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The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop
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The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop Paperback - 2011

by Dan Charnas

Three-hundred industry giants like Def Jam founders Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist 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.


Summary

The Big Payback takes readers from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the 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 inked, The Big Payback tallies 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 giants like Def Jam founders Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons 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.

From the publisher

DAN CHARNAS 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. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the Village Voice. Charnas holds a master’s degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Fellowship. This is his first book.

Details

  • Title The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop
  • Author Dan Charnas
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 688
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Berkley Books
  • Date 2011-11-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Illustrated, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780451234780 / 0451234782
  • Weight 1.65 lbs (0.75 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.9 x 6 x 1.6 in (22.61 x 15.24 x 4.06 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Hip-hop, Sound recording industry
  • Dewey Decimal Code 306.484

About the author

Dan Charnas, a veteran of the hip-hop music business, began his career scouting talent and promoting records for seminal rap label Profile Records and for Rick Rubin's Def American Recordings. He penned some of the first cover stories for The Source magazine and was part of a generation of young writers who helped create hip-hop journalism. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Press, and the Village Voice. He also worked as a segment producer for MTV's The Lyricist Lounge Show. Charnas holds a master's degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and was awarded a Pulitzer fellowship. He was born and lives in New York City.
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