HIP HOP'S WALL $TREET
From Social Obscurity To America's Most Wanted
by
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“Did Bill Clinton Call You”? (i.e. Referring to a phone call from the Former US President.) An eager sounding Wolf Blitzer, CNN’s senior political analyst and anchor asks a calm looking Sean “P.Diddy” Combs on his involvement in the 2004 U.S presidential election. In a calm smile, he’s reply is “Yes, I have been invited by the Democratic party leadership for support and involvement in influencing the youth to cast their vote in the upcoming 2004 fall elections”.
Urban and hip-hop entertainment moguls in today’s socio-economic environment continue to show maturity and better understanding of the climate in which they are based. Maturity that has seen several of these entrepreneurs become serious global brand figures in their individual rights.
THE PLAYERS…
In late 1999, fortune magazine named a young rapper, called Percy Miller, also known as ‘Master P’ as one of the previous years highest under 40 entertainment industry earners with an estimated entire asset worth of about $320 Million. A monstrous figure considering his sudden rise in the music industry, that saw him start as a street record seller, to mini record storeowner and then to well-known recording artist and high profile entrepreneur. But his rise to fame and mainstream prominence, even though documented ever since, seemed one hell of an amazing story because it saw him create a formidable hip-hop empire without even showing on any mainstream radar or channel. As the techniques he used were of a very savvy nature, also well known in street circles as underground hustling, whereby a recording artist without an official recording contract or binding financial agreement will resort to marketing individual recorded material via underground channels and several personal means such as selling to the public from the trunk of a vehicle etc (- practice mostly familiar with several earlier artists), knowing that such a technique was getting him minor returns, he worked on creating raw gangsta anthem theme recordings, as a vacuum he sensed, had been left open after several controversial and dramatic events saw several figures, especially legendary gangsta rap producers like Dr Dre finally switch away from gangsta rap’s potent notoriety, therefore his entry into this potent platform, saw him fill out a hunger in the wider hip-hop market for raw and hedonistic violent material, that will subsequently see him score big in the way of high volume sale numbers as he adroitly produced album after album, packed with the most basic raw-edged violent lyrics, and despite lacking any real lyrical skill or talents within his camp, he still found the right formula for heightened success as he more than any one else, knew exactly what was lacking at the time of his entry, and thus gave his audience exactly what they wanted. With independent record labels later squabbling amongst each other to get him on their dotted lines. He came up with an idea that will involve splitting marketing rights on all his material. A move highly unprecedented in most recording industry circles, he finally got his way with Priority Records, thereby entering into almost equal partnership on all his own material between his record label, called No-limit Records and Priority.
Today, he remains a classic example of hip-hop’s recent transformation and penetration into full commercial and mainstream circles, as he’s personal brand image extends into movie production, fashion and sports apparel design and other lifestyle product’s, while also creating several joint partnerships with a number of corporate concerns.
Branding partnerships and product imaging have not always been held exclusively to urban musical artists. In fact, branding endorsements and partnerships have been the bedrock of mainly athletes and some mainstream pop or rock music celebrities for several decades. The attractiveness factor is what has increased the interest from athletes and now to hip-hop musical artist’s from across the board by the brand owners. The selling strength stems primarily from the almost extraordinary response that the entire musical genre as a whole continues to receive, especially in recent times.
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About the Book
“Hip Hop’s Wall $treet” is a documented journey, depicting the rise of this musical genre that some once called a mere fad, or a short-term delinquent phase held in a much wider juvenile behaviour. However, this same inner city cultural phenomenon that has since transformed itself from its musical base to a far more active presence, in several aspects of wider consumer entertainment and lifestyle structures, has in the process corrupted a multitude of its followers with its trend setting prowess that can be deemed as negative, as well as positive all at the same time.
And the book also shows how this contemporary and multifaceted musical art form in all its glory should forever be perceived as being a classic example of mainstream Americanism, that looks set to uphold several commercially ideal values from within a highly complex environment.
About the Author
Julian ‘Chucky’ Okere remains a true and spirited fan of hip-hop and urban culture in its most wide and diverse context. A graduate in Business Economics with International Business, he has since his younger years built up an interest well rooted within hip-hop’s many platforms and cultures, especially with the genre’s recent image as Urban Inner-city America’s most prolific marketing and business leader, remaining the one crucial calling that has exposed this highly inspiration-led passion.