HipHopMusiq.com

First Radiohead now Trent Reznor, rock and alternative artist are starting to understand the true power of the internet and its respective communities, now it’s time for Hip Hop artist to get on board. Rappers have a hard time understanding a model unless it gives you cash in hand. That’s why Hip Hop artist are so proud of their ringtone money. That is money that is in your hands quickly and its a pretty basic and simple formula. But the ability to utilize a web audience has so much greater potential than the ringtone audience. But it takes more than just have a basic site and a myspace page.

Myspace is a good first step to utilizing the web properly but it’s just that, a first step. A Myspace page is a very basic and limited way to use the power of the internet. You can not set up the proper forms to get the email and other information of your core audience. You can not get the stats of what time did they visit the site, where did they come from, did they get to your site through a mobile phone or through a web browser. Did they use Firefox, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer to get to your site. These are all questions that the artist may not be able to take advantage of but his marketing team can. these are all concepts that will get you closer to your audience and therefore able to target them better. With your own web page you are able to get this information and more. Every artist has a web page now but mostly it’s just the record company set up web page. It may look nice but they are getting the valuable information and not you.

Remember that there are other social networks out there. Myspace is just one of many social networks out there. The most obvious are Youtube and Facebook but that is only the beginning of a long line of social networks. Bebo, hi5, Twitter, Pownce, Imeem, last.fm and others. Here is a nice list on wikipedia to help give you a large list of others. Instead of having 20 body guards on your team get someone who knows the net and not just the guy who set up your Myspace either. A real tech guy. This is the guy who can decide wether you sink or swim in the new media. Don’t depend on your record company to handle these details for you. They hate the Internet, it takes away their control of the product. So they are trying to fight against instead of utilizing it.

Make sure that you hire the right people to handle this tech excursion for you. Yes not re re’s cousin who does Myspace in the afternoon either. Also not a the record companies site guy because he is going to be to busy to talk to you. You need your own team to handle this. You need a tech guy, an SEO guy, a designer, and a programmer. They do not have to be full time but they must have enough time to handle

your needs and help you squeeze all you ca out your web presence. You also must build a community of blogger contacts that you talk to on a regular basis. These can kill a career and they know it. Remember to be nice. 

This list isn’t for Jay Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent(who by the way is doing a good job on thisis50.com) and other A level artist. This post is for B level and below artist who are signed to a record label but are not top priority. This is also for artist in indie labels as well. You have the ability to take control of your own future through the Internet and not just wait for the label to notice you. Use it!. Chuck D is a good example of someone who is harnessing the power of the Internet and he started early. The only problem that chuck has is that his name recognition is not what it use to be. Somebody who has a buzz on the street right can really take hold of that power and get things moving.

On a bunch of different Hip Hop and Black blog sites yesterday the Forbes list of the top ten Celebrity Black  Earners made a bunch of waves and commotion. There was a lot of different reactions to the story yesterday, most of it positive. But of course there will be a few haters that will show their true colors on a post like this. There were two comments that really stuck with me though. One was that there was no way that these people could make that much money, and another was the negative reaction towards Oprah saying in a magazine article that she feels funny when her relatives ask her for money.

To address the first statement,  yes people do actually make that much money in one year. And yes Black people do make that much money. Unfortunately the only Black people that receive shine for their monetary achievements are in sports and entertainment. We might not have a bunch of billionaires on the list (two form last count) but we do have a good amount of none celebrity millionaires running around. In all different fields as well. We have millionaire inventors, scientist, financial gurus, computer programmers and the list goes on. If you are really interested in taking control of your own financial life and maybe even making the bank that you see Jay Z and Puffy make, then grab a couple of financial books, a couple of business books, a subscription to Black Enterprise, Forbes, and Fortune and then get to work. If you want to make money like that you have to understand not just your business but business in general and how the monetary system works. Watch CNBC in the morning for at least an half hour. Even if you are not going into the finance game realize that watching a network like CNBC will help you understand the business trends that are going on around you. That is always a big help. You will not understand the lingo at first but it will catch on. I am not rich but what I have learned in the past couple of years has really help me understand the monetary system in America and how true economics really works.

Now as far as the Oprah thing I really don’t have too much to say about that.  Nobody knows the true story about that women and her family but them and  god. They may have their side and she apparently has hers. If I was treated bad constantly by family and then I came into money I would not give them any money either.

For the Record here is the list and a link to the list with more of a description of each celebrity.

1. Oprah Winfrey - 260 Million Last Year
2. Tiger Woods - 100 Million Laast Year
3. Jay Z - 83 Million Last Year
4.  50 Cent - 33 Milllion Last Year
5. Kobe Bryant - 33 Million Last Year
6. Shaq - 32 Million Last Year
7. Michael Jordan - 31 Million Last year
8. Will Smith - 31 Million Last Year
9. Beyonce - 27 Million Last Year
10. Lebron James - 27 Million Last Year

Forbes List 

“I use to give a fuck, now I give a fuck less, What do I think of Success it sucks too much stress”
Jay Z - Success

Earlier this week there was an video floating around on the internet with Ghostface Killah making a mea culpa to his fans to buy his last album “The Big Doe Rehab”. Now I haven’t listen to this album so I am going to talk about the artistic reasons that you should buy or not buy this album. No, what I am going to discuss is the reluctance of an artist to understand that the game is change and if you really want that money from music you are going to have to work for it. The genies is out the bottle and it is not coming back in. All of the government regulation in the world will not stop downloading so you have to add to your hustle.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge capitalist but I also understand that the writing is on the wall. I believe that the artist and the people behind the scenes should get paid for their album sales and their hard work. Guess what, they will still get paid. It’s just that the revenue model has changed. The first people to take advantage of this was the so called ringtone rappers. They found the first in what will become a hundred new ways for artist to get paid. These new revenue streams will be extra beneficial for second tier artist by a long shot. In today’s market if your not going platinum then you are paying back that advance money. The system right now only works for artist that are huge pop stars. So we get less street albums and more albums that are carefully crafted to a formula that targets all markets at the same time. Club song here, Street song here, Love song here, mix and stir. I want the artist to be able to go into the studio and put out what his soul feels.

I am waiting for the Master P of the internet. Along time ago when nobody was checking for the south a hard headed hustler named P decided that he was going to make his own market. There were other rappers that had come from the South but he started a movement and showed the big record companies that being country can get you paid. And guess what people were boot legging his albums as well but he got over that hump and brought his music to the masses. You can argue that downloading is a lot worse than boot legging. But guess what, You also get ten times the exposure on the internet than you do anywhere else. You yourself can become a brand on the net. Your name alone will get you bigger payday for shows, merchandise and club appearances. I believe that if you have a good product then you will gain such a good following on the internet that somebody will find you and invest money into you.

It might be coincidence that at this very moment that C.R.E.A.M. by Wu Tang Clan came on Last.FM at this very moment. One of the truest songs that has ever been made. I respect and can feel it now more than ever.