James Hype

The most expensive lesson I ever learned cost me £50,000. As soon as I had more money than I needed, I bought a Rolex. A few years later I bought another one, and I wore it every day. I thought it would make people think I was successful. I was never a watch enthusiast.

I just thought that's what you did. You get money, you get a Rolex.

But every time I wore it, I was thinking about it. Scared of damaging it, scared of getting robbed, covering it up in certain places.

It was taking up so much of my mental capacity.

About a year ago I stopped wearing it completely, and for me life is better without it. The mad thing is you buy it to impress people, but it actually took away from the thing that made me successful in the first place: my head.

Your mental capacity is the most valuable thing you've got. Don't spend it on things that are only meant to impress people.

jameshype.com/thoughts/the-m…

I don't care whether you're a DJ, a producer, or you're working in a supermarket.

Some days you wake up and everything is shit.

You feel like you've got anxiety. You feel like nothing is working out for you.

Those are the days when it's most important to take back control.

Right now it's 9am. I'm parked outside the gym and I'm about to do leg day.

That's my way of taking it back. One thing I can actually control, done first thing, before the bad day gets to decide how it goes.

You don't have to feel good to start. You start, and then it gets better.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm gonna turn this shit around.

The bad days are the ones where it matters most to take back control.

jameshype.com/thoughts/take-…

If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, you have to study for at least five years before anyone pays you a penny.

You literally have to work harder than a doctor or a lawyer, completely unpaid, before anyone is going to take you seriously.

That's how you earn your place.

Do you remember being in school, when all the smartest kids wanted to be doctors or lawyers?

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but being a DJ is a much cooler job than being a doctor or a lawyer. Right?

So why are people so surprised when they put in one year of work and don't get anywhere?

If a doctor or a lawyer has to study for five years, believe me, a DJ has to study for even longer.

There's just no university course for it.

jameshype.com/thoughts/there…

This might sound a bit controversial, but DJs and producers, stop worrying about the law.

Nobody is trying to sue you over the remix you made in your bedroom that has 500 streams.

The reason I'm so enthusiastic about this is that it's literally how my whole career started.

I don't mean in every circumstance. Obviously there are rules you need to observe.

But whenever I post about remixing other people's tracks to make a name for yourself, the comments fill up with the same questions.

What if I get sued? What if I get a copyright strike?

Yes, those things exist. They can happen.

But nobody is trying to take a bedroom DJ to court because they put a remix on SoundCloud. It's a waste of everyone's time, and nobody is going to make any money from it.

Those rules are there in case big companies want to take someone with loads of money to court. Nobody is trying to sue you over the remix you made in your bedroom that has 500 streams.

The reason I'm so enthusiastic about this is that it's literally how my whole career started. I used to make bootleg remixes pretty much every week and put them on SoundCloud. They were all illegal. I can't even tell you how many I did.

And the worst thing that can happen? You get a little notification from SoundCloud saying the track has been blocked. That's it. Then it's gone.

That's the worst-case scenario.

So stop shitting yourself over it. There's so much to be gained, and nobody is trying to sue you. I promise you that.

jameshype.com/thoughts/nobod…

If you feel like you're putting all your effort in but not seeing any results, then understand this.

That part is the test.

That part is the bit you have to go through to get to the other side.

It's the universe asking you a question. How badly do you actually want this thing?

Are you prepared to see absolutely no results for months? For years?

We don't know how long it's going to take. But I promise you, every time I've felt that feeling and just kept pushing, eventually there was a breakthrough on the other side.

And that's the shit that will change your life.

No results is not the end. It's the test.

jameshype.com/thoughts/no-re…