What the point of making a career out of being a rapper if you just gonna........

[TheKing203]

my bad. i guess i should have said learn from your grandmother, and take the dick out of your mouth before you talk.

lamo you wastin your time.Jokes corny.I dont give a fuck if you diss my family nigga steady talkin about dicks and shit.Faggot

 

[birdcall89]

lamo you wastin your time.Jokes corny.I dont give a fuck if you diss my family nigga steady talkin about dicks and shit.Faggot

cool.

what is black purple and yellow? your mom going to church.

how do you stop the million man march? tell your grandmother to close her legs.

how do you know your little sister sucks dick? her lips are moving.

you know what the hardest 3 years of your baby mommas life were? 3rd grade.

why were there only 2 pallbearers at your kids funeral? cuz theres only 2 handles on a trash can.

 

[a_list]

wow yo this is crazy..if this is a job what is an underground rapper can scrape up 100k a year is that bad?

 

[TheKing203]

cool.

what is black purple and yellow? your mom going to church.

how do you stop the million man march? tell your grandmother to close her legs.

how do you know your little sister sucks dick? her lips are moving.

you know what the hardest 3 years of your baby mommas life were? 3rd grade.

why were there only 2 pallbearers at your kids funeral? cuz theres only 2 handles on a trash can.

lmao nigga your jokes make me laugh.Keep going

 

[birdcall89]

lmao nigga your jokes make me laugh.Keep going

lol i got a blunt that needs smoked, but next time. peace.

 

[a_list]

not that many of them niggaz bringin in that income tho.

lol dog u kno they accountant or something?

 

[finboy]

a few points to make:

1. Some people make art for the sake of the art itself, not for the money. Some people have 9-5's, but still want to create something and put their stamp on a particular artform and are not motivated by money to do it. What's happening in hip hop is no different that what's happening in other genres of music. You'll be hard pressed to find classic jazz styles on the radio, but the airwaves have no shortage of "Smooth Jazz" stations that won't touch a John Coltrain, Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis or the like. There's "dance music" stations that'll play progressive, trance, and "dance remixes" of popular songe, but won't play Detroit Techno, Chicago House, or anything like that. Often, artists that get no radio play, irregardless or genere, find success on the road, especially overseas where there's an appreciation for original, creative music. Jazz musicians, Underground MC's, and Techno/House DJ's all make theirs on the road.

2. Ever since the Telcom Act of 1996 passed, radio station ownership has gone from independent stations in every market to every station owned by either Clear Channel, Radio One, or Emmis Communications. Before the bill passed, a radio station's programming director made the bulk of the decisions as to what got played on the station and what didn't, with DJ's having the ability to break records they though would do well in that listening area. It wasn't uncommon for a local rapper to cut a 12" single and hand deliver it to the DJ's at a given station, chop it up with them for a bit, and minutes after they've walked out of the building have their single being played during prime time. Right now, this will almost NEVER happen. Station programming is usually decided by a regional manager and the playlist is sent to the DJ's to spin. Deviation from that playlist can often result in termination at many stations unless the show specifically calls for it and it's arranged and approved ahead of time (i.e. morning or afternoon commute mix segments by in-house DJ's).

3. To get inclusion in a regions playlist, record labels pay an Indie promoter to push a song to the regional directors and offer "gifts" to the stations under that individual (sometimes being able to work directly with the station itself). This has gotten labels in a ton of trouble in the last few years, but even with court rulings and fines, the practice known as "payola" continues as a way of doing business. Because "underground" rappers are usually on smaller labels, they can't get the same exposure because their label can't afford to pay an Indie to get spins, sometimes opting to go the college radio route.

There's a lot more to it, but in a nutshell this is why more gifted rappers aren't on the radio.

this post brings the truth

 

[tp3]

Back that up a bit... Detroit's Esham has been a millionaire for years and has NEVER had a song on the radio outside the city of Detroit (and even then he only had one official single at that). Dude STAYS touring, and sells about 100K per release (he has 18-20 releases in total, EP's and group projects included). Dude stays caked up.

Right now, Hot Rod from out here in AZ is forever touring off of TWO singles... FUCKIN TWO SONGS!!! Duke ain't got swollen pockets, but he's eatin swell from his tour money.

You do realize that $2500 a week is $130K a year... right??? That's some nice change right there for a single dude.

Bruh if you think esham is a millionaire and sells 100k per release you're sadly mistaken and really don't know how this game works. Do u really understand what it takes to be a millionaire off of rap? Waaay more than u probably think. Any artist doin those kind of Indy numbers woulda been snatched up by a major. You just can't do those type of numbers and not have crazy bidding wars goin on, especially in this climate.

