The Big Payback The History of the Business of Hip-Hop

by Charnas, Dan

• ISBN13: 9780451229298
• ISBN10: 0451229290
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-07
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover

Summary

The "epic story" (Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop, Won't Stop) of hip-hop's rise from street culture to global industry-and of the people who worked to make it happen. The Big Paybacktakes us from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the recent multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were done, The Big Paybacktallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC's crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/ entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs. 300 industry veterans-well-known giants like Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, the founders of Def Jam; and key insiders like Gerald Levin, the embattled former TimeWarner chief-gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance.

Author Biography

Dan Charnas began his career as one of the first writers for The Source, part of a generation of young writers who helped create hip-hop journalism. He scouted talent and promoted records for the seminal rap label, Profile, and was Vice President of A&R for Rick Rubin's Def American Recordings.

Table of Contents

Note from the Author	p. ix
Number Runners
Uptown	p. 3
Downtown	p. 28
Genius of Rap
Disco Inferno	p. 65
Kings from Queens	p. 93
The Beat Box
High	p. 123
Low	p. 172
Hip-Hop Nation
West Side	p. 207
East Side	p. 231
Where Hip-Hop Lives
Color Lines	p. 293
Street Knowledge	p. 326
Cops & Rappers
Truth	p. 355
Consequences	p. 392
Keeping It Real
Credibility	p. 431
Equity	p. 477
An American Dream
Building	p. 535
Selling	p. 581
Epilogue: Harlem, November 4, 2008	p. 633
Acknowledgments	p. 639
Index	p. 649
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.