The rap side of the music business is constantly having interesting conversations about ownership. Pick any sector, from the highest mainstream act to the most unknown artist in the underground and the discussions all revolve around what is owned and who owns it. 

Owners, or artists who create with an ownership mentality, tend to navigate the many hurdles awaiting the unaware. Because the business of music determines the longevity of careers more than the quality of the songs. 

Songs create culture, songs build fanbases, but they won’t hold together a career. Careers are held together by good teams and proper strategy. Good investments and perfect timing. All things that go unseen, but will have a greater impact on longevity than a classic rap song. 

Study any age or era of hip hop and you’ll see how bad business hurts the artists over time no matter the talent level or notoriety. So as the genre enters its 50th year, new and old artists alike must consider this quote by Andy Warhol: “Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” 

No other genre in the history of music glorified the hustle behind getting money how rap does. Hip hop is hustle as an art form. Grinding for more has made heroes out of hustlers and wizards out of wordsmiths. 

But in recent years, the business behind the songs has entered the music dialogue because of economic transparency. For example, Meek Mill tweeting about his record label couldn’t have happened in a world that predates social media. 

Rappers of the 80s and 90s couldn’t speak against their circumstances with the swiftness that we see today. Creating a deeper connection between what we hear and how it's made. 

Obviously, these situations aren’t black and white. And it’s neither about picking the side of the artist or the label, but seeing how the business that spills over into the public domain brings us closer to the industry behind the industry, which is closer to the truth of how the entire machine works. 

And that truth, at times, is more true than the lyrics we hear. That’s why I’ve always had such a high respect for David Bowie’s interviews. He doesn’t try to hide that the magic of music is within a system that, at times, works against the creators. 

“Oh, Lord, no-we made nothing,” Bowie said to Playboy in one interview. “All I’ve made is an impact and a change, which of course, is worth a lot. I keep telling myself that. The best thing to say about it all is that it’s archetypal rock ‘n’ roll business,” he shared, concluding the thought by mentioning what he experienced is no different than other big entertainers. 

So imagine, if the biggest stars have to deal with the business, imagine the young ones that have no idea how the industry works. But kids are smarter these days. They got the internet and enough savvy to get the information they need to not repeat the history of their forefathers. We’re seeing examples of that with artists like Russ and LaRussell.

We’re also seeing it with Snoop Dogg, the latest owner of Death Row Records. Easily one of the greatest feats by a rapper of his era to reclaim the machine that introduced him to the world. I thought it was interesting that his latest acquisition wasn’t included in a recent op-ed about the current gold rush to purchase catalogs. 

To be fair, the story isn’t about any person, but a broad look at how valuable catalogs are today. We see in rock music how lucrative the catalog business is. The article touches on some great points but mostly wonders about the future of music and if hip hop will see the kind of capital that classic rock is currently raking in. 

What I hope all this shows you is that long careers are made by the business moves, not just how the music moves. The better the business, the more likely artists can last. Not just as artists, but as owners. It’s deeper than owning your masters, but thinking about the ownership of your entire business. From touring to merchandising to the master recordings. 

And if none of this resonates with you, think of the Kanye West "Jeen-Yuhs"  documentary. Think about how old that footage is. Think about how, with time, it has only increased in value. More valuable today than when the director shot it. Your music can be more valuable in 20, 30, or 40 years than it is today. 

I’ll leave you all with a 2002 New York Times exerpt from a David Bowie interview when he was 55 years old, putting out his 23rd studio album:

“His deal with Sony is a short-term one while he gets his label started and watches the Internet's effect on careers. 

''I don't even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don't think it's going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way,'' he said. 

''The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it's not going to happen. 

I'm fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing.''

Jun 9, 2022 will make ten years since this story was published and the premonition was made. He was right about the distribution system changing, but he was wrong about copyright and intellectual property. Instead of taking a bashing, they were bathed in gold, and who owns that gold is going to change many lives. I hope it changes yours.

by Yoh.