The New 21st Century Hustle Dot Com

Some of you may have noticed that there is a new site at www.21stcenturyhustle.com that asks for an invitation to join...That is temporary while we build out the new site. The new Hustle site will go live at 8 a.m. April 21, 2008.

For now, to access the blog and info regarding the Magazine go to:
www.21hustle.com

Rick Ross Charities Inc. Partners with NFL San Francisco 49er Pro-Bowler, Running Back, Frank Gore and 21st Century Hustle Magazine to Launch Pre-IPO

Muhammad Ross

Venture Philanthropy Paves the Way for Community Development

October 29, 2007 (Miami, FL) For the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, Rick Ross Charities Inc., will distribute dozens of turkeys to families in the Miami community who are in need. This will take place Saturday, November 17, 2007 in Miami Gardens, Florida at the new franchise Hip Hop Grub Spot.™

Rick Ross Charities Inc. takes on urban community development through venture capital and is aiming to set an example for others to follow suit. By giving back to his community with concrete objectives, he is setting a standard. With the success of the 1st Annual Rick Ross Be Out Day this past August, it was confirmation that the organization is blazing that path to initiate change in the community.

"We believe the best way to stop the violence, crime, and broken homes in the community are through creating jobs, university economic partnerships with urban youth entrepreneurs, and sound business opportunities for investors through Hip Hop," says Rick Ross, Platinum selling rapper from Miami [Slip N' Slide/Def Jam Recordings].

Denise Fonseca Gomes, CEO of HBCUEntrepreneurs.com Inc. and the co-creator of "Hip Hop Grub Spot" states, "Venture capital is missing in Hip Hop right now. What you find in Hip Hop is a strategy to create artists [rappers] as brands, then approach major corporations to use these brands to market products and services for product placement opportunities. We are offering venture philanthropy as an alternative to this industry practice as a more profitable long-term solution." Gomes goes on to say, "The Hip Hop industry will allow you to believe that Hip Hop consumers just buy music to dance to. [Hustlin'] showed it was bigger than music. Many in the global Hip Hop community supported Rick Ross because they wanted to see how spending $20 on an album or $.99 for a ringtone or download changes urban society-- they can see that with Hip Hop Grub Spot™ and Rick Ross Charities Inc."

Hip Hop Grub Spot™ is a Hip Hop themed, healthy fast-food establishment which incorporates, young executive/entrepreneur training, in-store video gaming with support by Hip Hop artists and professional athletes. It will also retail magazines, dvds, mix-tapes and apparel; while serving fast, fresh, healthy grilled meats, vegetables, smoothies, and energy drinks created for the franchise by PepsiCo and Sysco Foods. The menu items also incorporate the names and likeness of some of today's hottest hip hop acts. The flagship location will be located in Miami Gardens, Florida and is open to sell 100 locations in three months.

NFL Running Back, San Francisco 49er and Pro-Bowler Frank Gore states, "I bought Rick Ross' album in 2006 because I identified with "Everyday I'm Hustlin" and I wanted to support an urban entrepreneur from Miami that went through the same struggle I did as a young black male from the inner-city. I knew that once Rick Ross made it, he would be in a position to help others. I am also in the process of starting a foundation to make it possible for urban youth entrepreneurs to attain the, "American Dream" of homeownership, college education, and owning your own business."
Ali Muhammad, Founder of 21st Century Hustle and former Vibe Magazine Executive adds, "There has always been a segment of hip hop culture that firmly identifies with the fundamental principles of the American Dream, and is not afraid to live accordingly. Rick Ross belongs to that group that embodies the spirit of capitalism and philanthropy."

Rick Ross Charities, Inc is currently accepting donations to further its cause as well as corporate sponsorship alliances. For more information, on both Rick Ross Charities, Inc and Hip Hop Grub Spot™, please contact Melissa Sessoms at sessomspr@gmail.com or (305) 772-6825.

Mzoli's Meat, Cape Town South Africa

Mzoli's Meat is cool hood spot, located in the township of Gugulethu, southeast of Cape Town. It has transcended its core butcher shop business to become a global tourist must see...

Mzoli's is a butchery, which doubles up as a very popular restaurant. But a restaurant with a difference - and soon we discovered it to be the ultimate social networking, user-generated business outside of Wikipedia

You start off in the butchery - choosing from a vast selection of meat cuts, Your meat is handed to you in a huge enamel bowl (secret marinate optional), which you take to the braai kings at the back of the shop for a good grilling.
Head out to the 'restaurant' section of the shop, around the corner and take a seat.

The first thing you'll soon notice is that there are no waitron staff. If you want drinks - you have to go to the house next to number 4 across the road.
You'll probably be offered a seat at the game of cards already underway and a Jack on the rocks, but if you're focussed on your mission - you'll get the beer you're after in the fridge in the kitchen
Bread (good with the marinade) can be bought at the spaza shop on the corner.

