Put On these GFC Bangers and Get to Work

Some of us were in high school, texting on LG Chocolates and burning CDs from LimeWire. Others were in college, frantically refreshing job boards while watching the financial system collapse in real time. Either way, these songs were in the background.

Loud, iconic, and burned into our brains forever.

We didn’t know it at the time, but this was the soundtrack of a generation that would end up pitching office space for a living. Half of us pivoted from “I want to be an investment banker” to “I guess I’m in brokerage now” because the hiring manager said we’d be “running our own business.”

The other half just needed a job and figured they’d try their luck dialing leads off a three-year-old Excel sheet.

So here it is.

The unofficial playlist of every Millennial broker who accidentally started their career during or after the Great Financial Crisis.

1. "Put On" – Young Jeezy (feat. Kanye West)

You were watching the world unravel from your dorm room or your parents’ living room.
Maybe you didn’t have money yet, but this song made you feel like you would one day. This was the song that made everyone go out and get subwoofers installed in their old Honda Accord because the bass hit so hard.

2. "Whatever You Like" – T.I.

Peak pre-crash optimism.
You had zero dollars, a 1.9 GPA, and were convinced that within five years you'd be flying first class.
Two years later you were hustling 1,200 SF retail leases.

3. "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" – Soulja Boy

You didn’t have a car or a job, but you were still on your parent’s cell phone plan
and blind innocence about how smooth you were.

4. "Down" – Jay Sean (feat. Lil Wayne)

“I’m down like the economy”…looking back, this may be the line that made most people’s parents cringe. While we were all jamming out and they were fighting to keep the family together.

5. "I’m So Paid" – Akon (feat. Jeezy, Lil Wayne)

Every millennial who downloaded this on their iPod was manifesting a seven-figure life
while sharing a room with three roommates and working at the local pizza place, respect 🫡

6. "Uptown" – Drake (feat. Bun B, Lil Wayne)

This one made you believe in yourself way before your commission checks or deal pipeline ever did.

7. "A Milli" – Lil Wayne

This track made you feel like a future mogul…then you looked at your student loan balance, and started refreshing every job site on the internet.

8. "DONTTRUSTME" – 3OH!3

You were raving your ass off, while the adults around you tried to reset their lives. While making sure everyone around them didn’t know how bad it actually was.

9. "Right Above It" – Lil Wayne (feat. Drake)

By the time this hit, some of us were finally landing deals…or at least pretending we were on our freshly created LinkedIn profiles.

10. "Party in the USA" – Miley Cyrus

If you didn’t scream this unironically in a car full of friends at least once, you’re lying.
This song played while the world was falling apart, and somehow made everyone feel fine.

11. "Bedrock" – Young Money (feat. Lloyd)

You didn’t understand taxes yet, but you knew every lyric. This was,” I don’t have to pay my own bills” innocence.

12. "Rude Boy" – Rihanna

No one knew what the lyrics really meant, but they were provocative and got the people going! and it still didn’t stop you from singing it at full volume whenever it came on.

13. "All the Above" – Maino (feat. T-Pain)

You were just happy to be on your parents’ health insurance as long as possible,
and trying to keep your dad from booting you off the family cell phone plan.
This was the background track to every “I might actually make it” moment.

14. "Forever" – Drake, Kanye, Lil Wayne, Eminem

One of the greatest tracks of the time period, before time passed and some of these artists went off the rails. It played during workouts, commutes, and every failed prospecting call, and gave you the boost to keep going.

15. "I’m On A Boat" – The Lonely Island (feat. T-Pain)

Because let’s be honest…who didn’t think about the day they’d be spending their summers poppin’ bottles on a big-ass boat?
Instead, we were just walking through vacant shell space trying to find the light switch.

This is only a taste of the amazing songs that dropped during the GFC, and to this day I still find a lot of music from this time period in my regular rotation. Shout out to HighYieldHarry on Instagram and X(Twitter) who put together an extensive playlist of bangers from this time period. Check out the spotify playlist here 👇

That’s all for now! I appreciate everyone who’s been part of this community across all the different social media platforms. My goal with this newsletter is to dive deeper into various aspects of the CRE industry, with a focus on the brokerage side. I aim to bring the same levity and reality to these insights as I’ve done with the memes.

If you have any input, feedback, or questions, feel free to reach out. The DMs, emails, and real-life connections have been some of the coolest experiences along this journey.

-CapRateCraig