Lesane Parish Crooks and Christopher George Latore Wallace both died at 25 and 24 years old, respectively.
Before they died, you probably heard about them. Not only did you borrow some of their philosophies, as many still do today, but you, at least at some point, secretly wished you were them.
They were rich, they were famous, and they had a lot of influence on people. All these are good, but the most important thing was that they were young.
They were 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G.
Poverty has a system around it. First, it blurs your vision. There are things you don’t see beyond. Then, it cages you in an environment that dictates what you can and cannot do.
Lastly, you lose value for everything except survival.
To some, survival is a job they don’t like. To others, survival is a bag of rice, salt, and probably a red pant with a politician’s face on it [Allegedly, of course]. It takes many forms, but the most consistent is the ideology that short-term profit is better than long-term awareness.
For 2Pac and Biggie, it came as a record deal. An escape from the ‘projects’ and the poverty it brings. A second chance to become the men in the lives of the mothers, their fathers had left behind.
An opportunity to prove that sometimes, a formal education does not necessarily equate to success.
You see, whether you want to attach a name to it or not, there’s really an olodo uprising happening in your society today.
Values are being misplaced, and much like the environments that produced the gang culture and street economies celebrated in parts of Black America, your society is increasingly teaching young people that money matters more than character.
That’s the problem with celebrity role models and modern values. You want to become the celebrities you watch. You see the lifestyle, and you want that. You crave it like mad because, why not? Who no like better thing?
The sad thing, however, is that you’ve stopped carrying out proper character audits.
If you take away the money from some of your faves, would you still admire them?
If yes, why?
If you answer this question, loudly or introspectively, you will begin to see what you truly hold as values. You’re not as flexible as you think; your character is reflected in what you choose as your way of life.
Money governs you to such an extent that you forget it is only one component of success.
You can spend years chasing money, but very little time developing the character required to carry it responsibly. As a result, success becomes an amplifier of flaws rather than a reward for growth.
This is what happens when people acquire wealth before developing the character required to handle it.
I beg you, in whatever it is you worship, please don’t lose yourself because Nigerian society has attached your worth to what you possess rather than who you are.
You too, check am na.
Look at the dating pool. Look at how your leaders think. Look at your peers. Look at the way you’re chasing the bag as though it is the only way to be acknowledged by your friends and family.
Is it normal?
People around you are getting rich, but there’s a decline in the quality of people.
True, true, the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant; time and chance happen to them all.
If you watch interviews of 2Pac, it becomes clear that he was remarkably self-aware and intelligent. The same can be said for Biggie.
This is one reason I respect J. Cole and his refusal to participate fully in the verbal chest-thumping that rap diss culture often rewards. What I admire is not his fame but his restraint. In a culture that profits from conflict, maturity is also a form of strength.
Imagine if Tupac and Biggie had been encouraged to outgrow their boyish egos rather than monetize them. Imagine if the rivalry had remained music. Imagine if they had lived to 41.
The culture of turning competition into warfare has already cost you enough.
The illusion that the lights will always be on you is what drives performers to dance the dance of no return, a Ferris wheel of endless fan-pleasing. Damn!
You truly need to do better.
Even if survival is the only beat you freestyle to, you can still try the R&B of common sense. Evaluate what the people you call your faves say, how they act, and what they do.
Take what helps and leave what doesn’t. Accept that even the people you admire have tragic flaws. Pray they reach growth faster.
I have seen the young Justin Bieber, and I have seen the version of him that matured. Growth is possible.
The problem is not that good role models do not exist. The problem is that you’ve become so accustomed to admiring status that you’ve forgotten which qualities are actually worth admiring.
Money is valuable, but it is not the air you breathe, and most definitely shouldn’t be all you live for.
Seek wisdom wherever you find it, and learn from the failures of those who came before you.
It will help you the next time you want to compare Messi and Ronaldo, call it banter, a duel, or even a GOAT debate. Remember, there’s no need to.
Two greats can coexist.
Whether it’s East Coast or West Coast, Compton or Toronto, Argentina or Portugal, value does not need a fight to prove its relevance.
