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Producing a Popular Music: The Emergence and Development ofRap as an Industry Alba Gautier Department of Art History and Communication Studies Mc Gill University, Montreal November 2002 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Arts ©Alba Gautier National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisisitons et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 0-612-88642-5 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 0-612-88642-5 The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou aturement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Canada 11 ABSTRACT ln this thesis, 1 trace the evolution of the rap market from its emergence in 1979 in New York City to its development into a national industry in 1990. 1 analyze the motivations of the producers of rap and the mechanisms that led to their CUITent organization. Independent labels were the primary producers of rap records until they made distribution deals with major record companies in the second half of the eighties. 1 argue that the division of labor between production and distribution, which became the most common context for the production of the music, is both the result of an organizational strategy initiated by the majors and ofthe negative perception their executives had ofrap artists. Dans ce mémoire, je trace l'évolution du marché du rap depuis sa naissance en 1979 à New York jusqu'à son développement en une industrie nationale en 1990. J'analyse les motivations des producteurs de rap, ainsi que les mécanismes par lesquels ils viment à être organisé tel qu'ils le sont aujourd'hui. Des labels indépendants produisirent intégralement les premiers disques de rap avant de signer, dans la seconde moitié des années 80, des contrats de distribution avec les «majors.» J'argumente que l'institutionnalisation de la division du travail entre production, réalisée par les indépendants, et distribution, assumée par les majors, est à la fois le produit d'une stratégie organisationnelle initiée par les majors et de la perception négative que leurs cadres avaient des artistes de rap. 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 am sincerely grateful to my parents, Danièle and Dominique, and to Jeannette, Lou and Mathieu for their support. 1 want to thank the members of the department of Art History and Communication Studies for the enthusiastic leaming environment they provide. 1 am particularly grateful to Sheryl Hamilton, who has provided me with helpful guidance during moments of confusion about the future of this project. 1 am equally thankful to Will Straw. His course on popular music has been one of the greatest experiences of my academic joumey. Last but not least, 1 want to thank Jessica Wurster, John Shiga and Julian Awwad, for their essential help (and patience!). IV CONTENTS Abstract 11 Acknowledgements 111 Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Music Industry In The 1980s 20 1 Record companies 21 A. Major record companies 21 B. Independent labels 26 II The music industry in the 1980s 29 A The recession 1979-1983 30 B Globalization of the popular music market 31 C Concentration ofproducts 32 D Concentration of the industry 33 E Reorganization of the industry and decentralization of the creative process 35 1/Reorganization into "semiautonomous division labels" 35 2/Distribution of independent labels and division of labor 37 3/Cooperation? 38 Chapter II: Independent hip hop (1979-1985) 46 1 Hip hop on wax (1979) 47 II "Little carry-your-records-in-a-trunk producers" (1980) 49 1/ An opportunity for smalllocal independent labels 50 21 "Lack of consideration" 52 31 Sugar Hill Records, or "the first institution in hip hop" 53 41 Vulnerability of small independent record labels. 55 III New hip hop labels (1981) 56 IV "Planet Rock" and "The message" or the artistic expansion of hip hop reach (1982) 59 V Run-D.M.C. (1983) 61 VI "Breaking out: America goes dancing"(1984) 64 VII Major record companies 67 v Chapter III: The major record companies distribute rap records (1985-1990) 78 1 Distribution deals (1985-1988) 79 A) Hybrid organizations 79 1/ Def Jam 80 2/ Tommy Boy 81 3/ The "feeding frenzy" 83 B) An efficient division oflabor 85 1/ 'Street' marketing and promotion 85 2/ Independent distribution 87 3/ Major distribution 88 II Competition (1988-1990) 90 III Behind the deals 95 1/ "Ifthey knew how to do it, they wouldn't need us" 96 2/ "Sorne bad rap for good raps" 97 3/ "They want to be on the cutting edge but they're afraid to be eut" 98 4/ Searching for flexibility 98 5/ Loosing flexibility 101 6/ Maintain a distance Conclusion 114 Billboard 121 Bibliography 123 VI Introduction In 2000 hip hop was the second most popular musical trend in the U.S.A.! This success contrasts sharply with the small size of the underground movement that initiated it in the Bronx in New York in the 1970s. It is also quite impressive, even ironic, when compared to the assumption shared in the music industry in 1979 that the first rap records were funny, superficial novelties with no artistic or commercial potential, and thus no future. African American and Puerto Rican teenagers, initially in the economically and socially depressed South Bronx and then in other boroughs in New York City, developed hip hop culture for almost ten years before it was introduced to the mainstream via its first recordings. Today the culture is commonly associated with hip hop music, but it originally comprised acrobatic dances such as break dance and graffiti. Now, hip hop is a lifestyle, a particular culture informing a specific way of living. Rap is the musical expression of the culture, and both terms, hip hop and rap, are used here to refer to the music. It should not be forgotten however that rap is only one expression of the culture alongside dance, graffiti and now cinema, music video and comedy. "It was a Dl style which helped to create the lifestyle which came to be known as hip hOp.,,2 Dls emerged as cultural heroes in their neighborhoods. Mixing specific parts of different records on two tumtables, they were creating new combinations of sounds, emphasizing percussive segments, the 'breaks,' on which dancers, 'break dancers' were continuously inventing new styles and movements. Dls had taken up the habit oftalking in a rhythmic fashion over their 'collages,' and delivering short rhyming sentences borrowed from street and teenage languages. Because of the increasing complexity of their mixing techniques, they asked friends to accompany them during their performances to talk over their records and entertain the crowd. These were soon called MCs, Masters of Ceremony, or rappers, an expression popularized by the successful "Rappers' Delight," released by the Sugar Hill Gang in 1979.3 When in 1979 the first rap singles were released many, whether in the record industry or in the underground hip hop community, were skeptical about the music's future. The former thought it had not enough artistic or commercial potential to last, while the latter could not imagine that a label might be interested in the sonic experiments of young Dls coming from neighborhoods until recently characterized by gang violence. Yet, what was perceived as an ephemeral phenomenon appeared to be solid and the local underground culture became, thanks to the growing popularity of its music, a global phenomenon. This thesis considers the first decade of (recorded) hip hop commercial production and traces its history from its 'discovery' in 1979 by independent labels to its mass commercialization thanks to the participation of major record companies in 1990. More precisely, it examines how and why major and independent record companies entered this market and came to coexist in it. It analyses the nature of their relationships, while still situating this specific market in the broader environment of the American music industry in the 1980s. Furthermore, it argues that the organizational structures that came to characterize this production were both the result of a general reorganization of the music industry in the 1980s and of an attempt by the major record companies to avoid producing this music directly, while participating in the distribution of its commercial benefits. Following Keith Negus' concept that "a culture produces an industry" (as much as "an industry produces culture"), the thesis shows that economic strategic decisions should not be analyzed without considering the culture of the persons responsible for these decisions.4 For the producers' cultural knowledge informs their choices; the motivations behind these decisions cannot be found in artistic considerations alone (as could be expected from cultural producers), nor in economically rational ones (as might be suspected since it is after aIl, or first of aIl, an industry).