, “I’m doing this remix for Hilary Duff, you wanna jump on it? They got that Disney bread over there.” I said, “It’s done.” I wrote the shit, they picked it, and that shit already on TLC. Shit, whatever, TRL I mean.