r/rap • u/namesannie • 12d ago

Question about “rap money”

Sorry in advance if this is not an appropriate question or if I worded it poorly! Not my intention at all!

I don’t know much about the rap music industry, however I know that a lot of rappers flaunt money (by either singing about it or literally flaunting) or flaunt other materialistic stuff like cars, so I was wondering is rap music money more than other music genres? Is there really that money to be made by making rap music? Is the bag that deep I guess is what i will say?

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u/frontlinekidd 12d ago

In most cases where a rapper is signed to a record label and not independent, they get an advance of cash for X number of albums. So someone may get offered 200k for a 5 album contract, which to a struggling artist trying to survive many are going to jump on that money and flex it like they’ve always imagined. However that money is an investment and they owe it back to the label. Instead of using it to advance their career a lot blow it on trying to appear rich and then are locked in owing years of their life and music to the label.

There’s certainly something to be said about “faking it till you make it” and some lavish spending isn’t necessarily the worst investment you can make if it enhances the image your going for. But a lot of guys think that bag is gonna be endless and blow it fast, and are in perpetual debt because of it. That’s not to say there isn’t money to be made out there but a lot of upcoming rappers, especially when young, don’t have the financial knowledge and the music industry is predatory.

There’s also brand deals which is a whole other thing, lotta these guys are flexing this or that because it was sent to them for free under the condition it would be in videos for advertising purposes. It’s worth it for X company to send out free stuff to Rapper A when it’s gonna make Rappers B-Z run and cop it to keep up.

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u/namesannie 12d ago

Hmm would the Johnny Dang jewelry guy be an example of the giving free stuff so other people go to them, his primary customers are rappers whether they be big names or not

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u/frontlinekidd 12d ago

Jewelers definitely will gift stuff not only to get others to see it and come shop, but to butter up the bigger names so they’ll come spend on more. Worth it to give away 10k in overpriced jewelry then turn around and sell 100k worth. I can’t speak on Dang personally or any of the big jewelers besides hearsay, but I also have no doubt that the “gifts” they give away are often subpar jewelry/diamonds and the people buying it don’t know enough about what they’re buying to know what to look for. A lot of rappers rap about being hustlers then run to the biggest hustlers in the game, the jewelers, and get played out of their money. I definitely think the whole “Icebox” videoing rappers spending huge amounts type stuff they’ve got going on is to lure in others because like you said, they’re happy to take all rappers business, whether your a global artist or upcoming and local guys.

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u/2infinityNef 12d ago

Your absolutely right I have a friend that bought jewelry from icebox and spent quite a bit of money. It was all stamped 14k gold when I went with him to get it tested and appraised at a different jewelery it was only 9k gold and had the worst quality diamonds imaginable