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.H I P H O P M AT T E R S.Three weeks later, in its June 20 issue, Billboard reported that Master P’s album Da Last Don sold 495,000 units in its first week.That was a bigger debut than any other record in the U.S.that year.According to Billboard, in its 1998 end-of-the-year pronouncement regarding the music industry’s highs and lows, “Not only are these artists selling to their street base in the first week; they’re appealing to a much broader audience than ever before.” Master P, the New Orleans–based head ofNo Limit Records, came out of nowhere to become one of the indus-try’s biggest stories in 1998.P’s No Limit Records captured the bigbass, bouncy beats, and raucous rhymes that fueled the creation of anumber of recording studios and production houses across states asvaried as Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, and Florida.Born Percy Miller, Master P grew up in the Calliope projects onNew Orleans’s South side in the 1970s.As a youngster he had sharedthe oftentimes fruitless hoop dream that grabbed the hearts andminds of so many poor black boys.When he and his wife, SonyaMiller, received a $10,000 check as part of a family settlement involv-ing the death of his grandfather, they pondered their future.Aftercareful deliberation they decided to open a record store.While sell-ing kids rap music that most of the major music retailers did notstock, they stumbled upon a niche and discovered an opportunity.Percy began recording songs he sensed could sell well throughoutthe South.He spent a thousand dollars to produce the album TheGhetto’s Tryin’ to Kill Me and then journeyed across Louisiana, Texas, and other parts of the South selling that first recording out of his car.Amazingly, he sold 100,000 copies.Like a number of upstart rappers,Master P had to rely on his own instinct, talent, and energy to estab-lish his product and his dream.His career in the music business turned more intriguing whenDave Weiner, West Coast sales manager for Priority Records, saw himselling records out of the trunk of his car.Priority monitored Master P’s success and made him an oƒer.Here, finally, was what any small64 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]