It’s All A Dream: Discovering the sweet spot to build and sell your entrepreneurial venture.

These two men are the original gangsters of disruption and bootstrapping in Hip Hop.  Russell Simmons had vision and hustle. Rick Rubin had space, place, dope beats, and the imprint to start it all, Def Jam.  Def Jam Records became the launching pad for many aspects of making it big in the Hip Hop game.  We witnessed Russell and Rick's story come to life in the movie, Krush Groove. They are the professors we looked to for the next trend in Hip Hop.

(Def Jam original imprint)

However, at a certain point Rick and Russell decided it was time to cash-in and follow their independent paths to additional success. Russell started Rush Communications and started Def American records to extend his production interest into metal and grass-rooted Hip Hop artistry. The readings point out how the new communications structure Carmen Ashhurst developed for Simmons provided him with an opportunity to extend his brand beyond selling records.

(Def Comedy Jam Poster)

Opportunities in broadcast, artist management, and advertising were the more immediate ventures. Eventually, fashion, finance, and wellness became part of Simmons burgeoning empire. Lyor Cohen, became the man to cement many of Russell Simmons ventures with branding deals that generated multiple revenue streams. Some of those new revenue streams involved the selling of the imprint in order to reinvest in Rush Communications and extend capital to new projects like joint ventures with upstarts like Jay Z and Dame Dash.

In your comments I want you expound on Russell Simmons success and ways that he extended his ability to move the crowd beyond music and entertainment. Was his sweet spot becoming a multi-millionaire by selling his company or was his sweet spot gaining political and economic influence as a cultural industrialist and philanthropist that challenge the conditions that caused Hip Hop Culture to exist?

Things you should know

It's important to recognize that entrepreneurial opportunity is not about brick and mortar spaces or even starting a business from scratch.  Entrepreneurship is about the having the vision and ability to capture opportunity where there is none. Hip Hop is about not only creating cool content, but also rebranding a concept, activity, or venture and making it cool again by "remixing it." You should walk away from this section with knowledge such as:

1. Understanding the limitations of your business venture is necessary in order to create an effective exit strategy.
2. Having an effective exit strategy can lead to new opportunities to strengthen your existing venture or provide you with the leverage to walk away from a situation that is no longer a beneficial component of your vision.
3. Having the ability to create and execute a plan offers unique branding opportunities to be the authentic product or voice for an emerging market.
4. Know what you and your venture are worth. Hence, hiring an appropriate business assessor will provide you with the information you need to be an informed player in the game of negotiations. 
5. Being smart and fearless is the best strategy for getting and staying in the game. 

Brand Building: how to culturally engineer new ventures and revenue streams by keeping it “100.”

Urban Playground Authentication

Authenticity or "keepin it 100" is huge in Hip Hop. Hence, cultural practices are a critical part of understanding what drives consumers to connect with a product to the point that they purchase it.   In the assigned reading for this section of the course, we bare witness to examples of Hip Hop entrepreneurs finding opportunity in areas that extend beyond the immediate instigators, practitioners, and consumers of the culture.

How did individuals like Sean Combs, Sean Carter, Steve Rifkind, and Rza leveraged the success of

Sean "Jay Z" Carter and the ROCA WEAR Brand

their music with vision that penetrated the fashion, movie, sports, automobile, and food industries? What do they possess that may be in your spirit to shine with an idea you have or a venture you are currently building?

The Mighty WU-TANG CLAN

I would like you to glean from this section and understanding of how to connect your spirit with the resources you have to make something happen, in the immediate, with the vision necessary to keep it moving.  You should leave this section of the readings with an understanding and ability to discuss in your commentary how

• Hip Hop was used to connect with the sports and fashion industry.
• individual personification in Hip Hop provided individuals with the ability to use their "swagger" to build brands.
• new methods in marketing and promotion emerged as a result of Hip Hop, and give examples of how corporate America has used those methods to market products.
• you see the spirit of Hip Hop in variety of products.  Please provide examples.  
• bootstrapping was used to kick off or extend an artist's brand.  Give an example. 

What is Hip-Hop?

Hip-Hop is a way of life, and as a way life, it involves doing.

The culture is a mere derivative of its primary enactors -- while those who are less participatory, can be classified as mere consumers and appreciators. The latter group provides Hip-Hop with its power. Yet, Hip-Hop’s inventiveness lies in the hands of the folks who use the visual and performative arts for cultural, political, and/or economic purposes.

