How To Make It In Hip-Hop

You might not know the name Steve Lobel but if you’re a hip hop fan, chances are that he’s worked with some of your favorite artists.

His resume includes some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Sean Kingston, Nipsey Hussle, Easy-E, Common, Missy Elliot, Big Pun, Fat Joe, Run-DMC, Jam Master Jay, Scott Storch and countless others.

In addition to his incredible track record in the music business, he’s also been a successful entrepreneur from an early age. Growing up in Queens, New York, he: Shoveled snow, raked leaves, delivered newspapers, bussed tables and anything else that he could do to make some extra money.

As he got older, he evolved as entrepreneur.

He launched A-2-Z Entertainment, in 2001, which has music, film and production divisions.

In 2019, Lobel opened Lemonade/We Working: A cannabis dispensary/hip-hop museum, containing some of the memorabilia that he has collected over the years.

It also has its own music studio, complete with an engineer.

They frequently do meet and greets with hip hop artists, such as: Dave East, Krazyie Bone, Benny The Butcher, OhGeesy and more.

It’s truly unlike any dispensary that I’ve ever seen.

He also owns the Cookies dispensary in Woodland Hills, CA.

In 2019, he co-founded, with legendary hip hop producer Scott Storch, the treatment facility The Heavenly Center. Based on the recovery of Storch, they use cannabis as a treatment for drug addiction.

Finally, Lobel recently launched an online course, called “Steve Lobel’s Educational Series.” It’s a how-to guide for artists trying to make it in the music business.

He shared some of his tips here.

Build Your Audience One Fan At A Time: It’s a marathon, not a race, as Nipsy (Hussle) said. I work with two independent artist and they want it overnight. These things take time. Can you have a bullet and go real quick? Yeah, but then what happens? So, to all the young artists out there who think they can do it all by themselves, just keep putting out music and let’s see what catches. And get one fan, after another fan, after another fan and build that fanbase.

Be Patient: Of all the artists that I’ve worked with, the one story about being patient for success is Nipsy Hussle. He never put out a major album release. He was making music and putting it out on CDs and giving it out in the hood. You’ve got to understand; he didn’t want it overnight. We’d argue about having a radio record. And he’d be like, ‘No. I’m not chasing radio. Let radio come to me.’ His philosophy was, ‘We’re going to take our time. And we’re going to develop this.’ And he was putting out mix tapes. And at the end of the day, he was just putting out music when he wanted to. And then he got signed to Atlantic Records. Then he put out a major release, after 12-13 years, and it went platinum and then he won a Grammy.

Be Different: Everyone to me is doing the same stuff. ‘Let me upload to the streaming services. Let me go on Instagram. Let me do my little TikTok videos.’ What is going to make you different? What’s going to make you innovative? If I were an artist, I think I’d be very successful because, in my business world, I do different things. I’m very creative, from the museum to the dispensary, to the treatment centers. So, artists be innovative. Be creative. Think outside of the box. Don’t follow everybody. When everyone else is going left, I go right. Be a leader, not a follower.

Take Risks: Scott Storch asked me to be his manager. Now, at the time, he’d been out for nine years. So, I told him I’d be his manager. The first year was really hard. The second year was even harder. It was so hard to get him work. Everybody was telling me, ‘No. He f****d us over. He’d never show up to the studio. He took our money. He’s washed up. He doesn’t have it anymore.’ But I like challenges. And he trusted me. I started putting him with new artists: A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Roddy Rich, PnB Rock. Russ never worked with a producer and I got him in with Scott. And he got platinum records.

If I was an artist, I’d pay attention to Lobel. He’s been right for 30 years and continues to evolve, both personally and professionally. And that’s the one thing that every successful person that I’ve ever interviewed has in common.

You’re either growing or you’re dying.