The idea is that Mzoli's supplies the meat (and a wet cloth if you're looking suitably messy) and leaves the rest to the neighbourhood business community to supply. Even the music is courtesy of restaurant goer's parked cars.

The place was packed by 2pm, with loads of people waiting for tables throughout the rest of the afternoon.


Via cherryflava

WestSide Hustle

The 21st Century Hustle crew is on the Westcoast this week. It will be fast times, in the fast lane getting goals accomplished with my my LA fam!! So in the spirit of the West I'm going to leave you with a piece we did in the first 21st Century Hustle Magazine on how to get it done when you are doing business on the left coast. Enjoy.


7 Things to consider while on business in LA

1. Get UP!
When your body wakes up at 4 AM PST get up!!! This will give you time to check emails, prevent fires, work out and see the sunrise. You never want your problems to have a three hour head start.

2. Navigate
Anticipate every move that you need to make for the day, and plan accordingly. LA traffic is unmerciful to the wrong turn. My thing was to rent cars with navigation and give myself an hour between meetings, because in LA Everything is an hour away.
3. Prioritize
Once I have my geographical bearings, I would set up meetings in order of convenience. I like to get my harder sells and office meetings done early so towards the end of the day I can kick it with my more casual clients. This way I could enjoy Mr. Chow with my folk (What up Tubby!)

4. Think like a Local, Act like an Immigrant
You traveled from your home 3,000 miles across the land for one reason, to get this money--Act like it. Don’t be daunted by the shallowness of Hollywood. On the surface understand they like aesthetics, but be diligent in your work and grind. Most cats just look the part-out do them with work ethic.

5. Time
LA tends to be very laid back in pace (they invented the three hour lunch) so it is easy to be hypnotized by the palm trees and mojitos. However, this casual trance will prevent you from taking advantage off all the opportunities that exist with the amount of time you have. Therefore, keep things at a go getter’s pace. This will set you apart and bring some excitement to the game.

6. Get Some Friends
This is very important when you are on the West frequently. In order to maximize your time and efforts you have to become ingrained into the economic fabric of LA. So having a network of people that can constantly keep your name buzzing is a must.

7. Smell the Roses
Find the places that inspire you and
build or steal the time to visit those places, between or after meetings.

Mr.Muhammad on Creme Magazine

Check out an interview I did with Creme Magazine...It always seems like you can say waay more about yourself when someone else asks...Good Look Dominga! Thank you for the opportunity. Also check out all her hustles...She is on the move.

www.creme-magazine.com
www.myspace.com/crememagazine
www.myspace.com/tamboi
www.myspace.com/ahouseofmingfilm
www.tamboi.com

Hustle News

The Urban Hustle news has been picking up over the last 24 hours. We have a quote in the press release that went out last night although it was edited to my most corporate lingo...

Ali Muhammad, Founder of 21st Century Hustle and former Vibe Magazine executive, said, “Our brand was founded on the principals of Urban Hustle. What’s really exciting about the study is the quantification of this consumer’s clout in the marketplace and their motivations behind reinforcing their “self-brand”. It will be increasingly necessary for marketers to position themselves across their spaces and seek ways to be invited to their exclusive world.”

In other words it is becoming more important for media brands to sell advertisers to YOU, as opposed to the traditional model of selling You to Advertisers. They are going to have to talk to us in our language-The universal language of the Global Grind Culture.


See the entire release!

The Hustle Goes Mainstream: Urban Hustle Study

Some interesting "Hustle" news From Today's Brandweek...Now mainstream advertisers, and marketers have a chance to look at the numbers associated with what we've been doing for years. Hopefully, they can understand that the Hustle is bigger than Crack Slanggin', and petty crime.. Today's Hustle is about building the LIFE of your dreams through the work of your dreams...Not just a career or a job but an entire life of doing what you love and getting paid to do it. Previous generations did what they HAD to do to get BY. This is the generation of being YOU and Getting IT.

According to Alloy Access in New York, Urban Hustlers, as it's dubbing this emerging group of 12-34-year-olds influenced by hip-hop lifestyle, is a powerful consumer market. Its emulation of [Bill] Gates and other entrepreneurs betokens the scope of its ambition and purchasing — these are hardcore shoppers. The "Urban Hustler" segment isn't defined by racial, geographic or other such demographics, but instead by "a shared mindset born out of the unique energy, creativity and diversity of America's urban centers and a shared aspiration for a lifestyle linked by social status and entrepreneurial and prosperous pursuits." The study was conducted with Harris Interactive; Alloy Access is the multicultural marketing division of Alloy Media + Marketing. Current figures verify this trend as no longer confined to inner-city zip codes. Almost 40% of Urban Hustlers live in suburban areas, and close to 40% of them are white. What further distinguishes them is a shared belief in their own influence. Three out of four Urban Hustlers (75%) characterize themselves as someone their friends seek out for advice on the latest trends.

