In a world where the barriers between artistry and entrepreneurship are increasingly porous, emerging talents like 9Nova are redefining the boundaries of creativity and ambition. At just 20 years old, 9Nova, a London-born rapper of Ghanaian ethnicity, is not only making waves in the music industry but also carving his path as the young CEO of Stellar Media, his own media company. In this exclusive Q&A, 9Nova opens up about navigating the challenges of balancing his burgeoning rap career with his entrepreneurial ventures, the impact of the UK public school system on creative aspirations, and how he confronts self-doubt on his journey to success.
Q: How would you say the UK public school system supports creative careers?
A: I say it supports it quite terribly in a sense of traditional academic school systems, like secondary schools, they allow for conventional routes like modern, but when it comes to quite new innovative or emerging genres, there’s not a lot of opportunities for that. It’s more or less the people that take control. So, in terms of secondary school and sixth form where it was a typical academic environment, there wasn’t a lot of support there. There wasn’t a lot of practical industry advice that you would need in the modern day. It’s very outdated. What they teach in the curriculum? It just doesn’t make sense.
Q: How do you manage your career as a rapper with your adventures as an entrepreneur?
A: This is something I’m still learning because it’s only been around 9 to 10 months of me actually having a business and being a musician, but I’ve learned to work in sprints for different things. I make a plan for what I want from music and what I want for business. I start breaking it down, and for the year, I need to know what I need to achieve or why I want. From there, I work in sprints so my focus doesn’t diverge. Work hard and then step back for a little bit. Usually, 2 to 4 weeks sprints and then once I’ve, for example, they kind of go with each other in terms of business, you work in a spring in terms of product of strategy, and then once you’re done, you just execute. With music, you make the music the product strategy, and then you just execute and then you can step back. So yeah, that’s how I go about it. I just work in phases and plan ahead.
Q: Do you ever doubt yourself, and if so, what do you do to work against those thoughts?
A: Realistically, everybody doubts themselves. I think you’d be very narcissistic and kind of weird in the head if you don’t doubt yourself. But the idea is you just dream your dream, big, you know where you wanna go, you know the direction, you know what it takes, you know the sacrifice, and you just keep working towards it no matter what. It’s a faith thing for me as well in terms of believing and trusting in His plans. Ultimately, it’s me that takes the action to live up to it.
Q: How do you balance your career as a rapper with your ventures as an entrepreneur? Are there any challenges you’ve encountered in managing both?
A: The challenge is just more workload naturally. If you don’t have the capacity to work or the reason you’re doing both things isn’t like I said, beyond you, it gets draining. It can really push you to the ground if you don’t have a purpose for doing it. Managing both is hard, and sometimes I can look at my peers and think I’m falling behind. But once again, it’s just going back to looking at the bigger picture. You’re just staying in the longer game, and you’re trying to have longevity in this. So it’s okay to not rush to everything, and you know you’re still young.
**Q: Many artists find that their entrepreneurial ventures are a natural extension of their creative pursuits. How do you see your entrepreneurial endeavors complementing and enhancing your music career?
A: At the end of the day, it’s a lot of resilience, love, discipline, drive—really big traits you need to have for your own business. And that transfers over to my music career. It gets me through the hard times. There you go. I just use my company as my own marketing sort of thing when it comes to music, to and haunted when it comes to visuals, making the strategy and so forth. You know what I’m saying.
9Nova’s journey exemplifies the resilience, creativity, and determination required to pursue one’s passion amidst the complexities of the modern world. As he continues to shoot for the stars, both as a rapper and as an entrepreneur, his unwavering commitment to his craft and his vision serve as an inspiration to young talents everywhere. With his eyes set on the horizon, 9Nova is poised to make an indelible mark on the music industry and beyond.