Is there a way to be a part of hiphop culture without being involved with the streets?

[KENNY DA COOKER]

He summed it up.

A lot of drug dealers are funding up and coming rap careers to get their hands on music money

A lot of clubs you perform at are run by drug dealers and the promoters are backed by drug money

It's inevitable

.

This is the biggest MYTH (misconception) that street cats enter the music game to seek a FORTUNE

real Informed street cats know the profit margin in ENTERTAINMENT specifically rap is relatively low

Yes u can clean up some bread.... particularly in show promotion..or even "blend" it as Murder Inc was doing with its Def Jam distribution deal.....

But it doesn't make sense for a street car to seek MONEY in the music game cause their is NO FUKKING DOUGH IN THIS GAME as my business patnah said on many occasions

The Jews and Euro "gangstas" are always the only ones eating..while the ethnic street cats only get scraps

Which is why him (my business partner) and many of his street peers kept Thier "DAY JOB" while making moves in the music game....

The Flenorys...the Kato's..the Harry Os all kept revenue flowing from other sources cause the music game wasn't a reliable income stream

 

[Guvnor]

He summed it up.

A lot of drug dealers are funding up and coming rap careers to get their hands on music money

A lot of clubs you perform at are run by drug dealers and the promoters are backed by drug money

It's inevitable

Yeah but to think even someone like Cyhi who though he is not untalented, he is not Kanye level big and even he had to deal with it. That to me is a big surpise.

Without a cosign from the streets you will.never be respected in hiphop

True but even not in hiphop in the enterainment industry period I'm learning you got to deal with some shady people. shyt is crazy.

Everybody HAS to go through this is what I realised because it's an UNREGULATED INDUSTRY...

so basically anything goes...

We smoke weed in studios and mixtape parties and events without fear of reprisals...

We don't report the majority of our income to the IRS

We create and enforce contracts with no fair or legal.. arbitration

We can cross train in all aspects ..management .. promotion.... recording...sales with no conflict of Intrest

So the Entertainment Business is basically a GANGSTAZ PARADISE and has been that way since it's Inception



Can't blame the BMFs and Suge Knights for something that has preceded them for decades

Cyhi told no lies......

U either get GANGSTA when it.comes to this business or get GOT

I remember when my business partner first decided to move our operations to ATL during the early 2gs ...

After we had got some momentum with some shows and placements and managed to get the attention of WEA (Warner) ...btw FUKK CRAIG KALLMAN

When we arrived we hit all the spots for networking and my ceo partner had a meeting with one of the Atlanta urban stations...

First thing he said after exiting that meeting and assessing our activities in ATL was...

"We gon need some Muscle!"

And he wasn't just talking financial muscle ...

It was pretty clear that relationships would have to be formed with bosses of the city if we expected to eat much less survive in the game....

To sum it up...

Relationships mean EVERYTHING...

Dang, its that bad to where folks dont even report bread to the Irs. No wonder label folks fear the feds so bad and auditing, they know they ain't reporting all their income lmao. I always thought if their doing nothing wrong it should be no issues but thats crazy. I mean Cyhi even spoke on how nikkas shed blood all behind his business dealings. I also cant believe you said there is no fair and legal arbitration for these deals either. With all the bread in the industry they cant solve those issues at least . Thanks for sharing some of your experiences as well fam.

It's a real shame dudes cant just rap,do business and make money so they can give back to the hood and put some up for their family. Maybe even get things set up so they can have a union or pension for rap artist who didnt really get to eat due to bad deals they took in their prime.

 

[Mowgli]

Yeah but to think even someone like Cyhi who though he is not untalented, he is not Kanye level big and even he had to deal with it. That to me is a big surpise.



True but even not in hiphop in the enterainment industry period I'm learning you got to deal with some shady people. shyt is crazy.



Dang, its that bad to where folks dont even report bread to the Irs. No wonder label folks fear the feds so bad and auditing, they know they ain't reporting all their income lmao. I always thought if their doing nothing wrong it should be no issues but thats crazy. I mean Cyhi even spoke on how nikkas shed blood all behind his business dealings. I also cant believe you said there is no fair and legal arbitration for these deals either. With all the bread in the industry they cant solve those issues at least . Thanks for sharing some of your experiences as well fam.

