And you don’t stop ... rappers as entrepreneurs

Sell customers an image, not a product. Every chance he got, Big C had celebrities wearing his jerseys, including rapper Lil Jon, who wore one during an appearance on BET, boosting visibility. Big C never took a marketing course; he just had the street smarts that many rap entrepreneurs obtain. "When I was a kid, everyone thought if you had Michael Jordan's shoes, you could play better basketball," he says. "Prior to rap music, I guess people saw cool guys like Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Cab Calloway, drinking and smoking cigarettes, and fans would do that. People always want to associate themselves with the hottest thing."

Diversify. Business owners should consider more than one revenue stream, whether it's making one product for many different uses and demographics, or making many different products for one demographic. Reed Baker, 26, is a hip hop musician with the album ONEinSIX to his credit, but is following the route established by rappers like Diddy — who now has a men's fragrance, TV show, clothing line and record label.

Since 2003, Baker has had a record label, Sophist Productions, which produces numerous musicians' albums. The production part of the company specializes in providing lavish entertainment, complete with a DJ, for events ranging from corporate gatherings to weddings. The former Emory University philosophy major who graduated summa cum laude projects approximately $1 million in sales this year for his company.

But why have rappers latched on so well to the multiple-streams-of-revenue concept and other business strategies? Some of it is pragmatic, says Baker, citing how technology has changed the way the public consumes music, frequently through downloads. "It's hard to sell something that people expect to get for free," he says.

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But long before there were music downloads, there was rap culture. "Hip hop culture comes from poverty, and when one is poor, one desires more than most to be rich," says Baker. "When one is immersed in a culture of poverty, one is going to strive to have money." Just ask Big C, whose goal has been to help his mom, who toiled long hours as a nursing assistant when he was a child, retire.

Clyde Smith, a rap business observer and author of the blog, Hip Hop Marketing, says the ability to diversify is more common in hip hop than other music genres. "In general, when you look at rock versus rap music, rappers are much more likely to want to not just put out records, but go into fashion lines and in whatever direction they can expand." One explanation is that the musicians who pioneered rap music had to prove to record executives that a fan base existed — one that not only wanted the music, but the merchandise that goes with it. Smith says at a certain point, the industry could no longer ignore it.

But the success of someone who came from nothing raises the question: What happens when an artist branding himself as a gangsta rapper with plenty of street cred becomes a CEO living in a Manhattan penthouse and traveling in a private jet? "There are a lot of people in rap who criticize the materialism," says Smith. "But for the most part, fans seem to think, 'Great. They're getting what they deserve.'"

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