FOR RAP PIONEERS, PAYCHECKS ARE POCKET CHANGE

[JumpinJack AJ]

For Rap Pioneers, Paydays Are Pocket Change

By DAVID BROWNE

The New York Times

(Dec. 17) - In some ways, these are good days to be a rap veteran. Flavor Flav, Ice-T and Rev Run, of Run-D.M.C. , are each starring in reality shows. This fall, VH1 saluted some of the pioneers of the genre on its annual “VH1 Honors” telecast.

But praise and other rewards aren’t always available. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the longtime rap D.J. AJ Scratch held his third annual dinner and party for old-school rappers and D.J.’s, at a sports bar in the Bronx. For Scratch, a former associate of Kurtis Blow who co-wrote Mr. Blow’s hit “If I Ruled the World” in 1985, the aim was twofold: to salute those who started the music (guests at this year’s event included the turntable legends Kool Herc, DJ Red Alert and Grandmaster Theodore) and to help Scratch make a living. The $20 admission went to his AJ Productions.

Scratch, 48, said his royalty checks (even from the song on which Nas sampled him) amounted to only “a couple of hundred dollars” every six months. “My publishing income isn’t that big,” he said. “So I find ways to stay afloat. If I pack the house, I get a reward.”

On one hand, hip-hop remains a dominant cultural and business force. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, major rap acts like Jay-Z , the Game, Nas , Akon and Young Jeezy have released or will release new albums. The major labels increasingly count on such CDs, which can sell hundreds of thousands of copies each in their first week on the market, to bolster end-of-year profits.

Yet as Scratch and others have seen, plaudits for hip-hop legends have not translated into profits. Sales of vintage rap discs are sluggish or nonexistent. For the week ending Nov. 12, according to Nielsen SoundScan, Public Enemy’s landmark 1988 album “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” sold 400 copies. LL Cool J’s 1987 album “Bigger and Deffer” (home of one of his biggest hits, “I Need Love”) sold half that amount. Run-D.M.C.’s “Raising Hell,” which includes the group’s groundbreaking collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of “Walk This Way,” moved only 100 units.

Among the exceptions are the Beastie Boys’ “Licensed to Ill,” another period touchstone that continues to sell several hundred thousand copies a year. And Bill Gagnon, a vice president of catalog sales for EMI, says the label expects to sell as many as 200,000 copies of a forthcoming anthology of the gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A.

Yet in general, the founders of rock, like Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan , fare better in stores than the founders of rap. Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” still moves nearly 10,000 copies a week.

Jim Parham, senior director of marketing at Sony BMG, said reissues of some hip-hop albums sell better than jazz, classical and “old-time” country acts like Bob Wills. Yet he admitted that the audience for the label’s recent compilation of Whodini is largely “white, suburban college-age kids” rediscovering an era when hip-hop, R&B and dance music first merged.

The situation has left some in the rap business bewildered or miffed. “With rock fans who are over 45, their kids are going into their record collections and pulling out Dylan and Procol Harum ,” said Darryl McDaniels, D.M.C. of Run-D.M.C. “We’re not at that point yet.”

Bill Stephney, a former Def Jam executive and producer, said he believed there was “clearly a market” for vintage hip-hop, but added: “There’s a terrible disconnect on the executive level in terms of exploiting this music in the market. They just don’t think about it.” Mr. Stephney said that last year he attempted to produce a 20th-anniversary Def Jam reunion concert that would feature both vintage and current rap acts, but abandoned the idea for a lack of industry support.

“Hip-hop doesn’t promote its history,” Mr. McDaniels said. “Mick Jagger and Keith Richards will talk about Little Richard or Howlin’ Wolf. A lot of rappers now will cite Rakim, but they don’t promote him. People in the industry don’t want people to be focused on anything other than what is going on right now.”

The wobbly sales of classic rap records of the ’80s also do not bode well for the artists’ future income. On the topic of royalties, Mr. McDaniels said: “I do fairly well. I get a check every now and then. But I can’t live off it.” The use of samples, which requires rappers to split royalties with the composers of the sampled song, further cuts into profits. Mr. McDaniels called the situation “a nightmare.”

Mr. Stephney said record and publishing contracts signed by rappers of the ’80s — before the rise of impresarios like Sean Combs — were “never at the level of exploitation” of R&B stars of the ’50s and ’60s. But, he added: “I don’t think artists from the early days of hip-hop were as business-savvy as the post-Puffy generation. And some of them were not as savvy because that would require a level of responsibility that some of these guys refuse to engage in.”

Although Mr. McDaniels remains frustrated with the low sales profile of classic hip-hop, he said he felt that would eventually change. “Give it five more years,” he said. “Everything else comes and goes. But they’ll talk about us forever.”

Copyright © 2006 The New York Times Company

2006-12-17 11:01:54

[TopDawg14]

I read this article someplace else and it's rather sad that the pioneers in hip-hop aren't treated with the same respect as their rock counterparts. DMC was right when he said that we don't support our history. Look at the Rolling Stones. They were here in Chicago a month ago and they played to a sold-out stadium. They performed outside in the cold rain & wind and still sold out their set. Other genres continue to support their legends. Country supports Johnny Cash. Blues support B.B. King. Jazz supports Monk and Miles Davis. Rock supports The Beatles, The Stones & U2. Who does rap support?