"They are the producers of content and information and trends," said Alloy Access president Tru Pettigrew. "They're not only looking to receive information about what's hot and new, but also produce and create and flip it. It doesn't matter where you start from. You've got the kid who doesn't have a pot to piss in, and Kanye [West], whose mother is a professor but he still has that mindset."

read entire article at www.brandweek.com

Freedom Is Never Free:Excerpt of Interview with Aaron McGruder

For our first cover story Veteran, Hip-Hop Journalist Serena Kim interviewed Aaron Mcgruder, Creator of the Boondocks. He kept 100% treal 100% of the interview. If you missed it here's a piece of it.

...SK: Why can’t you be broke? Why is that such an issue for you?

AM: Because liberty in this country doesn’t happen unless you can free yourself economically. It’s just an illusion. The civil rights and all that stuff, not to say that it’s not important, but it’s only 50 percent of the game. The Bill of Rights says, okay you have the right to talk, and you have the right to go everywhere, and the right to happiness and all that stuff. But it don’t tell you how you’re gonna pay for it. America is a country where they’ll leave you dead in the streets. If you fall, people will walk over you! There’s no safety net here. So when you talk about freedom; and I’ve always been really interested in the idea of freedom and studying what that means. Freedom in America is a lie. Not just because of criminal justice system history and all that other stuff, but because, what freedom do you have if you’re not rich in this country? You either have to walk away from everything and be completely poor to be free. Or you have to have a tremendous amount of money. Everyone in the middle is ultimately a slave. They are a slave to an economic system. If you’re making 30-40-$50,000 a year and you got a family and you got a job and you work full time, can you go where you wanna go when you wanna go? No!

SK: That’s what you want.

AM: Most people can’t do that until they’re 65. That’s not freedom. What freedom do you really have?

SK: Why are humans entitled to that? From a Zen perspective, humanity and happiness is only fulfilled when you’re working.

AM: There’s something to be said in that. But you are free to work. Most people don’t work because they want to. They are cogs in a system. Given the chance to do anything they want to do, they might do work, but it might be different work. It might be something that is actually fulfilling to them. Some people would much rather stay home and raise their kids and work on a family than work in a fucking office. For somebody else’s dividends. When I think about freedom, I think: Can I sleep when I want? Can I eat where I want? Go where I want, when I want? That’s freedom! Anything less than that, you’re not free. And that’s why I said, if you’re one of those people that can let it all go, all material possessions, you can be a free person. You can! That’s not me. I wish I had that level of spirituality. I wish I was that type. That’s not me. So I gotta go the other way. I have to basically buy my freedom from the system. In America, if you don’t have a lot of money and you get sick, you’re fucked. Someone you love get’s sick, you’re fucked! Money can mean the difference between life or death in this country. Often, if I get in trouble for anything, whether I did it or not, money means the difference between jail and no jail. So it’s a very serious thing. The civil freedoms and liberties and all that…

SK: There’s just been a lot of writing and thinking about that, about how the hip hop generation, and what it does with the civil rights. And the things you’re demanding are precisely what the next level is.

AM: Yeah, I’m not trying to diss the Civil Rights Movement. We would all miss it if it hadn’t been there. They’d still be lynching niggas. That’d be bad news. Um. But, you can’t fall into the lie sharecropping vs... slavery is the exact metaphor, We’ve got a nation of people perpetually in debt. And they are enslaved because of it. They are not free people. And I’ve always kind of seen the two together. Comfortably middle class but without a dollar. Because everyone’s just in debt. Credit cards. No one’s going on vacation. No one’s doing anything they want to do. We’re eating. We’re in a nice neighborhood, but no one has a dime. We’re living check to check. It’s a stress on the family. Just seeing the stress that money problems put on my parents was enough for me to be like fuck that I got to be rich. I can’t imagine going through this my whole life. With a wife and kids and everybody’s mad because there’s no money and they’re all worried. Can’t do it. Won’t do it. There just has to be a better way.


