“Sometimes you just got to take that leap of faith,” said Myron Nicholas. “And a lot of people, they shy away from it. But what I’ve noticed is the beginning of greatness happens after you take that risk and that leap in any facet of life.”
Nicholas is one half of the musical and creative duo Rich Off Creative Minds, a project he started with his brother, Davaughn Nicholas. Rooted in their love of music (the two are multi-instrumentalists, producers and rappers) and an entrepreneurial mindset, Rich Off Creative Minds is as much a business as it is an artistic pursuit.
At the core of their efforts is their app.rocminds.com site and downloadable app where fans can “invest” and subscribe to their creative endeavors and gain access to music, videos and other content. In an age where the algorithm is key and the music industry makes economic sustainability through the creation of art difficult, Rich Off Creative Minds provides an alternative for financial freedom.
Born in Long Island, New York, the two were primarily raised in Atlanta. Davaughn moved to Michigan to attend university, where he studied mechanical engineering. Myron later joined him. It was there that the two began to pursue music more seriously. Although they grew up in a musical household with many family members playing multiple instruments and a father who led the church choir groups, their interest in music was more habitual rather than instinctive. Myron cited wanting to play the drums but being led to play the saxophone as an example. But in Michigan, they were able to approach the creation of music from their own point of view, turning it into something that could reflect their unique mindsets and manifestation goals for abundance and success.
Moving to Chicago was a chance to tap into a bigger pool of opportunity. The two landed in the Austin neighborhood in 2019, right before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the brothers split their time between the suburb of Warrenville and the Logan Square neighborhood. In the latter, they’ve partnered with the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce and the Hairpin Arts Center for their work and initiatives. Fans of the Logan Square Farmers Market can often find them there with a booth where they sell T-shirts and freestyle raps to curious marketgoers.
“We didn’t know the impact that we would have on the community just by being ourselves,” Myron added.
Part of their participation in the farmers market and other initiatives in the area stems from their approach to music. For Rich Off Creative Minds, music is business and business is music. They don’t just make art — they own the means of production, approaching the creation of their music like a small business. Rather than rely on social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok or streaming platforms like Spotify, the two have created their own online platform, findable through QR codes printed on their T-shirts.
While streaming platforms make their music universally accessible, they don’t provide financial sustainability. Small, independent artists may only get a handful of cents, if that, per stream on platforms like Spotify.
“It would be nice to use that money to buy coffee, but you can’t buy coffee for two cents,” Davaughn joked.
By creating and promoting their own product — both in music and in technology — they’re taking their future into their own hands.
The two cite their father, a contractor and entrepreneur, as a direct influence.
“It was kind of embedded in us without us even wanting to be in business and understanding that there was that side of independence, there was that side of being able to delegate certain tasks to certain people, and also the hustle and the struggle,” said Myron.
Yet while their efforts might seem new, they’re forged in the direct lineage of their hip hop elders. Hustle culture was fundamental for the hip hop community, and the Nicholases cite 50 Cent, among others, as a direct influence and comparison to their efforts.
“(50 Cent) was a really good mixtape seller, right? Around that era, they were able to do that. They were able to create, right? They were able to sell their CDs on the street, off the trunk, and do that kind of thing,” Davaughn noted. “But then technology came through and took that idea for a dive. The idea of selling CDs is just not even in people’s minds anymore.”
While they may not be selling CDs on the street, they are selling other things (like their QR-coded T-shirts) that bring production and a hustle mindset back to the pursuit of music. “That is a way that people can support, listen to the content, watch all the videos, and be in the ecosystem of Rich Off Creative Minds.”
Eventually, the two want to open up their platform to other artists, empowering them to take ownership over their own careers and “give creatives — or musicians — the ability to be back in those times where they can create wealth for themselves.” They also hope to expand their efforts and app beyond Chicago and the Midwest to other parts of the country like Atlanta, California, New York and Canada.
For the Nicholases, it all goes back to their creative philosophy: Be. Do. Have.
“If you be more, you’ll be able to do more, and eventually, you’ll be able to have more,” Myron explained. “And when you have more, you’re able to give more.”
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.