Hip Hop Research & Marketing in Atlanta Strip Clubs

Though not everyone accepts the idea of the strip club as hip hop research and marketing center it certainly seems to be catching people's attention. In some cases, it's also raising issues as what many see as a Southern phenomenon moves to other locales, for example, when Lil Jon hosted a listening party for E-40 in New York that made some members of the press feel uncomfortable.

Richard Fausset from the LA Times recently took a look at hip hop and strip clubs in Atlanta and discussed the connection between rappers and strippers:
Two decades ago, strip clubs were among the few places that would play the nastiest Southern rap records. As Southern rap went mainstream, the connection between club DJs and musicians has grown stronger. And so, Monday through Wednesday nights — when Atlanta’s professional class most likely is sleeping — undiscovered hopefuls descend on three of the city’s best-known strip clubs, promoting their dreams and demo CDs in the presence of live nude girls.

One such spot is Magic City's "Magic Monday" where hopeful artists are said to have paid the dj as much as $200 to get one play of their song during the evening. At Body Tap’s “Richlife Wednesdays”, fees start at around $50 and "the rates go up as the night wears on and more big shots roll in."

Another Atlanta area spot is Stroker's where Tosha Love, Atlanta's WVEE music director, oversees Tuesday's "Looking for a Hit" night:
The disc jockey plays one song by each of the first 10 unsigned artists who walk through the door, so long as they tip the dancers during their numbers. Then Love gives each artist a free critique. From time to time, she finds a trendsetting song at Strokers and adds it to her station’s playlist alongside the music of more established rap and R&B performers.

As Love points out, a strip club "can feel like an odd place to do business" because:
You have to get used to the strippers walking around, but this industry is basically built on the street . . . You have to get back to the street to know what’s hot, and in Atlanta a lot of times that means the strip clubs.

In fact, Ludacris states, "strip clubs is just the place here. . . It seems they get all the good music first."

Followed by:
Hip Hop Research & Marketing in Strip Clubs, Pt. 3

Comments

[Nicoli]

Hip-Hop is like the old slave hyms from back in the day when slavery was in effect. The blacks use these hyms to express thereself to other black folks. Thats the same with Hip-Hop except for one change and that is everybody is expressing thereself with Hip-Hop. If you listen to other style of music these days alot of them have a Hip-Hop verse in it or some kind of ryhme skeem. Hip-Hop is nomore the the blame for every young black male that has lost there way and decide to live life another way, no it is a part of the music culture that will steadly grow. Peace.

[JaWar]

I wonder if the price for rappers to perform with in Atlanta Strip Clubs has increased much since 2006. It would be interesting to note if other cities and states have adopted the music business practices of indie rap in Atlanta by having rappers perform with strippers in clubs.