"There has never been a better book about hip-hop."

AV Club

“A classic of music business dirt-digging.”
Rolling Stone

“Exhaustive yet vigorous.”
The New York Times

“Epic.”
The Village Voice

The Big Payback

The History of the Business of Hip-Hop

How did street music from the South Bronx and Harlem evolve over forty years into a multibillion dollar global industry? It wasn’t an accident.

In The Big Payback, Dan Charnas chronicles the history of the hip-hop industry through its key players—hungry hustlers, innovative entrepreneurs, visionary handlers, and shrewd executives who had the business acumen to take the music of a marginal urban subculture and transform it into a mainstream phenomenon.

Spanning an epic forty years—1968 to 2008—from the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five to Run DMC’s crossover breakthrough on MTV to the marketing of gangsta rap and the rise of stars like Jay-Z and Sean Combs, who head multimillion-dollar businesses, The Big Payback is a raw, real blow-by-blow tale of how hip-hop records got made and marketed, how the deals were done, and who won and lost in this epic struggle.

The Journey

From the first time that DJ Hollywood makes $15 for picking up a microphone, to the multimillion-dollar sales of Def Jam and Rocawear, The Big Payback tracks the evolution of hip-hop and follows the people who fought behind the scenes to make it happen.

ALBUM ONE
Number Runners
(1968-1981)

Hip-hop’s earliest entrepreneurs

ALBUM TWO:
Genius of Rap
(1980-1984)

Creating hip-hop’s first superstars

ALBUM THREE:
The Beat Box
(1984-1988)

Def Jam fosters a revolution in hip-hop art and commerce.

ALBUM FOUR:
Hip-Hop Nation
(1988-1991)

Rap traverses the continent

ALBUM FIVE:
Where Hip-Hop Lives
(1991-1994)

Rap conquers corporate radio

ALBUM SIX:
Cops & Rappers
(1991-1995)

Time Warner and corporate America grapple with gangsta rap

ALBUM SEVEN:
Keeping It Real
(1993–1999)

The rise of the superempowered artist

ALBUM EIGHT:
An American Dream (1999–2007)

Hip-hop cashes out

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Reviews

“One of the juiciest, flat-out most enjoyable books I’ve read in a long time… Charnas did an incredible reporting job and the book is a delicious read…It doesn’t matter if you love hip-hop or not, this book is just an incredible epic about business and culture in America.”

“Dan Charnas’ detailed and colorful account of hip-hop history and its fusion of art and commerce is a must-read for fans of the music industry…His time embedded in a tumultuous, momentous environment doesn’t so much compromise his objectivity…as allow him to get the kind of juicy details no one else has reported—the boardroom brawls, the moguls who mentored.”

“The Big Payback stands out as a must-read for any fan—or detractor—of the genre.”

“[A] stylish, lavishly detailed love letter to the genre and industry…Charnas makes an elegant case for how hip-hop is the consummate art form… [Charnas] writes with the authority of an insider, the passion of a fan, and the cool eye of someone who has maneuvered through the day-to-day working of the business. Nuanced treatment of the impresarios behind signature sounds and recording empires, and brisk, dramatic vignettes, give this history of a leaderless revolution impressive momentum.”

“A record-biz portrait that jumps off the page… Monumental in every way…A constant revelation…Every page is loaded with fresh, acutely detailed, great stories delivered in bite-size, and Charnas’ snappy pace makes getting through its 650-some pages a pleasure.”

“Dan Charnas’ first-ever history of the rap industry is a classic of music business dirt-digging as well as a kind of pulp epic… Charnas’ ‘American success story’ unfolds vividly and briskly, and no hustle goes unturned.”

“The Big Payback isn’t just the most comprehensive journalistic account of hip-hop ever written—it’s a mature, Pulitzer-worthy work, an integral account of essential urban history on a par with Robert A. Caro’s The Power Broker.”

“The riveting dialogue culled from more than 300 interviews makes it seem as if Charnas was in the room for every detail that ever went down in hip-hop, and sometimes he was.”

“Hands-down, one of the best books ever written about hip-hop…Absolutely essential…this isn’t just the most important book on hip-hop that’s come out in years; it’s one of the most important books on pop music, period.”

“As gripping and dense as a prime Jay-Z rhyme… a page-turningly good job of detailing the clashes of sensibilities between key figures… Charnas has done a real service to pop history by following the money — a pursuit which ultimately tells a far larger tale: In hip hop, it seems, cash isn’t just a matter of bling. It’s the currency that gave this once outsider art — and by extension, a marginalized race — a louder, clearer and more important voice all over the world.”

“Pulitzer-level reporting — Charnas interviewed more than 300 subjects — brings to life the story of the dollars behind the ballers in this absorbing account of hip-hop’s transformation from South Bronx cottage industry to multibillion-dollar global business.”

Dan Charnas