If you read my post again I was referring to some road manager makng up to $2500 a week as opposed to artist barely makin it living off their advances. It was also yo show how the artist (unless ur a superstar) usual makes less than the "service providers" in the industry. Also that amount only pertains to how long the artist is on the road not for the whole year. So say the artist is in LA for 3 months recording their album the road manager only gets paid for those three months. I witnessed this happen countless times.

Im just tryna lend my experience actually in the industry and not on the sideline lookin in. My biggest piece of advice would be that this rap shit ain't what it's portrayed to be.

 

[DarkRaiden]

Reality is that 99% of underground artist are broke or not making any money in rap. Even the ones you think are making money aren't. Shit 90% of the signed artist are broke and not making money. Dont believe the hype. Fact is that anyone in 2010 thats tryna make a living off rap is a damn fool. Aint no money in the game anymore and this is comin from someone in the industry (warner bros). Shit is bad. Underground artist should get jobs and degrees so that they can have somethin to supplement their income while doing music on the SIDE. Doin shows and selling mixtapes aint bringin in the type of money you think it is. There are only a handful of artist in the game that are gettin good show money. The rest are gettin chump change especially after everyone else is paid. Most independent artist wish they were making $75k a year. Don't believe the facade that the industry has put before you.

As far as the radio is concerned its all political. Really the only music that gets played is the music that is serviced to stations from labels. Everything else will most likely not get thru the red tape. The "big 4" controls radio and every other media platform that deals with music. That's why as soon as any signed artist releases a new song its automatically hits the radio no mater how wack it might be and those artist are on every talk show, radio show, web show, etc.. Its all run by the radio execs at each label, down to the program director. DJ's have NO control whatsoever, they play what they are told to play. The only time Dj's have a say is in mix shows, and those are only for an hour each day so that really doesn't reach people. DJ's dont break records anymore...shit nobody breaks records. The whole "breaking records" is done. A record doesn't have to be broke is all you have to do is pay PD's and club, mixtape, artist DJ's to force feed it to the masses. The shits all fucked up and I honestly dont see it getting better anytime soon.

Choose another career.

My two cents

Your 2 cents, are waaay off. Underground rappers make cake, much more than regular people. It's called shows and tours. Album sells don't bring in much money unless you're independent anyways. Majors offer whack deals like 10 cents per album. Not much of a profit is it? People like Canibus, who most think are broke, ae thriving along with other perceived poor rappers like Buddens, Mos, and Nas. They know how to make money, they are intelligent and obviously wouldn't rap if it didn;t bring in money.

The truth of the matter is alot of those niggas aren't marketable and can't make hit records. If you have that certain something, your music will find some way to cross over anyways.

Not true at all. Do you know what politics are? They're the reason Royce wasn't signed for years, yet Em, who has admitted Royce is better, sells 20 mil. Also the reason Canibus is unrecognized in the mainstream. Marketability have nigh nothing to do with it.

Bruh if you think esham is a millionaire and sells 100k per release you're sadly mistaken and really don't know how this game works. Do u really understand what it takes to be a millionaire off of rap? Waaay more than u probably think. Any artist doin those kind of Indy numbers woulda been snatched up by a major. You just can't do those type of numbers and not have crazy bidding wars goin on, especially in this climate.

If you read my post again I was referring to some road manager makng up to $2500 a week as opposed to artist barely makin it living off their advances. It was also yo show how the artist (unless ur a superstar) usual makes less than the "service providers" in the industry. Also that amount only pertains to how long the artist is on the road not for the whole year. So say the artist is in LA for 3 months recording their album the road manager only gets paid for those three months. I witnessed this happen countless times.

Im just tryna lend my experience actually in the industry and not on the sideline lookin in. My biggest piece of advice would be that this rap shit ain't what it's portrayed to be.

It actually doesn't take that much to be a millionare off of rap considering, that when independent, you don't have companies raping your check and dictating your actions. Say you make 10,000 a show and do 2-3 shows a week, multiply it by 52 weeks in a year and that's more than 100 shows and more than a million dollars. Or do 4 shows a week for 20 weeks a year is still 800,000 in one year, save up and you're a millionare next year. It's simple math and investing skills. I don't know which one of you are right since non of you provided sources, but it's definintely possible.

 

[white715]

Niggas ain't broke they might not make 10s of millions of dollars butniggas ain't on foodstamps. Between they sales and they touring they making atleast 100,000 especially if they independent.

Plus you gotta look at it like this alot of commercial rappers don't have loya fanbases while artists who actually stays true to the culture and themselves can tour around the world because they have a cult following.

 

[motrilla]

underground mc's do get gwap i once heard max b in an interview when jim jones was dissing him say "so what i'm only making $2900 a show i do 4 or 5 a week add that shit up"

even with his travel expenses that's a pretty good living

 

[tp3]

Your 2 cents, are waaay off. Underground rappers make cake, much more than regular people. It's called shows and tours. Album sells don't bring in much money unless you're independent anyways. Majors offer whack deals like 10 cents per album. Not much of a profit is it? People like Canibus, who most think are broke, ae thriving along with other perceived poor rappers like Buddens, Mos, and Nas. They know how to make money, they are intelligent and obviously wouldn't rap if it didn;t bring in money.

Not true at all. Do you know what politics are? They're the reason Royce wasn't signed for years, yet Em, who has admitted Royce is better, sells 20 mil. Also the reason Canibus is unrecognized in the mainstream. Marketability have nigh nothing to do with it.

It actually doesn't take that much to be a millionare off of rap considering, that when independent, you don't have companies raping your check and dictating your actions. Say you make 10,000 a show and do 2-3 shows a week, multiply it by 52 weeks in a year and that's more than 100 shows and more than a million dollars. Or do 4 shows a week for 20 weeks a year is still 800,000 in one year, save up and you're a millionare next year. It's simple math and investing skills. I don't know which one of you are right since non of you provided sources, but it's definintely possible.

Bruh its obvious your have no clue what you're talkin about or any experience in the industry. Everything you just posted is some ridiculous fairy tale shit. You're exactly why a million new rappers pop up everyday cuz they've all been brainwashed as badly as you.

A lot of skewed perceptions of reality in this thread.

 

[a.mann]

they dont play their shyt on the radio because they dont make radio friednly music.If they want to get radio play they have to make a radio friendly single.They know what they have to do to get play on the radio but they dont do it cus they dont want to "sellout".Im not dissing underground rap im just sayin why they tryin to make a career out of it if they just gonna stay broke

why can't an artist make music that'll be accepted by what it is ........oppose to purposely trying to please the general masses?

And who makes "radio friendly" music?

With that...is it fair to say that these artists that make radio friendly music are fake and have no identity? Is a person like this is to be

to praised and respected?

 

[konceptjones]

Bruh if you think esham is a millionaire and sells 100k per release you're sadly mistaken and really don't know how this game works. Do u really understand what it takes to be a millionaire off of rap? Waaay more than u probably think. Any artist doin those kind of Indy numbers woulda been snatched up by a major. You just can't do those type of numbers and not have crazy bidding wars goin on, especially in this climate.

If you read my post again I was referring to some road manager makng up to $2500 a week as opposed to artist barely makin it living off their advances. It was also yo show how the artist (unless ur a superstar) usual makes less than the "service providers" in the industry. Also that amount only pertains to how long the artist is on the road not for the whole year. So say the artist is in LA for 3 months recording their album the road manager only gets paid for those three months. I witnessed this happen countless times.

Im just tryna lend my experience actually in the industry and not on the sideline lookin in. My biggest piece of advice would be that this rap shit ain't what it's portrayed to be.

dawg, Esham's releases DO sell that much. He hasn't been snatched up my a major because he's always owned the label he was on (Reel Life Productions) and has released only two albums outside of his own label (on Psycopathic, home of ICP). Reel Life had a distribution deal with TVT, which died when TVT folded. He's still droppin albums and his fanbase buys them blindly. His label was once home to Kool Keith and The Dayton Family, which only added fans.

I DO know how it works, I had once structured my own label in the mid 90's and did so much research into running a label that I know the shit like the back of my hand.

 

[Meet The Sniper]

Stay underground and avoid going mainstream?Because underground rappers that are super lyrical trying to kick knowledge are usually broke as fuck.Some people dont realize being a rapper is a job and whats the point of working so hard on your music if you gonna stay broke?I like underground hip hop but i wonder how these niggas are eatin cus they barely gettin paid.

What im prety much sayin is if a nigga want to stay an underground rapper they minus well use it as a part time job not a career chocie.If you tryin to make a career off bein a rapper you need to be a business man,make singles,be in movies or something or you just wasting your time

Music is art. Have some fuckin integrity.

So all rappers should just want to rape the industry for cash.

Rap musicians shouldn't want to treat their art as art because they wouldn't make as much as if they're whores?

Besides ALL MC's short of multiplat artists make their bread and water from TOURING. Check out Seattle group Blue Scholars. They're the anti-thesis of this entire thread.

1. They rep Seattle. (Small audience)

2. They're concious (Small target Audience)

3. They talk socio-economic shit of Philipino people (Even smaller audience)

Yet they tour in Seattle, Hawaii, Alaska and Cali. They make a living of their music, they have fun and enjoy life.

You'd think that would be all that matters.

 

[konceptjones]

Music is art. Have some fuckin integrity.

So all rappers should just want to rape the industry for cash.

Rap musicians shouldn't want to treat their art as art because they wouldn't make as much as if they're whores?

