LAS VEGAS—When it comes to mobile, at least, Chuck D believes the hype. The driving force behind the iconic hip-hop group Public Enemy is going wireless as a mobile music aggregator, launching a distribution company to hawk ringtones, voice tones and other clips from urban artists. And he’s hoping to give young wireless users an alternative to rap tunes that glamorize guns, drugs and hookers.
“We hope this distribution platform will really give an opportunity to other musicians (who produce) more positive urban music,” Walter Leaphart, Chuck D’s manager, said last week. “Kids are force-fed when to buy, where to buy and how to buy. The labels are only caring about the quarterly bottom line, and they say (gangsta rap) is what sells. If you take all that bull**** off and put on healthy stuff, you may change a kid’s perspective.”
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The rap-icon-cum-businessman unveiled Chuck D Mobile at Mecca 2006, Billboard’s day-long, pre-CTIA conference focusing on wireless entertainment. The move looks to build on Chuck D’s work to leverage the Internet to give artists more control over their content and how it is distributed to music fans.
The provocative rapper—born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour—was one of the first artists to endorse file-sharing, and his Rapstation.com, which launched seven years ago, offers original audio and video programming as well as free MP3 downloads. He has become more active in politics, as well, hosting programs on the liberal Air America Radio network and penning a book of essays on hip-hop culture.
The mobile distribution business will sell content through both carrier decks and a consumer-facing Web storefront, and is powered by m-Qube, a Massachusetts-based mobile media company that is being acquired by VeriSign Inc. for $250 million. The business will likely offer content from both established acts and lesser-known performers—Leaphart declined to disclose any specific deals—and will allow artists to bring wireless offerings directly to consumers instead of having to go through their record labels to distribute mobile offerings. The move underscores the growing trend of artists making deals directly with mobile music publishers instead of working with traditional record labels to produce ringtones and other wireless content.
“This is not a vanity thing for him or me,” said Leaphart. “This is a business to give people a larger share of the pie; for them to see some direct revenue streams…. Basically, being an artist is being an indentured servant.”
Leaphart said the business will produce offerings from funk and other genres, and will feature new acts as well as long-established artists.
“Some of it (will be) old-school; some not,” Leaphart said. “It’s really about trying to keep it positive and provide the vehicle for the music to really expand beyond its current state.”
