HYPE AUG/SEP ISSUE - OUT NOW

[afterbirth]

No, I agree with Mizi. The pond is too small at the moment to warrant that kind of competetiveness. It would be better to set a minimum standard first.

minimum standards [price floors] always distort ish..
those who wld've fallen along the wayside cos of their whackness are kept afloat by this pittance.. & encouraged to continue..

isn't a better situation one where those that are able to command what's due to them are left to grow the industry & the chancers fall by the wayside?

now for my beer..

[Malcom E.K.K.S]

HIP HOP INDUSTRY STANDARD

Hip hop is the single most powerful musical genre and has been proven to be the world's single most effective method to communicate to the youth. Just look around you. Hip hop is being used to sell you everything from burgers and chips to beer and cars. Everything from sneakers and cologne to watches and banking products. Sometimes we don't realise the power we have as a hip hop community. We don't realise that we are actually a key element of the world's economy.

Since everybody else has realised the power we have, why is it that we fail to see this power? Why do we still get exploited? Why do we still get the smallest share of this multi-billion industry? How can we be broke when millions are being made from burgers sold in our name? To be honest, I don't know. What I do know is that we can do something about it. If we all follow these basic rules, we will all come out with a decent piece of the pie.

I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with this scenario... A promoter calls you up and tries to book you for a gig. He tells you there is no budget and that you will be doing the show for the exposure. If this ever happens to you again, give that promoter the finger, and tell em its from me. The reason you have been approached is because the promoter felt that you would add value to the event. You should be paid for that value. If the gig is making money at the door, you own a piece of that money. If you are being denied this, don't be shook to walk away.

An emerging MC should be charging anything between R 500 and R 1 500 for a gig. Established cats should be at the R 5k mark and major artists between R 10 000 and R 25 000 per show. Dance crews are becoming increasingly popular. Start-outs should be charging a minimum of R 1500 and established crews should not appear for anything less than R 7000. Our top 3 crews should be appearing for R 15 000 and up. On the beats side of things... If an unsigned MC needs beats, start negotiating at a grand per beat. At least R 4 000 for indy labels and no less than R 10 000 for major labels. If you currently have a hit single, push your value up to R 15 000 and up based on the strength of that single. If you are approached to produce for an advert, send a quote for no less than R 40 000. Trust me, that burger company has that in their budget. If they try squeeze you too much, decline the offer. In fact, if any of the above mentioned conditions are not met, refuse to render your services. If you refuse it, they might try the next individual. If that individual refuses to be paid less, the person asking for your service will realise that an industry standard has been created.

 If anybody breaks the industry standard, this creates a crack in the hip hop economy. It is through this crack that exploitation streams through. If we don't close this crack today, it will become too big to manage. If one established dance crew agrees to another R 200 pay day, the whole system will collapse. If we all stand together and work according to an official hip hop industry standard, we will all get paid what we need to get paid. If you need any help working out your value in the game, don't be shook to give me a call.

Remember!! Vote Smart

Mizi
Editor
mizi@hypemagazine.co.za
082-MIZI-FOR-PRESIDENT

The above are inspiring words indeed, y'all cats who wanna eat off this hip-hop ish shud follow the above tips...A question, are cats paid to appear in hype?

*//places an order for hype to be delivered at his door step//*

[rob_one]

No, I agree with Mizi. The pond is too small at the moment to warrant that kind of competetiveness. It would be better to set a minimum standard first.

minimum standards [price floors] always distort ish..
those who wld've fallen along the wayside cos of their whackness are kept afloat by this pittance.. & encouraged to continue..

isn't a better situation one where those that are able to command what's due to them are left to grow the industry & the chancers fall by the wayside?

now for my beer..

I don't think so. Or rather, I'll concede that while certain whack cats are kept afloat by it, I think it will make promoters more selective (and less likely to be sheisty) which is a step forward.

[dat dude who happens to rap!]

