Get Rich Rapping
I’ll start it like this, you want to be a big name rapper right?
And you never want to work a day job again once you finally make it…. right?
You want to get rich from rapping and grow passed your dreams and goals to a whole new level!
This article is about having the mindset that is going to allow you to get rich, stay rich and get richer once you finally make it.
I’m going to show you all of the ways that rappers go from being just rappers to getting rich from rapping, building an empire and staying rich forever.
If you’re smart, this article will influence you to start thinking and learning more about how you as a rapper are a brand and a business.
Remember me one day when you’re rich.
Your buddy Rob Level who divulged his time and knowledge so you could learn. 😀
Get Rich Rapping Rule #1
Rapping Alone Will Not Make You Rich
Understand from the beginning that rapping alone will not make you rich.
This is an important thought process because it allows you to always be ready and looking for opportunities to make money in your rap career as they come about.
Let’s talk about being MORE than a rapper.
Because to be completely honest.. the end goal ISN’T just be a rapper if you’re a smart rapper.
The end goal is starting with music, growing an audience and then using the influence and money you make from rap in order to expand and build yourself an empire.
Think Jay Z, P Diddy, 50 Cent, think Master P.
Do you think Jay Z would be worth over 500 Million Dollars from just selling rap albums at $10-$15 each? No way!
It is the investments in other areas that allowed him to get rich from rapping.
Get Rich Rapping Rule #2
GET IT WHILE YOU’RE HOT
Buzz fades, no one really thinks about rappers from the 90’s the same way they did in the 90s.
Same goes for 2000’s and even just 5 years ago. You have a PEAK and hottest moment in your career as a rapper.
Keep in mind now that the money you start making needs to star being invested in other business ventures.
The money you will make at the peak of your rap career is the MOST you will make at one time from rapping.. hence PEAK of your career.
Think about how many broke ass rappers there are because they didn’t monetize properly at the right time and sure as hell didn’t do any of the stuff I mention below.
You need to consider where you are going to invest the money so you can continue growing upwards and not the other way around.
When everyone has their eyes on you and you are the hottest thing out, that is when everyone is buying from you.
But if you don’t have your business skills and a firm understanding of what do do when that time comes, then you are missing out what could have changed your life forever.
A great example would be this guy.
The guy who popped off from one song, then made a song joking about how no one knew who he was.
So basically it was… Who is Mike Jones? Then his song of him saying how they used to say “who is Mike Jones?” then back to everyone saying “Who is Mike Jones?”
You probably don’t even recognize him.
I bring him up with the getting rich from rapping because his career was extremely short. He was relevant for maybe 6 months tops.
After that 6 months he wasn’t a hot item anymore so it became increasingly hard to use ‘Influence’ to make deals and solely had to rely on financial capital to fuel business ideas.
Is he still rich? Idk! Do I care… absolutely not. Why? Because he didn’t grind hard enough to stay relevant to me. Keep that in mind.
Get Rich Rapping #3-#25
Know The Markets Where You Can Get Rich Rapping
If you don’t know where you can potentially expand to with your money and influence you can’t capitalize on it.
So what I’m going to do is take a super well known rapper with amazing business skills who got rich starting with rapping.
50 Cent.
He expanded his influence into every single area possible to monetize that area and make more and more money.
When he made this song, he wasn’t just talking like most rappers do. Plus this song is a pure banger.
This is the first song I am playing when I buy my Jet and get on it for the first flight to vegas with some other famous friends.
Selling Your Life Story (Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ Movie AND Album)
He primarily built influence using his story of being in the street, getting shot 9 times, surviving it then coming back.
It’s the story of an underdog not only surviving an assassination attempt but coming back from it stronger than ever.
This is massively influential and is like a gold mine for publishing companies, distribution companies and record labels.
All they are ever doing is selling something that can influence people… because it influences people to buy.
They branded him perfectly and then sold his story to the masses and since then he has built an empire off of it as you will see in the areas below.
They started with an album then they flipped it into a movie.
Just like Eminem started with his music and then made 8 mile.
Movie Soundtrack (Get Rich Or Die Tryin Movie Soundtrack)
You probably know a few of the songs on this movie sound track.
Popular movies have soundtracks that sell and make a lot of money.
The movie promotes the soundtrack and a hit song from a soundtrack promotes the movie. It all goes full circle.
Another reason my next album is actually the soundtrack to my new movie.
