What's Behind the Surge in Hip-Hop Catalog Sales

ChatGPT-4’s arrival broke the internet today and can reportedly pass the bar exam with a 90% score 🤯 Millennials are punching the air right now. The video below of four-year-old, Justin Wilson II, playing drums like he has 40 years of experience is the visual representation of GPT-4 in my mind. In other news today:

• Yeat & Don Toliver: second-week sales

• Lil Uzi Vert reveals the meaning behind “satan” lyric

• Nicki Minja co-signs Ice Spice

• Why the interest in hip-hop catalogs is surging

• Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly turns 8

• Industry Insights

• $100 cash giveaway

First & Second Week Sales

Last week covered how first-week sales projections matched up to the actual sales for Yeat and Don Toliver’s new albums. Now, the numbers are in for week 2, March 3rd to 9th according to Hits Double Daily, and Don Toliver’s Love Sick proves to be a grower.

After making a #8 debut on Billboard’s 200 albums chart, Love Sick drops by 6 spots this week clocking in at #14 with sales dropping by just under 10,000. The dip is to be expected but longevity is more valuable than making a first-week splash.

Meanwhile, the initial popularity of Yeat’s Aftërlyfe diminished substantially dropping 15 spots on the Billboard 200 chart to #19 and sales were less than half of the first week numbers.

Lil Uzi Vert Reveals Meaning Behind Satan Lyric

Lil Uzi Vert wants to make one thing clear: they don’t believe in the devil and lyrics don’t always have a literal meaning but they said what they said and they’re not about to retract it either.

After debuting new songs during their Rolling Loud California set, headlines started circulating about one lyric in particular. “I make a City Girl believe in Satan,” they rapped in reference to ex-girlfriend JT and what was perceived to be satanism.

Talking to TMZ, Uzi said the lyric was a metaphor and not a reference to satanic worship. “Basically, I make a girl do whatever I say so,” they said. Uzi doubts JT will take any issue with the lyric because she was in the studio when the song was made and didn’t think much of it.

The convo also confirmed that their highly-anticipated album, Pink Tape, is dropping in two months. Don’t hold your breath though, if promises from Playboi Carti prove anything it’s that 2 months is more like 2 years in rapper time.

Uzi doesn’t pay attention to what people say online either. The satan comments went unnoticed and Uzi nonchalantly asserted that while they didn’t mean to offend anyone, “if they don’t like it, they have the option to turn it off”.

Nicki Minaj Co-Signs Ice Spice as Princess of Rap

From one royal to another, Nicki Minaj showed her love for Ice Spice by retweeting the latter’s new Dazed cover titled “The People’s Princess”. That’s high praise coming from the Queen of rap herself.

Spice is a known barb and highlighted her tweet from 2018 when she “practiced” her reaction for when Nicki Minaj would eventually follow her. Looks like manifestations do come true.

The Dazed cover also shed light on some things you may not know about the Bronx rapper. Born Isis Gaston on January 1st, 2000, a birthday that coincides with the new millennial, it feels kismet that Spice is becoming a star from the same neighborhood credited as the birthplace of hip-hop.

She loves these New York drill artists

Spice’s ascent has been compared to Pop Smoke who she says is “goated” and an artist she was bumping every day before she started making music seriously. She also credited Sheff G, Sleepy Hallow, and Bizzy Banks for being on heavy rotation.

Her Bronx roots can be heard in her music and the video for “Munch” was even shot in the same park she’d go to every day after school.

The “Boys a liar Pt. 2” Money Flex

On “Bikini Bottom”, Spice bragged about making “two milli for using a mic” but the recent numbers don’t lie. In the 4 weeks following the release of “Boys a liar Pt. 2”, from February 3rd to March 2nd to be exact, the song generated $499,842 in revenue from 104,135,962 streams.

The reported revenue is from Hits Double Daily’s song chart, which is tracked and compiled week after week in Thursday’s newsletter. “Boys a liar Pt. 2” will no doubt break the half-a-million mark when 5th-week numbers are in.

What’s Fuelling the Surge in Hip-Hop Catalog Acquisition by Investors?

Metro Boomin’s partial publishing catalog sale of $70 million last week was the most recent in hip-hop catalog acquisitions but he’s not alone. Future, Dr. Dre, and Juice WRLD have also made multi-million dollar catalog sales as of late.

If you haven’t already read our music catalog deals breakdown, you can catch up here but the recent trend calls into question the common belief that hip-hop catalogs sell at discount. That belief is because hip-hop assets are newer than pop or rock, which make up some of the highest-grossing catalog deals, and their decay curves are unknown bringing the sale price down.

What is a decay curve?

The decay curve is the point at which a song’s popularity decreases, in its lifecycle, and reaches a predictable state of income generation. This curve is commonly estimated based on the past performance of other songs in a genre and investors take analytics like this into consideration so they can determine potential revenue versus sale price when contemplating a catalog purchase.

Is hip-hop still a “young” genre?

No, the Grammy Awards' recent tribute to hip-hop’s 50th anniversary and the Super Bowl hip-hop halftime show, coupled with events like Dr. Dre’s 1992 album, The Chronic, getting a special re-release for its 30th anniversary have helped diminish skepticism about the genre’s decay curve and longevity.

Dr. Dre’s catalog has stood the test of time making him more of an “evergreen” name which provides assurance to investors about his catalog’s continued relevance.

Data from valuation experts shows that the number of hip-hop deals increased in 2022. The bias among buyers, less familiar with genres like Latin and hip-hop, is starting to fade and those catalogs are no longer trading at the same discount they were 5 years ago.

What’s the unique potential for hip-hop catalogs?

The genre is defined by storytelling and personal experiences which makes it a gem in the intellectual property creation space. Every song has the potential to be turned into a film, TV series, or podcast building on the rich story behind the lyrics.

Think of shows like Black Mafia Family, the story of Big Meech and Southwest Tee is inextricably tied to hip-hop. Their entertainment label in the early 2000s may have been a front to launder money for their drug trafficking business but it also served as a promoter and record label for hip-hop artists and the BMF family became famous amid the genre’s culture and history.

The prices hip-hop catalogs will command as their appeal grows remains unclear. Dr. Dre’s catalog sold for over 20x its net publisher’s share and the multiple being paid for assets across all genres remains in the 15-17 range.

What works in hip-hop’s favor is that it’s the genre most streamed by millennials and Gen Z. If streaming is the biggest revenue source for a catalog, then hip-hop is king 👑 

Remembering Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly

Tomorrow marks the 8-year anniversary of To Pimp a Butterfly, one of Kendrick’s critically acclaimed albums for its socially conscious themes, innovative production, and lyricism.

What’s the Significance?

The album tackles a range of social issues affecting the African American community, such as institutional racism, police brutality, and economic inequality. Kendrick provides powerful commentary through his lyrics and calls on his listeners to address them.

The production incorporates elements of musical styles outside of hip-hop, from jazz and funk to soul. The combination of influential lyricism and dynamic production is why it’s regarded as a landmark album in the history of hip-hop.

Awards on Awards

The album won 3 Grammy Awards in 2016 for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the song “Alright”.

It also won 3 BET Awards and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album.

• Diddy joins the bidding war for BET and wants to build a “black-owned global media powerhouse”.

• NF’s “Motto” debuts No. 1 on Hot Trending Songs Chart. It’s the 2nd track from his upcoming album Hope, releasing on April 17th.

• YG reveals the craziest thing he’s ever done for love in a new interview with Power 106.

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