Funding can grow a business, but what you do with the money decides whether you build wealth or stay broke. Alex Shvarts talks with artist and investor Shifta about turning income into assets.
Welcome to Unbankable, the podcast for entrepreneurs who won’t take no for an answer. I’m Alex Shvarts. Today we talk about how artists build business empires that go far beyond their art, because talent isn’t enough anymore; the artists who thrive think like entrepreneurs and build multiple revenue streams.
My guest is Shifta, a music artist and serial entrepreneur who built his brand around being ‘timeless,’ with a large following and ventures that extend well beyond music. He represents the new artist-entrepreneur who diversifies into sustainable wealth.
On ‘no’: Shifta’s philosophy is that if he doesn’t ask, it’s already a no, so he asks for the opportunity and moves on if the answer is no. He grew up in music, his father was a producer, and he went from DJing to creating music as an artist. Early on he heard constant ‘no’ from DJs who wouldn’t play his songs.
His breakthrough came from turning a ‘no’ into action: he created his company, Timeless, around 2003 and threw a single-release party, hiring and paying DJs so his song would finally get heard. That led to running regular events, which built real relationships with DJs and eventually a breakout record and international touring.
Asked whether he’s a musician who does business or a businessman who makes music, Shifta said the latter, he crafted his talent like an athlete in the gym rather than being an overnight natural. We agreed making money in music is hard; most of the income comes from touring, shows, and ancillary ventures, not records.
His pivotal money lesson: his breakout record, ‘Ganja Shop,’ took off in Europe and he toured for the first time. Coming home with his first real music money, after years of investment, he faced a fork: gamble it all back into music or diversify. He put half down on his first pre-construction house and reinvested the other half in his music.
Two years later that house had doubled, giving him six figures in equity. A banker friend suggested he pull a line of credit against it to buy another property, and that’s how his real estate snowball began. Meanwhile the half he reinvested in music hadn’t produced another hit, so he started using investment income to fund his next records. He eventually got more hits and collaborations, but the lesson stuck.
I framed the broader principle for young earners: enjoy some of your first dollar, maybe 15 cents on something nice, 10 on going out, set aside for a rainy day, but put a big chunk into an asset that builds long-term wealth. Shifta caught onto that early, and it worked.
On discipline and balance: Shifta plans his week in advance in his phone notes, a habit from carrying a notepad in school, and credits being highly organized for his ability to juggle ventures.
On influence and giving back: the most life-changing moment of his career wasn’t financial. A mother brought her young son to a video shoot; the boy thought the ‘Ganja Shop’ video lifestyle was Shifta’s everyday life. Shifta told him he’d gone to college, gotten good grades, and lived a regular life, and that good grades matter. Years later the mother found him backstage in tears to thank him, the boy’s grades and life had turned around. As I put it, if you can make a difference in one life, your life was worth living.
On business today: his primary focus is a real estate development company he started about six years ago. He loved real estate from the start but hit the same wall many do, bad contractors and headaches, so he got his GC license and became a developer to control the process. The lesson: real estate builds tangible wealth, but you need good people you can rely on, and finding them is the hard part.
He also built a luxury cannabis brand under the Timeless name, positioned as a premium product. He shared the failures honestly: months on design, nearly a year on import and logistics from overseas, the container landing in the wrong state, then learning products must be lab-tested before stores will carry them. He roughly broke even and walked away because the industry became saturated and tough, the same thing we see funding companies in that space.
On ‘fake it till you make it’: Shifta stays authentic and won’t exaggerate his record, but he agrees you must protect your energy. Perception is reality, nobody wants to be around someone defeated, so on a bad day he keeps his composure or takes a timeout to get revived rather than spreading negative vibes. I added that in today’s always-on, on-camera world, keeping composure matters more than ever.
Shifta runs multiple family-involved ventures, a Caribbean restaurant, a luxury beauty studio, a development company, and more, reflecting a Caribbean work ethic of wearing many hats. His advice to young musicians, the thing he wishes someone had told him: don’t blow your first money on ten chains and ten cars; you only need one chain, one watch, one car for the image. Too many artists with a hit or two end up broke. Build assets, stay authentic, and make sure you can look yourself in the mirror.
Music artist, entrepreneur & real-estate investor
Funding helps you grow, but discipline and reinvesting into assets is what actually builds wealth.
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