Same thing with the 8 Mile album soundtrack which had classic songs like Mom’s Spaghetti… I mean ‘Lose Yourself’.
More Music (Every Album after Get Rich Or Die Tryin)
Though his career PEAK was with get rich or die tryin, every album afterwards still had enough buzz from his influence to sell units.
The Massacre – Sold 11 Million Units Worldwide (At $10 a pop that’s $110,000,000)
Curtis – 3 Million Units Worldwide
Before I Self Destruct – 1 Million Units
Animal Ambition – 130,000 Units
Street King Immortal – Unreleased
Notice the decline in sales as his decline in actual music decreased. Â This cannot be fought, it’s just how it typically works for any rapper who is so incredibly massive one project.
For instance, yes J Cole has always done incredible numbers and still does (easily outselling 50 cent now) Â but he has never been on a scale as large as 50 cent.
I don’t mean rap wise, I mean brand wise.
Also take into account the change of streaming and music theft since 2003.
Get Rich Rapping Doing Tours (World Tours)
Touring is the bread and butter of a RAPPERS career.
But this also requires you to show up and get paid for your time.
The smartest people who get rich rapping invest their money into areas where their money works for them so they don’t have to show up.
They create an automated business that requires little to no upkeep or they hire people to run it for them and it runs on autopilot and they collect a check.
At the big levels you are making $100,000+ PER SHOW (minus taxes and expenses) and even at the lower levels, if you can sell tickets you are going to make $5,000 per show.
That adds up fast when you’re doing 200 shows per year. 😉
Record Labels And Signing Artist (G Unit)
Eminem and Dr Dre used their influence to support 50 and that gave 50 his massive influence.
Then in turn, 50 Cent did the thing when he got rich rapping and signed all of the talent he felt he had around him.
You then get money from everything your artist makes that I have listed in this entire article.
This is because, generally, when you sign someone to a deal, it is a 360 deal now. 360 meaning ‘full circle’ or everything that the artist makes money from.
This is because when a label signs you, spends time and money breeding and branding you to be an artist with influence, they want to reap the benefits of their investment.
When Lloyd Banks sells an album, 50 cent gets paid. When Game sells an album, 50 cent gets paid.
Shoot… when 2 Chainz sells an album… Ludacris still gets paid. All because Ludacris signed 2 Chainz in 2007. Ten years later Ludacris is still profiting.
Make sure you read those contracts kids 😉
That’s why I have the music industry contracts for you to at least have on hand so you can get a feel for what they will look like. Don’t sign a label deal that doesn’t have an expiration. Huge rule of thumb is make sure a contract has an end point.
Clothing Line (G Unit Clothing)
While you’re hot, you can make some SERIOUS money having a clothing line.
I mean it costs a few bucks to make a shirt and you sell it for $20-$60… come on!
Even Eminem had Shady for a while. Jay Z made MILLIONS with Rocawear and P Diddy made MILLIONS with Sean John.
Think about it.
Fragrances – Cologne And Perfume
Selling water in a bottle that has some scents added to it for $80… Sell enough and you’re making SERIOUS dough.
P Diddy has Unforgivable.
Even Nicki Minaj has this lol
Shoe Line (G Unit Sneakers)
Not all rappers get this opportunity but if you’re big enough, you are going to get a shoe deal
I remember how badly everyone wanted these shoes when they were about to come out. Haha
Investing In Business Start Ups (Vitamin Water)
F***ing Vitamin Water….
“I took quarter water, sold it in bottles for 2 bucks/ Coca Cola came and bought it for billions… what the fuck!?” – 50 Cent
50 Cent invested some dough into Vitamin Water when it was on the rise… Coca Cola then bought it for 4.2 BILLION… he got a heavy chunk of change from this.
Similar to Dre having beats by Dre and Apple acquiring it for 3.2 Billion.
Goes to show you that you can’t invest your money into water… or technology and still get rich rapping.
It’s the business skills that count here.
Writing Movie Scripts And Acting (Gun, Setup, Freelancers, Etc.)
If a movie wants to use your influence to sell tickets… they are going to pay you based on how many tickets they can sell.
You get the exposure AND the cash. Get it while you can. A quick $250,000 for a month of work.. I’ll take it.
TV Shows (‘Power’ on Starz)
If you didn’t know, the TV Show Power is produced by 50 Cent. Solid show!
He has his hands in everything!