This said, Hip-Hop is the Silicon Valley of music. It harbors and produces innovation -- that's how the culture keeps an edge and widening appeal. When young people of the 70’s grew discontent and bored with Disco, they played and mixed the breaks (as opposed to the entire song). Soon, they spoke over the records. Some were clever -- using rhyme and wit as elements to enhance their disc jockeying.

Later, Hip-Hop’s dedicated technicians nuanced the sound; their inquisitiveness propelled them to strip records of their pop-influences, focusing on the drums and hard synths (like, Def Jam pioneer Rick Rubin). Participants used the platform to evolve cadences and flows. Some influenced urban fashion trends, deepened the market-permeation of luxury brands (e.g., cars and liquor), and used Hip-Hop to backdoor their way into affluent art spaces such as the MOMA and New York Fashion Week. And now, as the foreman of youth culture, Hip-Hop has influenced technology, especially sound engineering; respectively, HTC, Tidal, and Samsung have mediated Hip-Hop culture or led efforts inspired from Hip-Hop’s biggest names. Point in case: Hip-Hop is entrepreneurship, and that gives it many arms to serve the needs of the people that wield it.

When you think about it -- it’s quite astonishing and brilliant: Hip-Hop was birthed from the ghetto (that was generally neglected by comfortable working/middle/upper class Americans and public institutions) -- and it was done through the efforts of young people! It’s a prime example that there is, in fact, genius in the ghetto; innovation in the streets; and power nestled in the minds of Black folks (and largely, people of color).

Please provide me with your interpretation of the word, Genius. Please use any form of media to help illustrate your interpretation.

How I Define Ghetto and its Context within Hip-Hop

When I hear the term “ghetto” the first thing that comes to my mind is an image of poverty and a sympathy of disenfranchisement. In America, this image is grounded in the impoverished black and brown communities in most great cities, especially in my hometown of Chicago. I think of neighborhoods like Humboldt Park and Englewood where ghetto is usually synonymous with little opportunity, constant violence, and a general sense of desperation. People are often found doing what it takes to survive with what limited resources the have.

            Unfortunately, I do not think most people have much sympathy for those who live in such neighborhoods. Most Chicagoans who don’t live inside these neighborhoods have virtually segregated themselves physically and mentally from a lot of the issues concerning these communities. This only aids to the sense of desperation and lack of hope that most black or brown communities in these areas have towards their chances of mobility. Sadly, most people I’ve met treat these areas as a “lost cause”, often speaking about the terrorism and violence that occurs in these areas as if they were occurring in a different country or continent as opposed to 15-20 minutes away from their doorstep. I think that if most people realized the potential of those who live in these communities, they would recognize that they have much more to offer than what most of the media and politicians portray.

I think the rise of hip-hop and many of the stories described by Charnas help positively steer the narrative of what the ghetto means to American culture and enterprise. The countless stories of intuitive DJs, resourceful artists, and ingenious businessmen help counter the stereotypes of limited talent and genius in these areas. I believe all Americans have such potential but the opportunity to exercise such talent is unfortunately limited to those with access. I find it a very intriguing question to ask if hip-hop would exist if there were no ghetto. That’s difficult to say, but I certainly can’t argue that the motivation behind all facets of hip-hop is clearly based on countering the establishment and fighting the oppression that many in the ghetto face. Since black people in America have typically been the most marginalized and coerced by society, hip-hop seems like a logical backlash, through artistic expression, of those who want to overturn or bring to light the conditions of the ghetto. Hip-hop has certainly shaped the perception of the ghettos of America but I believe it is much more a reflection of what’s occurring and not a symptom--as some media outlets (i.e. Fox) would like to present.

This has unfortunately set up hip-hop, especially in its music, to be one of the easily more exploitable forms of entertainment in recent history. Many involved in the music are generally more concerned about a big pay day then seriously cultivating the art. While this has pushed hip-hop to the top of pop and sales charts, many are dissatisfied of the storylines of the music today. Those from poor backgrounds usually don’t have the foresight to capitalize on the genius and value they are able to produce without education. I’m certain Dre could have started his own audio company without Iovine and would have found immeasurable success anyways, but the lack opportunity to study business or engineering probably kept Dre boxed in to thinking he was just a musician and not a brand. Although this narrative is changing it has led to some grave mishandlings of wealth from some of the most iconic artists of our time as described by Charnas. The cut-throat nature of the corporate side of hip-hop has had a profound effect on its rise to popularity but the backdrop of the impoverished ghetto is inseparable to its identity.

How would you define Ghetto?

When you think about the term "ghetto" what is the first thing that comes to mind? When you have an image of the ghetto, who and what do you see?  Please describe.