I'm Mad

This week I have had several conversations about old school Hip-Hop artists. Legends dismissed by hipster writers whose Hip-Hop credentials are questionable at best. Old school artists performing in front of blank faces. The rare legend who gets the respect he actually deserves. And super bitter old schooler who won’t do an interview without some paper.

As annoying and honestly pathetic as the bitter old schooler can be I can understand his/her feelings. Every time they turn on BET or MTV they must be pissed off to the nth degree. Every episode of Cribs or The Fabulous Life… must be a 180 degree turn of the knife. I can only imagine they screaming at the TV “HOW THE F*** DID THESE GUYS BECOME MILLIONAIRES”

The Hip-Hop millionaire mogul/artist/actor/model is ubiquitous these days, but back in the 80’s, the era of Cold Crush, Fantastic 4, and the Treacherous 3, a Hip-Hop millionaire was as far fetched as the cow jumping over the moon. Cats like Kool Moe Dee could barely leave their day job let alone start their own corporation. Except for a few trailblazers, Hip-Hop was not a full time job. For many today that is still the case but the difference there was no role model. Back then - no Jay-Z, no Block, no Puff, no Bobbito, no Steve Stoute, no El-P. Many of these guys were happy to do a show on the weekend and maybe get a royalty check once record labels entered the picture.

So the question I have is when did the paradigm shift?
What was the tipping point that opened the door for Hip-Hop millionaires?

As I said on the Swift Chancellor Report this is a book idea. I am gonna plant the seeds here and sign a 20 figure book deal to flush out the idea.

Here are some ideas as to what was the straw that broke the camel’s collective back:

Kurtis Blow signing to Mercury. First Hip-Hop artist signed to a major

The Beastie Boys – the board room realizes there is a white Hip-Hop audience. A critically respected and good white group puts the machine at ease and opens up new marketing tools and means of distribution. In turn opens up the money.

True Hip-Hop Pop records. ‘Rapper’s Delight’ was the 1st Hip-Pop record but it wasn’t until Vanilla Ice, Young MC, Tone Loc and your man Hammer that Hip-Hop really crossed over and began indoctrinating the casual music consumer.

Post Civil Rights children unafraid to become entrepreneurs. Puff, Jay, Dame and Russell grew up in a post- Civil Rights, integrated world where they were constantly taught to never settle for inequality. When they became professionals they were not satisfied with just a good job. There were the new entrepreneur who wanted more than a local mom and pop, they wanted to run a multinational just like the kid in private school they played dodge ball with. Then they broke through the glass ceiling.

The internet boom. The boom of the 90’s simply put so much disposable money in people’s pockets that the emergence of the Hip-Hop millionaire was a function of economics

MTV. MTV’s embrace of Hip-Hop in the 80’s and specifically YO! MTV Raps opened up the world to Hip-Hop and artists simply collected the money from all the new customers.

It was a function of time. Grandmaster Caz, Bam, Herc, and Charlie Chase were so far ahead of the curve it took time for the rest of the world and the money to catch up. The innovators rarely reap the financial benefits. Who has more money on the digital distribution of music, Shawn Fanning or Steve Jobs?


Till next time…