What Hip Hop artist would you pay for to see live?

What hip hop artist will get you to come out to a live performance?  Nowadays, it’s hard to find that one act that will get people to come out and spend a couple dollars.  Don’t get me wrong, for major acts like Lil’ Wayne, Eminem, and Jay Z they have no problems filling the seats at any venue, but how does a promoter find the right act to get a good turnout without losing his pants? 

Will the Lox make you move?  How about Joe Budden?  J. Cole maybe?

For most businesses when planning they utilize break-even strategies.  When organizing an event of this nature, you have to do the same.  The trick is to be able to at the least make your money back.  I recently attended a concert at Indiana University of Pennsylvania that featured rap artist Fabolous.  For those who follow the hip hop music scene you would think that a Fabolous concert would sellout or at the least be a couple chairs just short of it.  Wrong!  There were approximately 400 – 500 people there, tops.  But how could this be?  Here is your answer.  While there were a couple hundred of black people in attendance, there were only a handful of white people there.  The key to a great turnout is to get white folks to come out and attend the event.  Statistically, blacks only make up 13.1% of the U.S. population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.   With that being said, it is very difficult to get a successful turnout with only capturing the black audience. 

White people buy 75% of hip hop albums sold, so is it the actual event that keeps white people away?  Maybe white people are not comfortable at these types of events, but if that was all the way true, then people like Lil’ Wayne and Drake would not sell out either?

So many things came to mind as I wrote this blog.  This article can go many ways, but I hope those who read this leave their opinions.

Planning any event can be tough, especially when the overhead becomes too much.  Remember, planning a break-even strategy is imperative for preparing for an event, but the key to a successful hip hop event is to find an artist with mass appeal for a fair price.