For the entire interview, Get issue #1 now...shoot us an email at 21hustle@gmail.com

21st Century Hustle:The philosophy

A lot of people are new to the concept of 21st Century Hustle and what we are about. For those who are interested here's a link to an interview that I did with www.marketingpopculture.com when we were about to launch this company. It sums up our philosophy and what we stand for.
Click the link below to listen
Marketing Pop Culture Interview

Maslow & The Modern Go Getter( Part 1)

It's not easy as it looks on the colorful pyramid up there. Self Actualization is not achieved by everyone, actually very few people get to that point. The 21st Century Hustle theory is that people are now taking a more active aproach to achieving SA. So over the course of 21st Century you will encounter more, and more people who have "Self Actualized." Over the course of the weekend we will kick it about the big Hommie Maslow, and how Self Actualization fits in to your grind.

Bevy sent me a SA manifesto that we will break up into parts so you can begin on your road to getting yourself Actualized.
I'm not sure where she got it from...but what the hell....Game is Game...Getsome.

1.Realistic Realistically oriented, a Self-Actualizing (SA) person has a more efficient perception of reality, and has comfortable relations with it. This is extended to all areas of life. A Self-Actualizing person is unthreatened and unfrightened by the unknown. He has a superior ability to reason, to see the truth, and is logical and efficient.

2.Self Acceptance Accepts himself, others and the natural world the way they are. Sees human nature as is, has a lack of crippling guilt or shame, enjoys himself without regret or apology, and has no unnecessary inhibitions.

3. Spontaneity, Simplicity, Naturalness Spontaneous in his inner life. Thoughts and impulses are unhampered by convention. His ethics are autonomous, and Self-actualizing individuals are motivated to continual growth.

4. Focus of Problem Centering-- A Self-actualizing person focuses on problems and people outside of himself. He has a mission in life requiring much energy, as it is his sole reason for existence. He is serene, characterized by a lack of worry, and is devoted to duty.

To Be Continued...

Getsome Radio

Tomorrow (April 3, 2007) will mark the seven year anniversary of the original 21st Century Hustle newsletter. And it will also mark the Launch of 21hustle's Getsome Radio. On this weekly show we will discuss topics that will inspire and motivate Go Getters Worldwide. In this first series we will deal with the Suckaz(Dreamkillas, Haters,etc!) and how to keep them off of you, while you are out getting goals accomplished.

Check here tomorrow for the link to getsome

Why should Rappers Have All the Fun?

When it comes to dreaming a life and living a dream the media machine has it down pat how we are supposed to make money and how to spend it. And when it comes to pop culture the Rappers have mastered the art of making money look fun & easy. However, how does life look for US? How does our balling look? What is fun for us Go Getters?

How can We set up our life to where we are doing all of the things we love and make bread to do them?

One thing you can learn from emcees and athletes is that, most of them spent years of focus on a single thing and it HAS to be love to do something daily for years(in most cases) before you make a dollar at it. But when it pops for them they have already dreamt up the life that they wanted. It’s burned in their mind from all the years of dreaming.

Now the trick is to have courage to Dream up YOUR life and have the love, patience and persistence enough grind on your dream--whether that is being the world’s best parent or the world’s richest mogul(because at the end of the day it’s all the same). It might take years but when you make it , guess what, you will be living your dream.

Now Go Get It!



What a conference room this is....(8/04/06) Conference Call while On location in Bermuda shooting the Pilot for our travel show called "Trippin' all Over the World"

They Shooting!

We just wrapped up the photo shoot for the next cover. And from the shots that I've seen, its going to be Fresh to Death. Keep it locked right here for more details on who, what, when and where to cop yours!

Photographer, Oluwaseye Olusa-doing his thing!


Creative Director, Bevy Smith- Studying that Van Der Zee


A CEO's Desk: The the truth is in the details

21st Century Hustle Magazine Issue #2.5

We are shooting the cover for Issue 2.5 today. To hit Newsstands in April!! Don't worry it will be worth the wait. HustleH8ers are going to love it...


Found the "Charging Bull" by Sculpter Arturo DiModica in the office of our next cover subject... it sums it up "Inspiration for the Strong, Motivation for the Weak and a Nightmare for the Suckers". Stay posted. We will keep you updated on the progress.

Welcome to the Global Grind Culture

Welcome official blog for the Global Grind Culture(That is Go Getters around the globe doing what they do to make their living and live their life). Our mission is bring you content that will inspire you to follow your heart to the life you always wanted-Simple as that.

We also have a magazine that comes out 4-times a year-- 21st Century Hustle. Check that out if you can.(They sell out pretty quickly) I mean we’ve only put out one so far, and ‘it” sold out pretty quickly. The Mag is like the National Geographic of people on the grind. Since we’ve been out it has been a really amazing time.

It’s like a two-way discovery---the people discovering our magazine on the newsstand and us discovering them. The most beautiful thing in the world is to have your work received as you designed it. From the responses that we’ve gotten we are on the right path. The ones who were supposed to love it loved it and those who were supposed to hate-- hated [on] it. No in-between, just the way I like it. Go hard or Go home!!