We talking about cutting each other off! that is why we dont move forward as a community! I think we are the only music genre inSA with out structure! Kwaito kats have a plan as to who releases when and who follows and what to charge! We act like lil kids chasing what is kicked off the table for us! It dont work like that!

Take for example the crackboys they got a dvd and 2 mixtapes out! they did there marketing would you still ask them to come for free knowing you are charging at the door?

Or take for example me I do a weekly rap-up on 5fm and have an ep out if i got an event it gets promoted on 5fm! should i also do this for exposure?

No its time we all stand together and charge what we know we are worth

[rob_one]

Agreed.

Think about it this way. Hypothetical situation: Let's say you are a J-Sec promoter. You want to book an act for a hip-hop show. You have a budget of, say, R1000 to book the act and you know that most active MCs are unlikely to charge less than that.

In other words, because there is a baseline price, you will be more picky about who you book. Because of this, cats will be forced to step their live game up. Any way you look at it, this situation works.

Of course, there's the sheisty promoters who make excuses and won't pay as promised but as X says, there are ways and means.

[emceeKasualT]

Good look Mizi. Your sentiments are part of why I'd quit this rap shit. For 2 consecutive years I was supposed to do some emcee workshops at the Rand Easter show on the hip-hop stage.. after lengty negotiations with some knucklehead at the radio station hosting the gig we settled on 5's.. I was told on each occasion about a day or two before the event that some guy from Skwatta Kamp is willing to do it for a grand. 

Thats why I have decided only to work on projects where the paperwork is approved prior to anything actually happening. Ninjas have taken the power of the contract very lightly. Even if its just for a once off gig. We have a running joke in my crew that 'if I wanted exposure.. id just walk around naked..!'... I feel where you're coming from though. Dont fall for 'brainstorming' sessions with big corporations either. I gave cell C their 'off the Hook' camaign they ran a few years ago.

We sat in a boardroom with some f***nut executives from cell C 'brainstorming' ideas for half a day... only for these f***s to turn around after being extremely nice to us and say 'we need to run these ideas by the board' and then later deciding that they're not going to use the ideas... next thing Im driving aroung a few weeks later and Im seeing billboards with the exact shit we were discussing with these people...

The corporate sharks are definitely lurking..
protect your neck!

[afterbirth]

Let's say you are a J-Sec promoter. You want to book an act for a hip-hop show. You have a budget of, say, R1000 to book the act and you know that most active MCs are unlikely to charge less than that.

In other words, because there is a baseline price, you will be more picky about who you book. Because of this, cats will be forced to step their live game up. Any way you look at it, this situation works.

Of course, there's the sheisty promoters who make excuses and won't pay as promised but as X says, there are ways and means.

understood...
however, i'm of the opinion that these things work themselves out without the need to be prescriptive.. paying fans are unlikely to continue going to shows hosted by sheisty promoters who continue to use sub-par emcess that do ish for free..i for one am rather selective about the ish i'm not only willing to pay for, but attend period..

by prescribing minimum rates.. we are giving promoters & corporates greater leverage to determine who the "worthwhile" artists are & thus the trajectory this nascent industry should take.. this to me seems counter productive.. the only artists that'll get gigs are those guaranteed to pack venues & generate maximum revenue for these sheisty promoters.. given the choice between a hymphatic/ garlic brown & a morale/ tuks.. who are these promoters likely to book?

first time i saw tumi was as an unpaid [i stand to be corrected] opening act at the black august in 2001.. the exposure he received has surely stood him in good stead..

if any of this is incoherent gibberish.. am still a wee bit debauched & my faculties aren't altogether.. 1   

[Papa ThReAdS]

Hype....*yawn*

[Darklight]

HYPE distributes 240 000 copies per year. Of which we sell an average of 80%. Thats 240 000 copies of a local hip hop product!!! There is hope

this was the point i'm trying to get at... you guys distribute 240 000 copies (20 000 a month) what if we combined your power with ours to grow this hip hop shit, start working out deals where we could use your mag to sell our albums (and i'm talking quality albums not shitty demo quality albums) maybe sell advertising space in the mag or give away album samplers with the mag and split the profit (we get 40% of all sales, you guys keep 60%) cause clearly your distribution channel is killer (cna, checkers, superettes) maybe even start a mailorder section in the mag, because sa's sooo backwards with the digital age... people could cop albums through the mag itself...

