Billy Shakes	The Week of September 4th, 2005

Wall Street Rapper

1. What's in your wallet right now?

Four $20s, a debit card, my first business card, and a Blockbuster card.

2. What do you wish your parents taught you about money?

I wish they told me about compound interest and that there are more options for my money than CDs and savings accounts.

3. What is your worst habit around finances?

I spend a great deal and sometimes go over my budget. I wish I could always stay under my monthly budget. Technology devices (telephones, PDAs etc.) are my weakness.

4. What makes you happy?

Family, making money and making music.

5. Personal philosophy around money?

You control your money. Don't let it control you.

6. Where does money come from?

It grows on trees!! Seriously, I think that money is recycled from generation to generation. As for my money, it comes from a variety of jobs over the years (toll collector, bank teller, stock broker, financial advisor) and saving as much as I can.

7. What would you do with a million dollars?

I would pay off all of my debt and my family's debt. Invest some more in the stock market and the real estate market. In addition, I would start my own hip-hop label.

8. What is your most prized possession?

The football from the last game I played. I was injured in that game and that made me focus on Wall Street and my music.

9. Who is your role model?

I have a few. Michael Jordan, Barry Sanders, Gordon Gecko, Jamie Dimon and Jay Z.

10. What is your greatest achievement?

Graduating college, winning football championships, getting my Series 7 (certification for stockbrokers and financial advisors).

11. Why did you become a rap singer?

I have always had a talent to express myself through words. Rap music lets me do the same thing through music. Also, with my topics, it allows me to reach a lot of people and positively affect their financial lives.

12. What contributions to society do you want to make?

I want to help as many people as I can become debt-free and financially independent.

13. If you could buy one thing right now what would it be?

A private jet.

14. Favorite activity that doesn't cost a dime?

Working out in the gym, writing songs.

15. How do you indulge yourself?

I love the movies. I go every weekend. I see every movie that comes out.

We've all heard the story: A kid from the projects grows up with no dad, no money, and no hope for the future. Sent away for four years, he returns to the street and becomes a rapper.

In Billy Shakes' case, there's a twist. The institution he went to for four years is Middlebury College, an elite liberal arts college in New England, and the street he hustles on is Wall Street, where he is an Assistant Vice President at one of the largest financial companies in the US.

Billy Shakes brings Wall Street to Main Street with every verse:

Stocks and Drugs, are both the same amount in my eyes,
More buyers than sellers causes the market to rise.
I know you out there...click clackin' your guns,
Hang with me, I'll have you stick stackin' mutual funds.
Thousands on a whip (car) don't make you a star,
I'm buying options in the company that's makin' the cars.

Through clever wordplay and hip-hop beats, Billy Shakes teaches his audiences to make smarter decisions in the biggest investment of all: their lives.

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