Besides ALL MC's short of multiplat artists make their bread and water from TOURING. Check out Seattle group Blue Scholars. They're the anti-thesis of this entire thread.

1. They rep Seattle. (Small audience)

2. They're concious (Small target Audience)

3. They talk socio-economic shit of Philipino people (Even smaller audience)

Yet they tour in Seattle, Hawaii, Alaska and Cali. They make a living of their music, they have fun and enjoy life.

You'd think that would be all that matters.

Blue Scholars are dope, same for Common Market (another Seattle based socio conscious group)

 

[NothingButTheTruth]

I always thought the radio had to support the music not the other way around. I hate that outlook that rappers "have" to make "radio friendly" music. Do we all forget that mainstream radio/music industry shit on Hiphop for many years before it realized the money it could make by exploiting it? Radio stations dont say "that's some good music let's play it"...some label exec goes to a CEO of a station and says, "here's 10g's take your mistress to the bahamas for a week...oh and make sure you play Laffey Taffy twice every hour for the next 2-3 months"

This........................

 

[TMonroe]

It's laughable how some of you "ASSUME" these underground rappers are broke. Trust me, they are anything but broke. It's not about what you sell, it's about what you sign. 90% business 10% everything else. As an artist myself, I know this. You guys think just because these dudes are on a major, and went platinum, that they automatically reap the benefits of it. No they don't. Not only do they have bad deals, they don't recoupe, so the label doesn't break even on what they spent to build and promote those so-called platinum+ rich and famous rappers.

They are heavily in debut and make NO money off all the hype, airplay, and rotation they get. They front like they're rich. Let me put it this way. You guys call these rappers fake, when it comes to their street cred or having a hood/criminal background. But, you believe them about their money and that they are rich because they sold records? They lying to you about that too homie. Those platinum+ rappers are the ones that are broke. They're the ones that rent a lifestyle for a week. The underground rappers are not the embarassment. The famous, platinum selling, blew up ones are. The underground rappers are not the liablity to the record labels. The platinum ones are. Because that is their investment.

I don't even need to go on. All I'm going to say is, the underground rappers are surviving and living pretty damn comfortable, in a dying music industry.

 

[konceptjones]

It's laughable how some of you "ASSUME" these underground rappers are broke. Trust me, they are anything but broke. It's not about what you sell, it's about what you sign. 90% business 10% everything else. As an artist myself, I know this. You guys think just because these dudes are on a major, and went platinum, that they automatically reap the benefits of it. No they don't. Not only do they have bad deals, they don't recoupe, so the label doesn't break even on what they spent to build and promote those so-called platinum+ rich and famous rappers.

They are heavily in debut and make NO money off all the hype, airplay, and rotation they get. They front like they're rich. Let me put it this way. You guys call these rappers fake, when it comes to their street cred or having a hood/criminal background. But, you believe them about their money and that they are rich because they sold records? They lying to you about that too homie. Those platinum+ rappers are the ones that are broke. They're the ones that rent a lifestyle for a week. The underground rappers are not the embarassment. The famous, platinum selling, blew up ones are. The underground rappers are not the liablity to the record labels. The platinum ones are. Because that is their investment.

I don't even need to go on. All I'm going to say is, the underground rappers are surviving and living pretty damn comfortable, in a dying music industry.

@ bolded:

All any of you have to do is take a look at MTV Cribs. The vast majority of rappers on there that are flossin' large homes, exotic cars and shit are RENTING THEM... Sometimes just for the day they shoot the episode. Most of the time, the label owns or rents out the house for them to live in. There's very few rappers you're gonna see on Cribs that actually own any of what they show off. Ja Rule, 50 Cent (early in his career), and Bow Wow are just three cats that got caught renting shit and claiming it as their own.

most of them are just as fake as the bodies and coke they rap about.

 

[InMyLifeTime91]

Some rapper's dont try to go mainstream because they are content with makeing the music they like, and that their REAL fans like and respect them for. Not every rapper feel like he has to do what everyone else is doing, same beats, same videos, and all that shit. And even underground rappers like Talib Kweli, Mos Def, J. Cole, Common aren't broke becuase like other rappers, they have a solid fan base that will sell out their concerts when they come to their citys. When everyone follows the same formula the shit gets boring, thats why when NaS said hip-hop was dead, its cuz he was right. at the time, everyone was makein the same music but now it seems like they are not scared to be themselves anymore and be creative. im not a big fan of Ross, Wayne N Gucci n them niggas but hiphop needs rappers like them just as much as they need rappers like NaS, J. Cole, Wale. i think that the labels, radio, and televeision are the ones creating the animosity between hiphop fans, becuase they refuse to release albums, play songs or videos of certain artist because they arent following the formula and those rappers fans get mad about the shit. so why not go mainstream? becuase you dont have to.