secondly tv land... if i had enough cash i'd get together with mizi and kamza (cause dude is a media guru) and start a HYPE music channel on DSTV and have a edited show of that shit on etv, strictly hip hop programming, f*** if mk could do it surely we can... this would again be another amazing way of growing this market... only allow quality videos on, make the ratio 70% local videos and 30% international... ONLY HIP HOP THOUGH NO KWAITO WACK a** BULLSHIT!!!

if we want this to grow clearly we have to start working together, let the hate come when we all sitting on millions... 

[Blizzard]

don't mean to derail the thread but, i buy the mag for the articles and the CD. i must say that the mag design needs serious attention. i cant stand the font type that u guys use. its a big turn-off for me. its worse against a white background .i.e the morafe story. you really have to be a Morafe fan to read that story.  hope you listening.

[SUPER RUTHLESS]

... if i had enough cash 

Guess thats the problem we face atm, theres not enough investors willing to spend on hip hop 

[Darklight]

if someone could tell me 'how much' is needed i'll invest...

[Capt Schti]

I buy "Hype" every month, surprisingly it's the least disposable of all South African mags (I literally page through Ymag in 10 minutes and put it away), I have one wish though, would you please stop doing this "fcuk".
Every time I see it I feel like a 12 year old and I get embarra**ed for you guys. I understand the retail restrictions blablabla, but surely you can find a smarter way of censoring the word. One that does not dumb down the reader.

Otherwise, I dig the city-to-city scenes write-ups, those are dope especially this month.   

Keep on keeping on...

                 

[Dpleezy]

I'm sitting typing this outside a cafe in Amsterdam - the whole game is way better organised out here. Every half-decent artist has management AND a booking agent.

Everything is done with contracts and riders. 50% of cash is paid upfront or the artist doesn't turn up. The rest of the money is paid immediately after the performance. If it isn't, the promoter gets a lawyers letter the next day. Artist hospitality is arranged and taxes are all submitted and taken care of.

Remember, I'm not talking about your Jay-Zs or 50 Cents - EVERYONE in the game has management and a booking agent.

I could list you about 20 booking agencies out here (just in Amsterdam) - can anyone tell me one half-decent booking agent in the whole of SA?

Pioneer Unit gets 3 or 4 booking enquiries every week. I send everyone who contacts us our official quote, which includes artist riders, costs and terms and conditions. This immediately weeds out anyone who isn't serious - it also shows the promoter that we are serious and professional.

There's a huge gap in the SA market for a serious booking agency specialising in hip hop. There's also a major gap for professional artist management.

There has to be an element of reality to go along with the 'no shows for free' bravado. There are only a few hip hop artists in SA that are on the level where they can refuse to do free shows. Most hip hop artists need the exposure more than they need show money. Cats let a tiny bit of success go to their heads and start demanding crazy fees just because they've got a video on channel O.

Don't get me wrong, everyone should get paid for their services in an ideal world, but you have to be smart and think long-term, not just about one night's show money. Our industry is in its infancy so we're in an investment period - you'll reap the rewards of patience later on.

[afterbirth]

There has to be an element of reality to go along with the 'no shows for free' bravado. There are only a few hip hop artists in SA that are on the level where they can refuse to do free shows. Most hip hop artists need the exposure more than they need show money. Cats let a tiny bit of success go to their heads and start demanding crazy fees just because they've got a video on channel O.

Don't get me wrong, everyone should get paid for their services in an ideal world, but you have to be smart and think long-term, not just about one night's show money. Our industry is in its infancy so we're in an investment period - you'll reap the rewards of patience later on.

there..
the white man has spoken..   
thx D