It's a real shame dudes cant just rap,do business and make money so they can give back to the hood and put some up for their family. Maybe even get things set up so they can have a union or pension for rap artist who didnt really get to eat due to bad deals they took in their prime.

The artist is a hoe. What do gorilla pimps do when a rival tries to steal their best hoe

 

[Guvnor]

The artist is a hoe. What do gorilla pimps do when a rival tries to steal their best hoe

They wild out and will kill if they have to keep the money flowing to them but the thing is it shouldnt be like that.

 

[ridedolo]

Not true.....

Michael Jackson rolled with Frank Dileo to get Michael Franceze off his azz

Teddy Pendergrass and Patti Labelle were being held down by Philly Black Mafia

Anita Baker solo debut was bankrolled by Freeway Ricky Ross

New Edition and Bobby Brown were first protected by Suge whom was working for Al Haymon during the 80s on the tour circuit

Fats Waller had performed for Al Capone after being held at gunpoint

Even Tyler Perry is being exposed by an ATL gangsta whom bankrolled him

The list goes on and on.....in fact their probably was more R&B and Blues and Jazz cats whom were affiliated with gangstas than rappers....

Because r&b reached its heights during the age when the mafia had I restricted POWER

interesting that they even touched on this dynamic on the sopranos. that old jew hesh that was close to tonys family made his money in the record industry in the 60s..specifically working with black talent

 

[Indiglow Meta (R$G)]

As much as I thought so during youth, in my naive idealistic "real hip hop" years....NAH.
You need the backing of more than one moneyed forceful agent before thinking about investing in a music career.
What you know about Violator having a system of tents....Back in 2001...that management company is also named after a gang.
We're not even going to get into Jews, Persians, and gay middle aged Black men.
Each group has more than one mafia, and they RUN music

 

[Indiglow Meta (R$G)]

He from houston though which is very hood lol. Which makes you wonder if maybe he paying someone or just got genuine respect like that.



You get exactly what I'm trying to say. I mean why can't someone who is from the streets just tell there story, make music and move forward in life. Come back the hood and build with the people without being pressured to have to give their money to some OG or something. If anything the OGs and whatn ot should look out for them and have there back cause they made it out the hood and are doing well for themselves.

I mean even Snoop had folks from LBC trying to discredit him and put their hands in his pocket and he put on for his hood heavy...



Though a lot of these OG's would never go after white artist or artist not from the culture.

Even in white culture though the mobsters made sure their got their cut if you was a construction company because they owned a lot of sanitation companies and in construction many times you would need a dumpster. They owned bricks companies and things like too so you always had to deal with them.

In a lot of business there is unions like teamsters that cared about getting their cut of money too.

White OGs like Whitey Bulger, the Hell's Angels, and ALBANIANS do it to cacs, who have heavier drug habits and gayer shyt to blackmail.
You're unaware and recycling a dumb point from an armchair fan perspective. Why the fukk would crakkkas allow A FEW black men to run a racket they started... before rap was thought of?

 

[Indiglow Meta (R$G)]

OP you fail to realize THE REAL GANGSTERS are wearing the three piece suites and sit in luxury offices...

Not on the blocks with Bandanas and "sticks"....

Chance The rapper and Childish Gambino signed with Hollywood agents with a history darker than the CIA ....

Chance's boss CARA LEWIS

Has been the most feared woman in the music game since the days of Eric B whom she represented.....

She started with the CAA firm outta Hollywood under Mike Ovitz who was notorious for his violent outbursts and threats....


In October 1989, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who’d just sold “Basic Instinct” for a record $3 million, accused Ovitz of threatening to destroy his career if he left CAA. Miller reports that Ovitz allegedly said, “My foot soldiers who go up and down Wilshire Boulevard each day will blow your brains out.”

This is the same Ovitz whom started with the William Morris Agency which is representing Childish Gambino....

FBI has had WMA on its radar since the 7Os when it was clear that they were basically a front for the GENOVESE family

Check this organised crime report from 2000 about Childish Gambino boss:

Law-enforcement officials point to superagent Lee Salomon of the William Morris Agency as being linked to a top Genovese captain named James (Jimmy Nap) Napoli. In the late 1960s, at a time when the government was bugging the talent agency's Manhattan office, Salomon was arranging for Napoli's wife Jeanne, an unknown singer, to get star billing for her nightclub act.

