I’ve watched the music industry since the Mid90s including the formats music was sold on, the locations where these physicals were sold, as well as the streaming era. I’ve been invested as a fan but have also been enamored with rap music as a business since I was a kid. I always heard about hitting a lick in 90s gangsta rap tracks I loved but I didn’t hit my first lick until eBay in 1999. I was a student of the rap and hip hop game who cracked message boards on AOL early, was out in these streets at every record store adding to my collection, and then watching the market establish itself when buying something on the internet was brand new to us…. whoa… that is crazy… I bought 211 Ounce of Game for $8 at The Wherehouse Music in Mesa, AZ and flipped it for $80 in a few days. I officially just got my first ounce in the game.
Whoa… I just flipped $8 into $80? I had never experienced that. I became a fiend… I needed to get another hit… I went back out on my BMX or skater that day or night with my backpack and my headphones and my Discman and was up and down those streets. Within a 5 mile radius, I had 5 record stores ranging from big box (Tower), regional (The Wherehouse), college campus record store, a local chain (Zia Records), and independent (Eastside Records… Wait.. was Stinkweed’s there too? Maybe it was 6 record stores in a 5 mile radius? Oh wait… There was the Tempe The Wherehouse and Mesa The Wherehouse… 7 record stores in a 5 miles radius? I hit all of them because the second I saw that Young Dre D in those used CD racks, I creepin on ah come up. That Young Dre was purchased for $7 and flipped for $75…
I studied eBay sales and bids and listings as a whole learning about what was available, what was in demand, and what was rare and even super rare… There were levels. So when you found Gangsta Dre Gang Bangin Poetry used in a record store, you started to learn that there were different pressings of these CDs and OG copies fetched a pretty penny… I got that Gangsta Dre in my Discman and how could I ever get rid of it? It was so good… But fam… You don’t sit on the sidelines when you can make $90 off an investment of $10. That’s exactly what I did too… Flipped Gangsta Dre because I knew I’d run into him again sometime in my life. But I needed money… I was broke. These CD flips became my side hustle as my part time job was at Nordtrom while I also went to school… I was hustling in ‘99.
I always wanted that Cold World Hustlers album on Black Market Records but it was so rare. You had to have a lot of money or be super OG if you had that Cold World Hustlers CD. Alex had it though… Of course Alex had it. Alex had the coolest car that sounded all sick inside with the system but then on the outside that thing was so gangster. Alex’s whip was the definition of clean and that hair and overall style? Bro… Legendary. If you owned the Cold World Hustlers in the collection, we had to be homies. I wanted to listen to it at a time when you couldn’t stream it. Maybe it was on Napster but never all of the tracks. So when somebody had Cold World Hustlers you had only seen it and heard about it. Then Alex throws it on while we roll around town thinking we’re hard AF. Maybe we were tho?
I need to know… Is Freaky Fred still alive? If so, just let him know that his style on that album cover inspired me and still inspires me til this day. That album cover was so dope!! And so was Freaky Fred. But getting $100 for a Freaky Fred CD I found deep in the used racks? Yup… stacking chips.
When I got my hands on X-Raided’s Psychoactive I thought I was going to go to jail if I got caught with it. I listened to that album and it was the hardest gangsta rap album I had ever heard. But when you buy it for $9, you let it move for $80… you had to. And while I don’t have Psychoactive in my collection now, I’ll get there. But in the meantime, hell yeah I’m still shootin mahfuckas.
I wish you could have seen my reaction when I found that Dush Tray… I knew I struck gold.
When I found a cassette of Rich the Factor though?? Shout out Kansas City and JT the Bigga Figga for helping bring more listeners over to that KC sound. Get Low Playaz for life thooooo… Rich the Factor was like Richie Rich to me… Just think if Rich the Factor and Richie Rich did a track with each other??? How crazy would that be? Here’s Rich the Factor for yall… that one was a $6 for $60 type lick.
You find an OG of Bloods & Crips? You can get $30 - $40 for that. Take it for $10 and make your moves homie… Bump that “Piru Love” again and again. That album cover is all I ever wanted to be in my life… A g with all his homies repping his music… That is dope.
You find that Messy Marv and San Quinn and you’re feeling good… That’s a quick $10 for $60 minimum. I need Explosive Mode back in my collection. It’s been too long.
I was always on the hunt for The Click Down-N-Dirty OG… I always knew that was a lick but I also always knew I just needed it in my collection so I could actually bump it in my walkman… but nah… of course I sold it… I was addicted to the cash. That was a $9 for $75 but it stung. I always loved E-40… He is still dope.
But the best come up of all time for me? I don’t even need to do the math… I bought 2Pac”Trapped” when it dropped for $5 and 5 years later, I sold it for $250 to somebody in Canada… Wait… How do I ship a cassette to Canada? $250 for a cassette? I couldn’t believe I owned something that was worth $250. I finally got Pac back in my collection with that one… Bought it for $100… Easy buy… No low ball offer or watch list games from me. Just cop on site!
alright… now I’m just going to hit you with heaters… No more words… just tracks you have never heard of but need to. and if you know these, just know that you and me are homies real talk… shout out to the OGs in the game and cool uncles who put the youngsters on.