Websites ( Thisis50.com )
50 Cent saw the power of having your own website. So he made This Is 50 which is still a great resource not only for hip hop and stuff but also for a place to drop his own new projects and keep his fans updated.
Super smart decision… kind of like Smart Rapper which will eventually expand into much more than what it currently is.
I am only one person and I have done everything for this site so far… imagine when I hire a 10 person team. I’ll be able to spread more and help more people. More content and more influence. One step at a time.
Book Deals (The 50th Law)
One of my favorite books of all time, a book that changed my life was The 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene.
Seriously, it changed my life. I have read it over 15 times and every time I read it, I learn more.
50 Cent went in with Robert Greene and made The 50th Law which is also a great book.
It uses 50 Cents real life experiences to show you how he built the power he has today as well as his empire.
I’ve read this book around 5 times.
New Tech Trends (SMS Audio)
When the headphone market exploded because Beats By Dre were doing exceptionally well, 50 cent dived in and got his hands in some of that money.
Headphones are dirt cheap to make. Again he was using his influence to sell something new.
You can see the headphones I’m talking about here.
Energy Drinks (Street Kings)
Even Lil Jon took an attempt at this market with his Crunk Energy.
This is a tough market to get into though especially with top dogs like Red Bull and Monster who already have a massively established presence.
Yet 50’s SK is still in a lot of places, or at least I have seen it a lot of places.
Alcohol (Effen Vodka)
Look at  Diddy’s Ciroc. Look at the cultural influence it has had.
That stuff is f***ing delicious. I personally rarely drink so that’s a huge compliment from me.
The margins on alcohol are so great that you can make a bottle of vodka for like $1.50-$4 and sell it for $50 as a premium brand if you have the right names behind it.
Quite the ROI (Return On Investment)
Get Endorsed By A Brand
Remember when Drake was drinking Sprite while ‘Forever’ played in the background?
That’s a brand endorsement.
A quick $850,000 to be a rapping robot in a commercial.
Nas gets paid to say he drinks Hennessy. Interesting.
There’s a lot of money in endorsement deals and I too “Want this shit forever man”
Music Royalties
Depending on a myriad of variables such as how the contracts were set up to how big the song was, you can make money for a long time from a hit song.
They just keep paying out.
Every time ‘In Da Club’ plays, Dr Dre and Eminem get paid… and every time ‘Window Shopper’, ‘Just A Lil Bit’ and ‘I Get Money’ play, Dr Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent get paid.
It just keeps bringing in dough in checks that the record label may or may not cut to him lol
If your music is making enough money from royalties they can be sold as a package like Michael Jackson’s or the Beatles.
Merchandise for your TV show and movies (Depending on the type of movie or TV show)
Last year, Star Wars toys and games made 1.5 BILLION.
Disney’s Cars and Winnie the Pooh franchises each earn $2 billion a year.
The year following the release of ‘Frozen’ the merch made over 500 Million.
I’m not saying you need to move into children’s movies, but the toy market in 2016 made around 21 Billion.
Other Tech Ideas And Apps
New tech and even simple phone apps can bring in A LOT of money… Can we talk about the fact that the game Candy Crush is worth around 6 BILLION dollars. Yea, with a B.
Candy Crush…
The game….
6 Billion dollars.
The Star Wars Franchise sold for only 4 Billion…. lol
You can see why creating apps and things in the tech world can look so enticing. It can be very lucrative.
Invention Ideas
If you have a smart idea for an invention… well at the peak of your career is when you will have a ton of money, influence and resources to invest into the invention.
If you have ever seen a show like ‘Million Dollar Genius’ than you know that it usually costs around $100,000 just to get a basic idea off the ground.
Everything from patents, lawyers, molds, changing molds, finding the companies to manufacturer it for you, cost of items, website build, marketing items etc.
Of course it all depends on what your invention is.
I’d still say this came from when you get rich rapping since you need the capital to even start on the idea and open the doors to success.
Real Estate
This one is pretty obvious but I had to drop it in here for any haters who might say I left it out 😉
Of course when you get you some money you are going to invest in some real estate, duh!
And that ladies and gentleman is how to get rich rapping.
Be smart and invest your money, brain power and time into all the right things and you will undoubtedly get richer and richer all from rapping.
If your friends and family don’t believe in you or don’t understand or see your dream of being a rapper, show them there is a bigger picture by sharing this article using the buttons below.
It’ll impress people that you are looking at things as a smart business man.
I didn’t name this site Smart Rapper for no reason.
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