Since then, the agent has represented the likes of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Julio Iglesias, Tony Orlando and Jackie Mason. "The stars are victims more than co-conspirators," maintains a Mafia investigator. "In order to work, they have to cooperate."


OP You are racially brainwashed into thinking it's the negroes and Latinos and the streets you got to fear..when in reality these Jews and Italians and Russians make the Crips and bloods look like church choirs.,

And they don't care where or how they get Thier money..these mobster like agents don't give a fukk about Woke Culture lol

Hell they were the ones PIMPING the Public Enemies and the Xclans in the 80s and 90s

So it's Childish to think or assume some black artists can avoid the corporate Gambinos

cause they ALL GETTING EXTORTED.....

That last bit is a BAR...and I'm keeping it

 

[Guvnor]

White OGs like Whitey Bulger, the Hell's Angels, and ALBANIANS do it to cacs, who have heavier drug habits and gayer shyt to blackmail.
You're unaware and recycling a dumb point from an armchair fan perspective. Why the fukk would crakkkas allow A FEW black men to run a racket they started... before rap was thought of?

What? Where did I say white people would let black people run things? What are you reffering too, at the end of the day I just posed a question because of the fact you have both gangsters in the street and even gangsters who play the corporate game and pretty much run things and I was just curious if one could be in rap without dealing with them.

As for rap, we could have owned it if we didn't let the labels own the masters and did tings ourselves, independent. We invested in our selves and even had the gangsters in the streets invest in it but made sure we owned it, much like the mob do with their shyt like gambling and etc. but more fairer and to empower our people. That battle was lost a long time ago though.

 

[brick james]

Everybody HAS to go through this is what I realised because it's an UNREGULATED INDUSTRY...

so basically anything goes...

We smoke weed in studios and mixtape parties and events without fear of reprisals...

We don't report the majority of our income to the IRS

We create and enforce contracts with no fair or legal.. arbitration

We can cross train in all aspects ..management .. promotion.... recording...sales with no conflict of Intrest

So the Entertainment Business is basically a GANGSTAZ PARADISE and has been that way since it's Inception



Can't blame the BMFs and Suge Knights for something that has preceded them for decades

Cyhi told no lies......

U either get GANGSTA when it.comes to this business or get GOT

I remember when my business partner first decided to move our operations to ATL during the early 2gs ...

After we had got some momentum with some shows and placements and managed to get the attention of WEA (Warner) ...btw FUKK CRAIG KALLMAN

When we arrived we hit all the spots for networking and my ceo partner had a meeting with one of the Atlanta urban stations...

First thing he said after exiting that meeting and assessing our activities in ATL was...

"We gon need some Muscle!"

And he wasn't just talking financial muscle ...

It was pretty clear that relationships would have to be formed with bosses of the city if we expected to eat much less survive in the game....

To sum it up...

Relationships mean EVERYTHING...

But this isn't even some real gangster shyt going on in the music industry, this is just what happens in a relatively unregulated industry, and is the same in every single industry in the developing area. This is just business 101 in developing areas. First things first, you and your family have to be completely protected so no one can leverage your personal safety. Most people in the music industry can't simply go into hiding or move in the shadows like many international businessmen, so instead of paying the cost of being surrounded by ex-mossad agents and having top tier security, its much cheaper, and thus easier to deal with organized crime. I do, and have done business in many third world places, and after much thought and deliberation, its much easier to just deal with organized crime then it is to have to pay private security, even if it stings my pride a little bit.

 

[brick james]

What? Where did I say white people would let black people run things? What are you reffering too, at the end of the day I just posed a question because of the fact you have both gangsters in the street and even gangsters who play the corporate game and pretty much run things and I was just curious if one could be in rap without dealing with them.

As for rap, we could have owned it if we didn't let the labels own the masters and did tings ourselves, independent. We invested in our selves and even had the gangsters in the streets invest in it but made sure we owned it, much like the mob do with their shyt like gambling and etc. but more fairer and to empower our people. That battle was lost a long time ago though.

