Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #484306 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Download Description
"Kevin Liles rose from intern to president of Def Jam Records in only nine years. Today, at age thirty-seven, he is executive vice president of the Warner Music Group and has helped discover and direct the careers of stars such as Jay-Z and Ludacris. Liles' meteoric climb from urban street kid with hip-hop aspirations to one of the most successful and influential executives in the music industry is far more than a rags-to-riches story. It is a tribute to Liles' incredible work ethic, wisdom and confidence in doing his thing his way -- the hip-hop way. ""Every real success story in hip hop comes down to the same thing: someone who finds the will, focus and drive to achieve,"" Liles writes in Make It Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation Guide to Success. ""It doesn't matter if you are male or female. It doesn't matter what race or religion you are. It doesn't matter what hustle you choose."" What does matter, Liles says, is that you fight against the odds to realize a dream and be the best that you can be. You empower yourself and make it happen. Kevin Liles presents ten rules of business success, which range from ""Find Your Will"" and ""The Blueprint"" to ""Don't Let Cash Rule"" and ""Play Your Position."" As he outlines his philosophy, Liles shares how he put his principles to work, chronicling his journey to the top and the stories of others -- executives, artists, mentors and friends -- he has worked with along the way. Make It Happen is both an American success story and a guidebook for the road to having a career and a life you love. "

Download Description
"Kevin Liles rose from intern to president of Def Jam Records in only nine years. Today, at age thirty-seven, he is executive vice president of the Warner Music Group and has helped discover and direct the careers of stars such as Jay-Z and Ludacris. Liles' meteoric climb from urban street kid with hip-hop aspirations to one of the most successful and influential executives in the music industry is far more than a rags-to-riches story. It is a tribute to Liles' incredible work ethic, wisdom and confidence in doing his thing his way -- the hip-hop way. ""Every real success story in hip hop comes down to the same thing: someone who finds the will, focus and drive to achieve,"" Liles writes in Make It Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation Guide to Success. ""It doesn't matter if you are male or female. It doesn't matter what race or religion you are. It doesn't matter what hustle you choose."" What does matter, Liles says, is that you fight against the odds to realize a dream and be the best that you can be. You empower yourself and make it happen. Kevin Liles presents ten rules of business success, which range from ""Find Your Will"" and ""The Blueprint"" to ""Don't Let Cash Rule"" and ""Play Your Position."" As he outlines his philosophy, Liles shares how he put his principles to work, chronicling his journey to the top and the stories of others -- executives, artists, mentors and friends -- he has worked with along the way. Make It Happen is both an American success story and a guidebook for the road to having a career and a life you love. "

Customer Reviews

Motivation, Inspiration and a Great Resource
Year after year I try to instill the importance of volunteering and giving back into my students. I think it is hard for them to grasp the concept of working for something other than money. This book makes for a great tool to help them understand what I am talking about.

In addition to being a great resource for our youth I personally found this book to be extremely motivational and inspirational. I found myself immediately applying the concepts to my life and thinking of ways that I could make my writing career soar.

I highly recommend this book to any and everyone because while it uses hip hop as the context, the advice applies across the board.

Monica Marie Jones
Author of FLOSS, The Ups and Downs of Being Round and Taste My Soul

FLOSS

The Ups and Downs of Being Round

Taste My Soul

Great Read For Students, Very Inspiring

It's a very good book overall. The book is very inspiring and has alot of good wisdom. It's right along the same lines as Russell Simmons's book, "Do You". Don't expect to see any Def Jam rumors or juicy gossip. Kevin Liles is not the type of guy to stay on the negative. Kevin is very humble, he emphasizes hard work and dedication.

If any drawbacks, the book is maybe a bit too long. Kevin makes sure to stay on good terms with other successful business men and successful rappers by mentioning them often. He's makes a real point of playing the business politics game.

I do think that Kevin is slightly misrepresenting his roots to appear more "down" with hip hop. The areas (Woodlawn and Pikesville) which Kevin mention in the book are really upwardly mobile, middle class white collar and blue collar types. However, Kevin is portraying them as rough neighborhoods.

He talks a bit too much about the group he was in, "Numarx". I've never even heard of the group before and I'm from Baltimore. It's definately Kevin Lile's book, not so much a book on Def Jam. It would've probably have been more interesting to hear a little more about the actual artists and albums. Yet, it's a very good read for all ages.

Inspiring
Kevin Liles is the guy from Def Jam that most people don't recognize. Everyone knows Russell, most people know Rick Rubin. Kevin's one of the guys who came on board in the days when the company was transforming from start-up to big-time. He delivers a really simple message throughout Make It Happen... work harder than everyone else. That's the real gist of the 242 pages. There are chapters that have other themes, but the underlying cause of his success comes out in every section. Liles worked hard and was single-minded in the pursuit of his goals.