Imagine living off ramen noodles while unknowingly sitting on $700,000
Rapper and producer Swizz Beatz is reportedly worth around $100 million, but the hip hop star says he once lived as a broke artist surviving on ramen noodles with $700 thousand dollars sitting in a shoebox in his closet. According to Swizz’s interview with Angie Martinez on her show Untold Hip Hop Stories, the DJ and producer mistook royalty checks he received in the mail in the early days of his career as promotional fakes, Page Six reported. Beatz explained, “In the hood, they’re sending you checks from everywhere. Like every week, you won a million dollars. My grandmother used to make me just save them in a shoebox. So, I had $700,000 in the shoebox.”
Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, began his career as a DJ at the age of 16. Beatz went on to work with rappers DMX and Cassidy before starting his own label, Full Surface Records. Eventually, Swizz had major success in the production game and began branching out into fashion, art, and other business endeavors, including earning a degree from Harvard’s Business Program in 2017.
The hip hop star and husband to Alicia Keys has obviously come a long way in his knowledge of the industry since mistaking royalty checks for a scam.
Most recently, Swizz Beatz released a new collaboration with rapper Pusha-T called “No Patience,” which will be featured on the soundtrack to the new Epix series, Godfather of Harlem, starring Forest Whitaker. Additionally, Beatz and his R&B superstar wife have announced plans to create a performing arts center for aspiring artists in Macedon, New York. The episode of Untold Hip Hop Stories featuring the surprising admission airs on Thursday, but until then, we can take comfort in knowing Swizz appears to have all his finances in order.
