The Big Payback

There has never been a better book about hip-hopa record-biz portrait that jumps off the page.A.V. Club. The perfect read for music lovers and business aficionados alike The Big Payback reveals the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash Run DMCs crossover breakthrough on MTV the marketing of gangsta rap and the rise of artist/entrepreneurs like Jay-Z.THE INSPIRATION FOR THE VH1 SERIES THE BREAKS. The Big Payback takes readers from the first $15 made by a rapping DJ in 1970s New York to the multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. . 300 industry giants like Def Jam founders Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas who provides a compelling never-before-seen myth-debunking view into the victories defeats corporate clashes and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hops dominance. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS