Name: Master P on how hip hop and corporate America can help each other
Uploaded: 2023-09-04T13:37:34.222Z
Duration: 932.75

TRAILER_Bridging the gap between Hip hop and Corporate America V2.mp4

Master P.vtt

English

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Hi, I'm Jordan Thorne and
we're here at TMRE 2021.

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Today I'm joined by the Percy Miller.

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He's the music mogul, businessman and
philanthropist at No Limit Records.

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Percy, thank you so much
for joining us today.

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I'm glad to be here.

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Yeah, this is an amazing event.

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And when you talk about business, you
talk about entrepreneurs, this is great

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to be in this environment to see how
many people are chasing their dreams.

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Yeah, it's incredibly inspiring.

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I know today you're going to be
talking a bit about corporate America

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bridging that gap with hip hop culture.

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I'd love to know how you see hip hop
and culture driving today without

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corporate American influences.

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Well, hip hop is steady growing.

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People said that it's probably
going to be around like five years.

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And now when you look at 30, 40
years later and seeing the influence

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that hip hop has on the world, it
definitely changed the culture, but

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bridging that gap between corporate
America and hip hop, I mean, this

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is the way people sell products now.

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So you got to go to hip hop artists
that are influencers to sell

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your products and your brands.

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And I feel like, the old traditional
way has changed and corporate

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America realised that in, and
now it's time to be able to build

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economic empowerment off of that.

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And what about the culture
of hip hop do you think makes

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it so appealing to the youth?

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Well, hip hop is edgy, it's
urban, but it's crossover.

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So it bridged that gap between
white, black, Asian, Latinos.

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It's everybody now.

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And, it's what sells.

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So people don't realise that
these influencers really is

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selling product and corporate
America has realised that.

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Yeah.

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And now they recognise that if I had
this artist, I had this community,

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this is where my products, because
when you look at urban America, I

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mean, we spent trillions of dollars.

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And so I think brands are really
understanding the power of hip hop.

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Incredible.

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And so, obviously, undoubtedly, hip hop
has become a major cultural influence.

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Can you tell me what young people
look like today where they're maybe

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not influenced by corporate America?

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Yeah.

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When you talk about corporate America
and you talk about going against

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the grain and being a rebel and just
being outspoken, people love that.

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Like this is more edgy at times
than the 1960s and 70s, even 80s.

{{00:03:22}}
Like people realise that if it
stand out more people want it.

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Look at the colors you're wearing
now, it looked good, but it stand out.

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And I think that's
what hip hop is about.

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And I think corporate America is
realising that we can be ourselves

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and still be corporate America,
and still be educated, still be

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sophisticated, still create change,
create opportunity and create revenue.

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Because think about being a strong
woman, being able to stand outside

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of the crowd, but still have
that humbleness about yourself.

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I'm grateful and I'm thankful.

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And I think that's what
hip hop is showing now.

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It's like, don't judge
me by what I wear.

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Don't judge me by how it look,
judge me by what's in here, just

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me by high sale product or how
I'm able to generate revenue.

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And then you see the genius
and hip hop and the culture.

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And I think that's what corporate
America is really getting a taste of.

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I mean, me coming from the inner
city and to be able to sell a hundred

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million records, when you got guys
that have been around so long that

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couldn't sell a million records,
or 2 million records and you know,

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following the traditional way.

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I started out the trunk of my
car and now when you have social

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media, you're able to meet so many
people and being able to promote

{{00:04:53}}
your brand just by being outspoken.

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And I think corporate America
starts seeing that we can still

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do it the right way, but come to
a happy medium and bridge that gap

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with hip-hop to sell more products.

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That makes sense.

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So obviously it's a change in
thinking around, in one sense, the

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way that people used to think you
have to be involved in business.

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What do you think corporations can
do to incorporate their brands,

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products or messaging into hip
hop culture in a meaningful way

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without actually exploiting it?

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Because I'm sure we've seen many
indicators around how people exploit

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it, just because it's, you know.

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Well, you don't know.

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I think that we have to get to the
shareholders of these companies and

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get them to think untraditional if they
want to expand their brands and grow.

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And I mean like what you doing?

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We could put a suit on, we could
have our tennis shoes on now.

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But we could still go get the job done
and be comfortable and be ourselves and

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then, believe in what we're selling.

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And that's how I get up and work.

