Are we finally ready to accept that rappers today are way richer than those in the 90s

[BmoreGorilla]

I’m not sure why people are arguing against this. There were relatively few rappers who were actually getting paid lots of bread in the 90s. Now we have rappers who don’t even drop real albums getting 50k just for appearances. As others have pointed out there’s way more avenues for them to get money now. 90s rappers were putting out merch like that. Or getting paid to host parties. There’s also a lot more venues that are hosting hip hop shows now as opposed to the 90s. In the 90s a rapper made money of sales and shows and that’s it for the most part. And many of the venues that hosted shows were literal holes in the wall. I doubt they were getting paid much if anything for those in store appearances where they were signing autographs and shyt. The label set those appearances up on some employer shyt. And travel to these appearances came out the artists budget. Those in store appearances are obsolete now. Not only are there no more spots like Sam Goody but rappers now can just go on IG Live and make an appearance. Everything is different

 

[BmoreGorilla]

These dudes HAVE to charge for appearances. They aren't selling music, so they have to leverage their brand to generate income. 90's artists weren't doing it because they actually saw profit. And the crazy part about all of your posts is none of the info you're stating as fact is supported with proof. Someone asked for receipts of Biggie actually being worth $10 million and it was presented with ease. Nobody's hating.

What you're claiming these new dudes are doing was actually being done in the 90's by independent artists. They didn't have label deals, so they were charging for club appearances, shows, etc. They could demand the fee because they had songs that were big locally, regionally, and in some cases nationally.

Only a select few saw real life changing profit tho. I remember Q Tip saying that after Tribe’s fourth album he was driving a leased Honda Accord. He was in one of the most critically acclaimed groups in the game with a bunch of popular songs yet that’s all he could afford. Now we got dudes leasing exotic whips who only drop mixtapes

 

[Awesome Wells]

Only a select few saw real life changing profit tho. I remember Q Tip saying that after Tribe’s fourth album he was driving a leased Honda Accord. He was in one of the most critically acclaimed groups in the game with a bunch of popular songs yet that’s all he could afford. Now we got dudes leasing exotic whips who only drop mixtapes

Definitely not all he can afford at the time. Tip was driving a Land Rover in '97. I used to see him in that all the time, in Soho. Dude bought a mansion in NJ during that time, and built a crazy studio in there too. He'd done mad production on hit albums and was selling mad records himself.

But it's not about what you drive. I literally know dudes who work part time in the Apple Store and drive BMW's, lol. There are a lot of dudes I know who still live in the projects, who are driving exotic whips. That's kinda normal in NYC. Anyone can leave the lot with a car. It's about whether or not you'll be able to keep it down the line. Or whether your actual net-worth speaks to assets that you've built over time. Not huge debt and liabilities, like exotic cars. In today's game, if you don’t own anything and you're in a 360 trying to recoup an advance for years, you're hustling backwards.

 

[JustCKing]

Only a select few saw real life changing profit tho. I remember Q Tip saying that after Tribe’s fourth album he was driving a leased Honda Accord. He was in one of the most critically acclaimed groups in the game with a bunch of popular songs yet that’s all he could afford. Now we got dudes leasing exotic whips who only drop mixtapes

Q Tip was in a group and had to split his money. And while ATCQ was huge, they weren't necessarily commercial juggernauts out here. They weren't doing Doggystyle or Chronic type numbers.

 

[JustCKing]

I’m not sure why people are arguing against this. There were relatively few rappers who were actually getting paid lots of bread in the 90s. Now we have rappers who don’t even drop real albums getting 50k just for appearances. As others have pointed out there’s way more avenues for them to get money now. 90s rappers were putting out merch like that. Or getting paid to host parties. There’s also a lot more venues that are hosting hip hop shows now as opposed to the 90s. In the 90s a rapper made money of sales and shows and that’s it for the most part. And many of the venues that hosted shows were literal holes in the wall. I doubt they were getting paid much if anything for those in store appearances where they were signing autographs and shyt. The label set those appearances up on some employer shyt. And travel to these appearances came out the artists budget. Those in store appearances are obsolete now. Not only are there no more spots like Sam Goody but rappers now can just go on IG Live and make an appearance. Everything is different

Ya'll keep talking about these guys are getting 50K a show. Put up the proof. If you can't prove that, you're talking a whole bunch of nothing.

 

[BmoreGorilla]

Definitely not all he can afford at the time. Tip was driving a Land Rover in '97. I used to see him in that all the time, in Soho. Dude bought a mansion in NJ during that time, and built a crazy studio in there too. He'd done mad production on hit albums and was selling mad records himself.

But it's not about what you drive. I literally know dudes who work part time in the Apple Store and drive BMW's, lol. There are a lot of dudes I know who still live in the projects, who are driving exotic whips. That's kinda normal in NYC. Anyone can leave the lot with a car. It's about whether or not you'll be able to keep it down the line. Or whether your actual net-worth speaks to assets that you've built over time. Not huge debt and liabilities, like exotic cars. In today's game, if you don’t own anything and you're in a 360 trying to recoup an advance for years, you're hustling backwards.