[mfuqua23]

Who does rap support? Them darn selves! In all honesty, I think the ones rap would support to their fullest isn't so much together anymore. Run DMC (considerin' JMJ death, DMC's vocal change, Run's new dealings), 2pac (all that's took is his death), JJFP (but schedules conflict and we never see it). Maybe fans of the genre as a whole ask too much.

It can't be Jay-Z, it can't be NaS, and I think there is something lacking when it comes to LL being considered. There's two sides as to why rap/hip hop should be a lot like other genres in that sense TopDawg mention, and reasons why it isn't.

A general difference back then, was people didn't let the money fully dictate how they produced their sound. They was gonna try to make it with what they got. Now it's fully, I'll give you what you want for the money. At least, that's my take on all this.

[Hero1]

Great article! its a ridiculous situation..

[Turntable]

It's becaue it is still to young.

[mfuqua23]

Even with that said Turntable, we have to consider where the music has been going too. It just won't mix together. I don't think, but who knows.

[JumpinJack AJ]

It seems like the average Hip-Hop fan simply doesn't ride for their original favorite artists. Sure, some of the legends have slipped when it comes 2 an album or 2 by experimenting 2 much, or taken a long time off between albums, but that's no excuse 2 bail out on them.

The current generation is even worse. Millions or thousands of people will flock 2 the people on the radio now...but how many of them will still be listening and supporting those same people 5 years from now? Hardly any. Fans of the current rap scene have no loyatly and are only interested in the flava of the month.

I think it's pathetic. I'll dig 2 find rare albums and singles from my favs simply cuz i'm dying for something new. For many people, if they don't have a song on the radio, they don't care about the artist they called their "favorite" just 2 years ago.

This legends not only had 2 have talent, but they had 2 do alot of their own promotion, concert ideas, etc. They were the total package. They did their job and they made good music with heart. These new top 40 fools just throw 2gether stuff just 2 get money. Most of them are told what 2 do, what 2 say, and what 2 wear. And usually the person who's telling them that is looking at what the person with the most air-play is doing. So with a fool like Young Dro gets paid all this money 2 put 2gether a quick cRAP record, there's a legend who paved the way and set a much higher standard struggling. And there's a good chance that that current pop/rap artist has a lyric or a bar that bit that pioneer's biggest single back in the day.

It's an injustice if u ask me.

[Guest Guest_bigted_*]

Chuck D explains it all in "Swindler's Lust": "If you don't own your masters, your masters own you", that whole record there explains the shady music buisiness to the tee, Missy Elliot said it in a song: "I know most y'all mcs live dead broke/I go to your accountant and they say no doe", really most rap artists are raped with the contracts that major labels give them, a lot of major rap stars make less than a dollar per record sold, so in order for them to cake a lot thwey need to sell millions or have major endorsement deals, young rappers are probably in as much debt as older rappers are,unless you tour a lot like Jazzy Jeff and Chuck D, a big time movie star like Fresh Prince and Queen Latifah, have your own clothing line like Jay-Z/Diddy, or own your masters for your records sold like LL, you're really not making that much doe as a rap artist, a lot of the old time singers and ballplayers got ripped off with their deals too, it ain't just rap with this problem, now get that clear, this been a problem for a long time, the suit and ties are ripping off the celebrities, really a lot of these artists in industry should prepare for their future when they're on top instead of spending all that money on big houses they don't really need, a lot of these cats get big at 20 years old and have no idea what they're doing, since they got fresh young brains they should

take some school courses, 'cause if they take courses in other lines of work they'll be able to have a stable career if one day they can't cake off their music, then bascially just do shows on the side of their 9/5 like most of us who love to do it, not every rapper had to do commercials/movies/etc. if they don't desire too, I honestly ain't gonna be an actor if I get a platinum record, I'd rather be a computer programmer on the side than do a beer commercial, I want to do what I love to do, not do what I don't want to do, I'm keeping my integrity on what I want and I do what I got skills at, why can't somebody be a doctor, nurse, account, etc. on the side? Why does it always have to be rapper/actor?

I'm a pc freak just like I am as an mc, now I see some artists just do movies/commercials for the hell of it but they really don't put their heart into doing it, not gonna name them 'cause I don't want to tear them down that much but I think we all know who they are, it shows in their work, it ain't like every rapper acting is on Oscar worthy level like FP and Queen Latifah, a lot of them suck and should leave it to the pros, they just in it for the money, they'll tell you that too, they know they ain't competing with FP on the movie screen...

Really in reality most of us can't retire until we're 65 years old so they shouldn't be asking for a charity case if they're still like 20-25 years away from being at the average retirement age,now if I never make the game, I ain't gonna stop rapping either I realised if I make big or not 'cause I just got a lot of love for what I do, I have education so I could have a long and success career if it ain't in rapping, but hip-hop is my passion, not just a job, when you love your music you never stop, it shouldn't have to do with just money when you're a true artist, if you make music and have enough to survive that should be the main thing really...