Appreciation or Depreciation?

I had a conversation a few weeks ago with an educated black man about many decisions that African American or even young people of America make with their income. It made me think. We got rappers, NBAers, actors, etc. who make tons of money on top of more money, but what do they do with all that money? Are they letting it appreciate or are they making sure that it depreciates?

I almost felt like Bill Cosby in this conversation although me and the other guy shared agreeing minds. We were at a fancy hotel in San Francisco, and we were sitting out front doing some people watching. Valet was working hard parking cars, bell boys were hustling to carry bags, and the people at the register had a permanent smile. The confusing part was the type of people who were checking into the hotel. 97% of the people who we saw were of Caucasion background. It was funny, and we both questioned at first why there were no brothers or sisters jumping out of the Range Rovers? What are all the Black people doing with their money? Look at this Hip Hop industry and the people that represent it. You see the cars, the jewels, and the grills. At first glance you would be like damn, why are they wasting their money? Everything that you see has a depreciating value.

What most people don't know or see is that many of these people are actually pretty damn smart with their money. Jay Z ranks number 1 on the Forbes Hip Hop's Cash Kings list. There really is no need to go down the list of all the things that Jay Z is doing outside of music. But one person who surprises me is Yung Joc. He came in at No. 20, but still... that's pretty good for something like $10 million. Yung Joc's latest album, Hustlenomics pretty much says it all. The man is a hustler, just like most of these cats out here. How many people do you know who owns Exotic Car dealerships? Not one of them, but 2 of them? Very smart.

Now, to switch up speeds for a second. It's easy to talk about all the rappers and other entertainers, but what about the Average Joe's of America.

Even Average Joe's have some issues that need to be ironed out. We get a little money and the first thing we want to do is go shopping. Shopping is cool, but it's not the brightest investment when we just want some Sean Jean jeans, or a chain. It's always funny when I see the Cartier glasses, Prada loafers, etc, and your mom's address on your mail. It's all about how you look these days first... what you're doing with yourself doesn't always take precedent over that. If you go to a club these days and have mean swagger with some clothes that are in Vibe magazine, you're set. Doesn't really matter what your mouthpiece is like. This all means that many of us all are superficial, shallow, and ignorant. Appreciation or depreciation?

All in all... at some point us, as a race, African American... need to step it up. We need to get our priorities right. We need to stop thinking that stuff aint for us. We need to stop thinking that only White people are supposed to own stuff. Hell, we need to stop thinking that only Arabs can own gas stations. We don't even own our own neighborhoods. People who don't speak our language are the ones who own our neighborhoods, and they just got to America.

Just a thought that i felt I needed to express in written language.

Keep Hip Hop Alive, One Bar at a Time.

Over and Out, DocBoone.