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hip-hop’s best label ever?

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Hey! This week we tried something new. On the Trapital Podcast, we did a case study style breakdown on Cash Money Records. It’s one of the most important companies in hip-hop, and it was a pleasure to be joined by Empire State of Mind author Zack O’Malley Greenburg.

Here are a few highlights from our chat. Hope you enjoy!

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Cash Money: a high revenue, low cost business

Is Cash Money hip-hop’s greatest record label? We still give that title to Def Jam. But there’s a stronger case for Cash Money to be hip-hop’s best record label business.

Cash Money’s 1998 distribution deal with Universal is one of the most influential deals in music. They maintained ownership of the assets and partnered with the strongest companies in the industry. Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams pulled off Hip-Hop’s Louisiana Purchase.

In the early days, there were no expensive Timbaland beats at Cash Money. It was all in-house production from Mannie Fresh. There were no million-dollar Hype Williams music videos either. Jay Z’s flashy suits in the “Sunshine” music video probably cost more than the entire budget for Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” music video! Cash Money did more with less.

As Zack said in our episode,

was Cash Money a little too low cost?

Unfortunately, Cash Money has been notorious for disputes with artists and business partners over fair compensation. The list of artists who have had lawsuits or financial disputes with Cash Money is longer than a CVS receipt.

Zack has asked Baby and Slim about this specific issue in past interviews. Here’s his take on Cash Money’s reasoning:

That’s an understandable excuse in the pre-Universal deal days, but these disputes went on for far too long with more recent incidents like Tyga suing Cash Money for unpaid royalties from “Rack City.”

thriving when others didn’t

The 2000s were dark days for the music industry due to piracy, but Cash Money and Lil Wayne still found a way to win. They leaned all the way into mixtapes.

Wayne teamed up with DJ Drama, who followed DJ Whoo Kid’s playbook with the 50 Cent G-Unit mixtapes but adapted it for the South. Wayne’s mixtapes like Dedication 2 to Da Drought 3 (my personal favorite), were exactly what hip-hop needed.

It paved the way for Wayne’s 2008 classic, Tha Carter III. Here’s what I wrote in 2019:

Lil Wayne also made great money with ringtones. “Lollipop” is the highest-selling ringtone of all time.

the ability to win bidding wars

Record labels are evaluated on their ability to deliver results efficiently, stay hot, and win bidding wars. Cash Money did all three well, especially the bidding wars for three of its most successful artists.

In the mid-2000s, Lil Wayne considered leaving Cash Money. Jay Z was President of Def Jam and wanted his fellow Carter Boy on his roster. Jay called Baby to give him a heads-up out of respect. But Jay soon received a “torturous interference” letter from Cash Money. Birdman and Slim then made Wayne an offer he couldn’t refuse—President of Cash Money and his own imprint label, Young Money. It set up the next 15 years.

A few years later, Drake was the hottest free agent in music. So Far Gone had just been released, he was still unsigned. Sources said that Motown, Interscope, Atlantic, and Warner Music Group were all in the running. But Drake’s relationship with Cortez Bryant at Young Money helped close the deal for Cash Money Records.

Then a few months after Drake and Young Money, Nicki Minaj sparked her own bidding war after her mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty. Many labels in hip-hop wanted a “first lady,” and Nicki took that title for Young Money. After that, Young Money went on one of the all-time runs after that.

From Juvenile’s “Ha” to Nicki Minaj’s Queen album, Cash Money had a 20-year run of straight dominance. Make sure you check our full episode on Cash Money. Zack and I go in more depth on:

• how much money would Cash Money Records sell for?
• the Cash Money - Republic Records partnership
• missed opportunities for the label
• what we would do now if we were in Birdman’s shoes

Listen to the full episode here:

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money moves

• my breakdown on Justin Bieber’s $200M music rights sale and why artists sell (or don’t sell) their catalogs
• why VR/AR get further away as it gets in focus​
• everyone hates Ticketmaster. Is everyone wrong?​
• ​youtube’s grand plan to win in music

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coming soon from Trapital

Podcast: a Super Bowl Halftime Show breakdown. An analysis on the evolution of the halftime show, Rihanna, Roc Nation, Apple Music, and halftime shows’ impact over time. I’ll be joined by Pop Pantheon podcast host DJ Louie XIV. Drops next Thursday!

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