His latest project—a partnership between his television and film company, Grand Hustle Productions, and BET Networks—is a reality business competition show, aptly titled you guessed it The Grand Hustle. In an interview with broadcast journalist Ed Gordon at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit , Harris further shared how he developed his business acumen and strategic focus.
The following are edited excerpts of that interview:. Gordon: How did you make the transition into rap? I had started doing demos, trying to get record deals. Did you see rap as an art form solely or did you see that as a means to make money? I started asking my daddy for money for studio time and trying to find talent shows. So you become a pioneer of trap music.
When do you start to understand that this is a business; I am a commodity? Right around my second album. So I really thought I was about to take off. Your second go-round you figured out what you needed to know. So, I go in there, and L. It just came out of nowhere. It was not out of nowhere. It was some significant effort put into this…Since my album dropped, I have been tirelessly investing in myself, and basically operating as an independent record label.
So he turned me loose. I already had a song going on the radio. I was already doing shows. We all have faced adversity. You have to be tireless in your efforts to achieve the goals that you set for yourself.
What made you decide to diversify beyond music? So four to six months later he rode me through our neighborhood, and he pulled me up to an old house that I used to trap out of.
It was completely renovated, and it looked nothing like it did when I was there. So we sold it, and we bought two more houses and did the same thing. We got some more, and we end up doing about 65 houses in our own community. ABC: Is it fair to say the music industry is male-dominated?
It molded who I am. I was a lot sweeter 10 or 15 years ago but it molds you to get your [expletive] handled upfront. ABC: What advice do you have for young women who want to pursue a career in a male-dominated industry?
My brain is cut differently than most. I work better when I have 20 different projects going on at once and under pressure. HK: I was born and raised in Atlanta, literally. I think I do good solid honest business. Oh and being Korean makes me stick out like a sore thumb.
ABC: Both of your parents are from Korea. Has being a Korean in the hip-hop industry been challenging? I made it. He was scared to death because he thought he was going to be killed. But I was born and raised on the eastside of Atlanta in an all-black neighborhood with militant Korean parents. I grew up going to Main Street Elementary [School] and Miller Grove High School, Redan [High School] and open campus and my parents instilled integrity and loyalty in me and taught me what character stands for.
I think I do well in this industry or any industry I am in because I do good-solid-clean business. HK: Any artist in this day and age is silly to believe they are in the music business. When I look at an artist I look at them like Jordan Brand. You have to look at it in a different way now. ABC: Why are artists making so much more money off of concerts than their albums? Labels want deals because they want a piece of your touring. Artists back in the day like B2K, would barely go Gold at the time but they could sell out arena.
ABC: Has the deal become industry standard? HK: There are so many independent routes to go. When we were coming up, there were only like very few superstars. Now, you have the opportunity to be your own entrepreneur and create your own hype. Instagram models are making money everyday. ABC: How have the costs of music videos changed over the years?
Is product placement more common like it has become in film? ABC: What are the biggest expenses that go into making a record? HK: Studio time and the beat. But at the end of the day most people have their own studios. How did you get the idea? Like Julia Roberts is from Smyrna. I kept pitching that for like three years but no one bit at it.
During that time, I also pitched having Tip perform during the game and they allowed it, which was really exciting. It was a great thing but it really picked up after the email thing. Even when the Knicks suck, the games are packed because those mother [expletive] love New York. Jack Nicholson will be there until the day he dies. They show love to the actual city. So you have that and you can market on top of that. This day in age things like Jerry Springer are everywhere, they just used to be taboo.
Corporate companies are very scared, but why? Unlike Rock music, hip-hop is typically labeled by one era or person. This is not a cookie cutter town. You need to watch the movie "Snow on that Bluff. We got the Folks here. Bankroll just got killed the other day.
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