5 Steps To Becoming A Hip-Hop Mogul!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:12 am

Attention all aspiring hip-hop artists! Do you have what it takes to
join the ranks of Jay-Z, Diddy, 50 Cent, Master P and Jermaine Dupri as
a multi-business, multi-millionaire hip-hop mogul? It’s ok if you don’t
have a record label or haven’t released an album in over five years.
The All you need is “5 Steps To Becoming A Hip-Hop Mogul.”

Step 1. Create your hip-hop name. Then change it to your real name. Then change it back.
A
true hip-hop mogul’s name is never constant. The first step to becoming
a hip-hop mogul is to establish your hip-hop moniker and then change it
to your real name. Master P just did it. He now only wants to be
referred to as Percy Miller. Ludaris is about to do it and wants to be
called Christopher Bridges after his last album drops. To up your mogul
game, you can also change your name to multiple variations thus
confusing everyone and increasing your mogul status. Example: Puff
Daddy, P. Diddy, Sean Combs, Diddy.

Step 2. Create a fashion line.

This is the hip-hop mogul’s bread-and-butter. What separates a hip-hop
mogul’s fashion line from the rest is all in the distribution. Fashion
lines like Clipes’ upcoming Play Cloths, Eve’s revamped Fetish and
Fabolous’ Yung Rich line all have limited or boutique distribution. But
the big players like Diddy’s Sean John, Jay’s Rocawear, 50 Cent’s
G-Unit Clothing (now relaunching) and Master P’s Wal-Mart clothing line
all have major nation-wide distribution in major department and retail
stores. The bigger the distribution, the bigger the checks.

Step 3. Get into Hollywood any way you can.

Diddy has literally hired a Hollywood Dream Team to jump start his
acting career. But while he is still struggling to get acting gigs, he
is racking up millions of dollars with his TV producing deals with MTV.
Master P just launched his Better Black TV network to challenge BET,
T.I. has his own production company Grand Hustle and a new deal with
Sony Screen Gems, Dr. Dre, KanYe and 50 Cent all have film production
deals and mini-moguls such as Common, Ludacris and Mos Def have proved
their is successful life outside of hip-hop as their movie deals keep
rolling in.

Step 4. Start a social-media website.

Standard artist websites were so 2001. Now it’s all about the
social-media sites that combine fan/user generated content with blogs,
video and streaming music. 50 Cent’s ThisIs50.com is the poster-child for a successful social media site as it creates an entire new revenue stream for the G-Unit general.

Step 5. Get into the tabloids.

A real hip-hop mogul is one that has crossed over to mainstream appeal.
How do you know if you have mainstream appeal? It’s when Perez Hilton
or TMZ starts covering you. It’s when you are on the front page of
every tabloid for stepping in dog crap, for assaulting paparazzi and
for dating Michael Jackson’s sister.

Of course this is just a light-hearted look at what it takes to rule
the hip-hop world, but there is a lot of truth to it. All jokes aside,
it really does start with the music. Every hip-hop mogul, at one time
or another, ruled the charts of hip-hop through their own music or
through their production entities. It’s only though their insight,
street smarts and business savvy that the select few have been able to
use their name as a brand to succeed in multiple ventures outside the
hip-hop world.