Accounting

Accountants & Rappers – A Match Made in Heaven

If you aren’t familiar with FloQast, we’re a bunch of accounting nerds in Los Angeles. We build close management software created by accountants, for accountants to close faster and more accurately.

Accountants don’t get the respect they deserve so we love it when accounting is featured in pop culture. We also happen to love writing dumb blog posts about when those two worlds collide. Like really dumb and nerdy ones.

I was reading the NY Times and came across a very interesting article — Kendrick Lamar Wins Pulitzer in ‘Big Moment for Hip-Hop’. With that, I decided to give the album a thorough listen.

So I’m listening to the album, enjoying some Pulitzer-caliber lyrics, and then I got to the track “HUMBLE”.

I heard something beautiful:

“Finesse a rapper with some counterfeits, but now I’m countin’ this
Parmesan where my accountant lives, in fact I’m downin’ this”

Turns out Kendrick Lamar respects accounting skills AND wants to hang out at their house?!?! Kendrick’s a smart man because when you’re stackin’ cheese like him it’s always a good idea to get some help from a professional.

Kendrick – if you’re reading this we’re also in LA and would love to host you at the office! You can hang out with a bunch of accountants at FloQast.

And that got me thinking – this isn’t the first time I’ve heard accountants referenced in hip-hop, but overall we don’t get much love from the music industry. So do rappers love accountants more than any other musicians? How often are accountants really mentioned? My guess was like 3-5. This led me down the lyrical rabbit hole on Rap Genius.

Turns out we accountants get A TON of love from the hip-hop community. So much so that we had to narrow a list down to just the top ten shout outs. And just like that, this went from a dumb little post to a dumb big post. Enjoy!

Please note:

1. Lyrics have been heavily edited to be as appropriate as possible.
2. If you’re easily offended, don’t click the links.
3. We created a public playlist on Spotify – check it out!

We’ll kick off the list with a classic track courtesy of Biggy. RIP.

1. Juicy – The Notorious B.I.G.

Phone bill about two G’s flat
No need to worry, my accountant handles that

Man that’s a big phone bill! Especially in the 90’s. But Biggy is totally right — paying bills can be a huge hassle. Once you’ve made it, we encourage you to pass this work along to your accountant. It’s one of those little things we can help with that save you time and aggravation.

Next up is a pretty interesting situation – Drake and Meek Mill develop some beef and talk trash via their accountants!

2. R.I.C.O. – Meek Mill (ft. Drake)

[Drake Line] I’ve been counted out so many times, I couldn’t count it
Funny how now my accountant is havin’ trouble tryna count it

Drake makes a nice reference there. That said, the only way I can envision an accountant having trouble trying to count is if we’re talking about a TON of cash. If that’s the case, we’re weighing boxes of cash and Drake is going to have to get comfortable with some level of materiality.  After these guys collaborated on the R.I.C.O. track, some beef developed…

After these guys collaborated on the R.I.C.O. track, some beef developed…

3. Sneakin’ – Drake

‘Bout to take over your city and you can’t stand it [referring to Meek Mill’s city]
My accountant say you sinkin’ like the Titanic

My concern here is confidentiality. One of two things happened here. Drake and Meek either share an accountant and he talked, or the accountant has Meek’s accountant in his network and they talked. Either way, not a good look.

On to another classic – Jay-Z on The Black Album talking about launching his career.

4. My 1st Song – JAY-Z

You was writing all the numbers that we was spending down
For the videos we was doing ourselves
Your accounting was crazy wrong and stuff
But we still put it together

This one hits close to home for us. In those startup days it’s tough to find a good accountant.

Note: Unfortunately Jay doesn’t have a deal with Spotify so we couldn’t get this one on the playlist.

5. All I Do Is Win – DJ Khaled (feat. Ludacris)

[Ludacris Line] Can’t never count me out, y’all better count me in
Got twenty bank accounts, accountants count me in

All he does is win and winners have accountants. Since he’s armed with an accountant I’m sure he wins audits. Take that IRS!

Back to our main man Kendrick Lamar for our next reference.

6. She Needs Me – Kendrick Lamar

Five years later, an accounting major, work at a firm
Abundance of paper, she got a career, she look in the rear
View mirror of a Mercedes that she can steer
Call her boss, executive meetings, consecutive trips, vacational weekends

Major in accounting! Then apply to FloQast!

7. Magic – Future

On my way to Aspen, I forgot to do my taxes
Call up my accountant, he gon’ make it do magic

Future – don’t worry, remembering tax deadlines isn’t your responsibility! I’m hoping your accountant was all over it. Just put it all on your CPA and we’ll make that magic happen.

8. November – Tyler, The Creator

What if I’m hustling backwards?
What if my accountant ain’t payin’ my taxes?
Fillin’ his pockets and IRS show up asking me questions
I couldn’t answer ’cause I was too busy tryna make classics

Unfortunately this is very common for artists and athletes. Hate these business managers giving accountants a bad rep.

9. We Dem Boyz (Remix II) – Wiz Khalifa feat. Rick Ross

[Rick Ross Line] 1-8-7 no appeal, get it how you live
Before I go broke accountants jump off a bridge

This doesn’t sound like a great working relationship. Those are some pretty scared accountants if they’d rather jump of a bridge than tell you you’re broke. Let’s be a bit more collaborative than that and take joint responsibility for finances here.

We’re going to wrap up the list with Dilated Peoples, some fellow LA natives. If you like heavy soul beats you’ll love this one. Turn it up!

10. Kindness for Weakness – Dilated Peoples

I might flip, but usually a calm individual
Armed with accountants, my lawyers and other criminals

Most accountants do good. That said, if you have the right knowledge set accountants can be very effective criminals. When crime rings move away from violence and start getting accountants and lawyers involved you know they’re doing big things.

Michael Whitmire

As CEO and Co-Founder, Mike leads FloQast’s corporate vision, strategy and execution. Prior to founding FloQast, he managed the accounting team at Cornerstone OnDemand, a SaaS company in Los Angeles. He began his career at Ernst & Young in Los Angeles where he performed public company audits, opening balance sheet audits, cash to GAAP restatements, compilation reviews, international reporting, merger and acquisition audits and SOX compliance testing. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Syracuse University.