Why does everybody wanna say their a buisinessman?
Bsides
4,244 Posts
For real, Im sick of that shit. It was cool when jay-z said it years ago. And for him it probably was a personal thing. But why isnt it cool anymore to say your an artist first? I mean, look at usher, "Im a buisinessman before im anything", or Slim thug "im more comfortable behind a desk". Or fucking anybody else in the game. No one even wants to call themselves a rapper. Their like "im a CEO bitch!" even when its ceo of some bullshit ass bootleg record label or production company thats only putting out your own album!!! I liked it better when artists would be like "I just make music I love and im blessed to have people connect with it" or some shit like that. cause thats the truth! Its not like the music industry makes more money than less glamorous investment oportunities. I know rappers always say theres only 3 ways out of the hood and all that. But you dont see many nba players being like "im a buisinessman first, all this athlete shit i just sort of fell into". DO you? Mabye you do, but if dudes playing pro basketball were openly saying they dont give a fuck about basketball i think people would have a problem!I just think people should be about their buisiness, but not neccesarily talking about it all the damned time! And this is a different topic, but its corny how your average rap fan is now so aware of the innerworkings of the industry. Like game name checking sylvia rhone on his album. Like come on, sylvia rhone aint gangster. Anyway, thats my rant. thanks for reading it. any comments?
Comments
Just consider it a euphamism.
It may seem corny and sort of played, but the ears (of people who REALLY matter when it comes to that dollar) perk up when their hear a business title behind a name. They don't want to sell or do business with you if you don't present yourself as somebody who is about business.
If anything, I think it's a smart move for people trying to make it. If we're at a point in the Black community where people realize that just being a "rapper" only gets you at the feet of a record exec, that's COOL WITH ME. Because, if your mentality makes the move behind the desk, learning how to make those big decisions, you won't have to stand at the feet and mercy of anybody.
I still have the romantic idea of rap (or music in general) as an artform and every rapper talking the businessman-talk is less of an artist to me.
At the same time these guy speak the truth because today hip-hop is first and formost a business. Once a rapper is hot he tries to make as much money as he can in the shortest time, knowing that his 15 minutes of being hot will be over soon. And this is true for the whole industry. The main topic for 90% of the MCs/producers I have dealt with businesswise was money, money and money. And i only dealt with very lil' dudes.
An if you look at the larger picture the whole music/entertainment/art/media sector has never been more money-orientated than today.
So rappers calling themselves businessmen is a logical step. But I doubt that most of these guys really know what it means to run a business and work like a businessman (no matter if it is a record label or a deli). If they would they would act different. The amount of money that is wasted in the music industry by artists just because people are lazy and short-sighted is immense.
I think very often the real businessmen in the (rap) idustry are not the ones bragging about it all the time but the ones who are actually investing their money in businesses outside of the music industry.
Drew's got it right. There's a context that's unspoken when these guys are talking about this stuff, and I think that it's primarily about no longer being the segment of the artist community that happily accepts the scraps from the table, but pointedly saying "I BUILT the table, AND stock it with food. Deal with that." Black artists in particular have a looong history of being exploited by and at the mercy of the music business, so the fact that so many of them seek to be seen as sharp businessmen should not be any surprise. It also speaks to the fact that they are secure enough in their abilities that they can wear all the hats at once. Whether that is the ACTUAL case, time will show, but I personally see nothing wrong with their stance.
they're: they are
there: location
STRICTLY GRAMMATICAL BUSINESS
i think the answer is tony danza.
would you settle for her horny-ass grandma? i'd tap.
huh? you dropped in here just to say that? get the fuck outta here!
CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF HIP HOP TRADITION
Referring to the NBA analogy, i see a major difference in that NBA guys really have devoted their whole lives to their art (sport). I mean most of those guys have been honing their craft since they were snotnose, while many of these rappers du jour have been rhyming, for, how long? i remember recently reading that "the Game" started rapping 1 year before getting signed?
of course, i'm no expert, just conversating until quitting time, which is just... about...
now
You mean like buying basketball teams or using the money made making records to create successful clothing lines, film companies, etc??? What about branching out and scoring films??? does that make one a "business man"??? What about selling more records than any other genre for the last 3 years??? Or creating jobs for people who don't even like hip hop???
Not that I'm a fan of a majority of the music coming out these days, but It'd be great if any of the people upset by those claiming to be "business" people were half as successful doing the "artform" as those they're pissed about. maybe the focus should be about making good music and don't worrying what the next man does.
huh? im not pissed about anything, and im about to fuck the rap game up too. but i just feel like its cool to say your an artist too. i mean, tell me how usher is a buisinessman first?
You're taking this too literally, man. Obviously most of these dudes aren't wearing suits, behind desks all day long, but they're adding an element of seriousness to what they do in the eyes of people who would otherwise take advantage of their talents.
By the way, it's not cool anymore to say you're an 'artist'.
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Usher did pull off one of the most successful tours last year, was the top seller of 2004 and brought a piece of the Cavs. Sounds like he handled his biz. Maybe it just means he's serious about doing things professionally and doesn't want to be associated with some of the craziness that's gone on in the past like MC Hammer losing all his money.
Or maybe just that he's smart enough to know that no one lasts in a marketplace as fickle and trend-obsessed as modern hip hop and that the only way to expand his portfolio is to diversify.
Plus he's an actor and will probably produce movies.
If you listen to bball players talk, they refer to the game as a business all the time. I think most of them realize this. Sponsorships, clothing lines, camps, charity, and after ball, coaching, commentating, used-car dealerships, etc. You have to set yourself up for the future.
not many musicians have a 20 year career. I think from history artists have learned that if you expect to have a successful music career forever, you'll probably be disappointed. So they branch out. It's called diversifying.
Black Enterprise: The Hip Hop Edition will be at your door before you know it.
I'm saying... and these poptart fans always wanna get upset when they hear that kind of real talk; "Sheed said his feelings would not be hurt by being traded as long as somebody cuts his check! How dare he not take personal umbrage at the thought that he will no longer be playing for our hometown organization and instead suggest that financial security is his top priority!"
You just used my favorite word.
I never thought I would see that here.
Especially when usher says it! come on! The music industry is in rough shape! if you were really a buisinessman first you might do well to realize this and invest elsewhere!!
I personally don't think he needed the personal before the umbrage. I would suggest that umbrage implies "personal."
Why does it seem disingenuous?
It might be if you said it, but a lot of people in the game truly do care more about feeding their families than they do about "artistry"... that's just the reality for people to whom only a few paths to wealth are open, and I don't see what's so bad about it.
And to start the shitstorm - the connotation (which to some is racist by implication) suggesting that blacks shouldn't, for some reason, take the financial consequences of their actions in consideration to what they do.
That was exactly what I thought of when the Sheed thing went down last year.
Owning a Basketball team is investing elsewhere....
personally i can't help but notice the corelation between a declining record industry and the massive proliferation of "corporate" artists we seem to these days.
obviously the music biz is fickle and popular trends dissipate over time but i think alot of these people are making a huge huge error in judgement these days.
if you're a signer / rapper and that's you're claim to fame than you should focus on that crap... maybe branch out a lil over time and "diversify the assetts" and what not.. but lately it seems like a dude drops a clothing line, movie deal, record label and oh yeah his debut album all in like one fuckin year.
i mean COME ON!!! sure you're maximising your profits but you're basically admitting that you know you're not gonna be in this music game for the long haul so you're cashing in as quickly as possible.
and if you don't spend the time on your first claim to fame.... the fucking music... then you're basically gonna be fucked in the long run... nobody wants to invest in the clothing line of some rapper who hasnt put out a hit in more than a year anyways.
seems like alot of these people while getting rich right here right now are gonna go belly up in more than one career shortly down the road.