Of course you could be in rap without dealing with them, if you have the proper personal security, and are willing to work much harder for the same level of success as a person with ties entrenched in the music industry. I think most people will make the calculation that its much easier to deal with gangsters than it is to go it alone in spite of them or against them.

 

[Indiglow Meta (R$G)]

What? Where did I say white people would let black people run things? What are you reffering too, at the end of the day I just posed a question because of the fact you have both gangsters in the street and even gangsters who play the corporate game and pretty much run things and I was just curious if one could be in rap without dealing with them.

As for rap, we could have owned it if we didn't let the labels own the masters and did tings ourselves, independent. We invested in our selves and even had the gangsters in the streets invest in it but made sure we owned it, much like the mob do with their shyt like gambling and etc. but more fairer and to empower our people. That battle was lost a long time ago though.

The first rap label was black owned and CORRUPT.
Better read up on them Robinsons.

 

[KENNY DA COOKER]

The first rap label was black owned and CORRUPT.
Better read up on them Robinsons.

Corrupt..YES

Black Owned.. NO

The Robinson's funded Sugarhill Records with a high intrest "loan" from mafioso affiliate Morris Levy who landed Sugarhill it's distribution deal with the Mob controlled MCA Records headed by Irv Azoff aka "The Evil Leprechaun"

Azoff once plotted to have Al Sharpton whacked when it was revealed Al was an FBI informant who was helping the Feds investigation into MCA and its extortion payola schemes such as it's strongarming of Sharpton's friend Joe Robinson and the Sugarhill Family...

Which got shut down by the White House because this investigation would tie the President as well as International Drug trafficking in as well..

I know of this personally because the Robinson's record promotion rep was a good friend of my pops in Jersey whom we saw often because she also ran a daycare which my lil brother attended before we relocated down south...

And no disrespect but that Byatch was tough as nails when it came to business

But it comes with the territory of having to be "gangsta"

 

[Guvnor]

Of course you could be in rap without dealing with them, if you have the proper personal security, and are willing to work much harder for the same level of success as a person with ties entrenched in the music industry. I think most people will make the calculation that its much easier to deal with gangsters than it is to go it alone in spite of them or against them.

You're right. I mean for instance moving through LA alone as it is dangerous as hell but to have to pay all that personal security money to keep the gangs away would be very costly. Better you just pay them a fee or hire them I guess. Either that or make connections with people tied into that because they will try to get to you.

Then you mentioned not having ties into the music industry or working with people with ties and at that point its damn near impossible I would think to blow up without that. I mean the way shyt is set up you would have to work twice as hard and even if you did gain some success they will try to make you offers. If you refuse those offers they will do a lot of snake shyt and try to get you black balled making it harder for you.

The first rap label was black owned and CORRUPT.
Better read up on them Robinsons.

I know, Sylvia Robinson, rappers delight was put out by her right. Didn't she take the artist money in bad business deals?

Im saying it should be fair so everyone could eat. It would be much better that way but those getting the lions share wouldn't want to split it which is why it's not fair in the first place. I was just speaking hypothetically.

 

[Guvnor]

Corrupt..YES

Black Owned.. NO

The Robinson's funded Sugarhill Records with a high intrest "loan" from mafioso affiliate Morris Levy who landed Sugarhill it's distribution deal with the Mob controlled MCA Records headed by Irv Azoff aka "The Evil Leprechaun"

Azoff once plotted to have Al Sharpton whacked when it was revealed Al was an FBI informant who was helping the Feds investigation into MCA and its extortion payola schemes such as it's strongarming of Sharpton's friend Joe Robinson and the Sugarhill Family...

Which got shut down by the White House because this investigation would tie the President as well as International Drug trafficking in as well..

I know of this personally because the Robinson's record promotion rep was a good friend of my pops in Jersey whom we saw often because she also ran a daycare which my lil brother attended before we relocated down south...

And no disrespect but that Byatch was tough as nails when it came to business

But it comes with the territory of having to be "gangsta"

Dang bro, you really know about this shyt heavy. I have to check out those book you mentioned.

I mean damn, the president and drug trafficking. That shyt runs deep.