That makes sense

 

[BmoreGorilla]

Q Tip was in a group and had to split his money. And while ATCQ was huge, they weren't necessarily commercial juggernauts out here. They weren't doing Doggystyle or Chronic type numbers.

Yea but very few rappers were putting up those type of numbers. I saw you mention the Wu earlier and they weren’t putting up those type of numbers either and they had to split up the money even more than Tribe did

 

[JustCKing]

Meth asked because he knows what he was getting and sees what current rappers are spending now, which would not be the case if they were making what he was back then.

Meth in that video said he was getting 25 a show, if you tell any artist with any sort of a buzz 25 for a show they are gonna tell you to get the **** out of their face.

I'll say it again 2pac signed a record deal for bail money in jail, 6ix9ine signed a deal for $8-$13 million in jail.

Meth was getting $25K a show in the 90's. That would be $50k today, so what really is your point.

 

[JustCKing]

Yea but very few rappers were putting up those type of numbers. I saw you mention the Wu earlier and they weren’t putting up those type of numbers either and they had to split up the money even more than Tribe did

You clearly were not here in the 90's. Wu Tang in 1997 was selling a little over 500K in the first week of release of their sophomore album, which sold over 2 million copies overall. Bone Thugs was selling like 3-6 million copies of every album they dropped in the 90's. OutKast was selling 1.5-2 million copies of every album they dropped in the 90's. It was a lot of groups selling a lot of albums in the 90's.

 

[BmoreGorilla]

You clearly were not here in the 90's. Wu Tang in 1997 was selling a little over 500K in the first week of release of their sophomore album, which sold over 2 million copies overall. Bone Thugs was selling like 3-6 million copies of every album they dropped in the 90's. OutKast was selling 1.5-2 million copies of every album they dropped in the 90's. It was a lot of groups selling a lot of albums in the 90's.

I was definitely around in the 90s. I was born in 81


Most rappers weren’t putting up those kinds of numbers which is why so many of them bragged about going gold. Like I said only a select few were selling in the millions consistently. The Wu wasn’t doing that until 97 after they already had a group album and a bunch of solo albums. And none of their albums after that came close to that type of success they had in 97

 

[Maximus Rex]

Meth was getting $25K a show in the 90's. That would be $50k today, so what really is your point.

$50k a show and rappers flying private now at $30k a trip regularly is my point and Meth's point.

 

[JustCKing]

I was definitely around in the 90s. I was born in 81


Most rappers weren’t putting up those kinds of numbers which is why so many of them bragged about going gold. Like I said only a select few were selling in the millions consistently. The Wu wasn’t doing that until 97 after they already had a group album and a bunch of solo albums. And none of their albums after that came close to that type of success they had in 97

A lot of them were though. I would say 1993 and beyond, we saw an influx of rappers just doing crazy numbers that weren't being seen before. Like, The Fugees flopped on their debut and came back two years later and did 6 million. Wyclef and Lauryn did crazy numbers solo. Pac does like 2 mill in 1995 and comes back in 1996 and doubles that. Puffy drops an album and does like 8 mill. Mase does 4 mill. Master P has several local artists selling 500,000- 1 million just because.

 

[Awesome Wells]

You clearly were not here in the 90's. Wu Tang in 1997 was selling a little over 500K in the first week of release of their sophomore album, which sold over 2 million copies overall. Bone Thugs was selling like 3-6 million copies of every album they dropped in the 90's. OutKast was selling 1.5-2 million copies of every album they dropped in the 90's. It was a lot of groups selling a lot of albums in the 90's.

That's actually when people were selling actual records too.

Not this new bullshyt where they're counting streams and calling people "platinum". You had to actually get people to go out and buy your album before. Not play your shyt mad times on a free subscription on an app, lol. People had to want to spend their money on you.

 

[Awesome Wells]

A lot of them were though. I would say 1993 and beyond, we saw an influx of rappers just doing crazy numbers that weren't being seen before. Like, The Fugees flopped on their debut and came back two years later and did 6 million. Wyclef and Lauryn did crazy numbers solo. Pac does like 2 mill in 1995 and comes back in 1996 and doubles that. Puffy drops an album and does like 8 mill. Mase does 4 mill. Master P has several local artists selling 500,000- 1 million just because.

Truth.

That era is when records sold more than any other time in music history. It's when the business was at its peak in revenue and everyone was buying mad albums. People who you didn't even expect to sell, were selling millions of albums, routinely. A million sold meant a million fans. Not a million times played, lol.

 

[JustCKing]

$50k a show and rappers flying private now at $30k a trip regularly is my point and Meth's point.

Do you not hear Meth questioning where they are getting this money from? You really think they out here owning private jets and are generating enough money to support the lifestyle they are portraying?

All this was explained on documentaries they did on artists back in the 2000's. Artists would talk about how the jewelry and the cars were rented and the money they were taking flicks with wasn't even their money.