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If I had my own shoe company, why would
I want to wear somebody else's shoes?

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I mean, that's what hip hop is about.

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We've been buying all these brands.

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And we've been buying families.

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So I want to show the culture,
now it's time for us to create

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some of those family brands.

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When you look at, I think a
lot of guys, they walk around

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with these name brands.

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I mean, when you look at Wells Fargo,
you go to a bank, that's a family.

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That's somebody's last name.

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Oh, when you look at,
Versace, these are families.

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These guys built generational wealth.

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And hip hop culture is starting to
realise it's time for us to build it.

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And that's what I've been doing.

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And I think that's the next
level of wisdom of thinking for

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me, it's not about the money.

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It's about wisdom.

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It's about, education and it's about
being a student of the game, watching,

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learning, growing, getting better.

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And it's also about feeling, not
being able to be afraid to feel.

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Have you experienced
that kind of failure?

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Yes.

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Yes.

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A lot of failure to get to
where I'm at and I'm grateful

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and thankful for the failure.

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And I think that's
what hip hop is about.

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I mean, we feel so much
to where we kept going.

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I tell you all the time and you can't
get you the door, go through the window

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or the chimney, but we keep going.

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And that's what hip hop is about.

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That's why we keep growing.

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And, now it's going to the level
from just marketing and promoting

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these brands to creating our own.

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And that's what all these
entrepreneurs are here today.

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And they're starting to realise
that, these are last names.

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These are family names that
have been passed down, legacies.

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But when we look at these things,
we don't realise that we just

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think we got the hottest fashion
on, but these companies and these

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brands are really families that
are building generational wealth.

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And I think that's where hip
hop is getting smarter now.

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So that's why corporate America
want to deal with us because

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they realise that we're more
educated, we're passing stuff down

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from generation to generation.

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I'm able to pass stuff down to my kids.

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And that's what generational
wealth excels at in the

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culture, hip hop saying that.

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Cause we wasn't thinking like that
20, 30 years ago, we just wanted

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to have a hot song or blow up.

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And now it's like, no, let's
change that thought pattern

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to let's build something.

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So you could pass this down from
generation to generation and corporate

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America is the way, and that's how we
bridge that gap to where we both win.

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So, that's a really interesting point.

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And I think something I've sort
of was thinking about around

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corporate sort of corporate America.

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How has corporate America, this
might be controversial, but been

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both disrupted and productive
to your career as a businessman?

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Nah, it's definitely been both.

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But it's a challenge in anything to be
successful, it don't happen overnight.

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It's a process.

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So they had to figure out that I'm
going to be around for longevity.

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And they had to realise that I was
going to change and grow at my process.

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And that, if I do, if I'm valuable
to the culture and corporate America

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at the same time, then I'm a living
testimony that this can work.

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I started out of poverty and
as I educated myself and got

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better they said, well, you
know better, you do better.

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And I start realising that
it's a bigger picture.

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This is not the small
piece, just making a record,

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being a part of hip hop.

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But I'm saying this is being a part
of creating an economic empowerment.

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So I put a hit record out,
sold a hundred million records

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now started selling product,
getting into the product business

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because product outweighs talent.

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And I started realising, if
I'm going to have longevity,

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then I have to create product.

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And when I started creating product,
I realised that now I get a chance to

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tap into the corporate America world.

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And now we're building diversity
putting minorities on products,

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women on products, onto the shelves
that you normally wouldn't see.

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And so I started thinking like, we
could use our brands to build that,

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build a whole other space of revenue.

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Cause they always tell you be good
at one thing, I say, no, be great at

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one thing, but be good at a lot of
things that you are passionate about.

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And so for me, I realised
I was gonna buy clothes.

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I was going to buy food, so
why not create it and make it.

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Yeah.

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So it's almost like your, this idea
of bridging corporate America really

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it's people like you're the bridger.

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You're the person that's saying, hey,
we can exist in both ways, but you

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need people to be able to bridge it.

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So think about it, right?

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When you look at Aunt Jemima and Uncle
Ben, the products, you would think

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it's African-American owned products,
just because you see African-American

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people on them product, but it's not.

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Over a hundred years people start
realising, educating themselves,

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getting smarter and the power of
the internet exposed that it's not.

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And I'm like when I create a
business, I say, let's find a problem.

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So I created LA Great, which
stand for living authentically get

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you really excited about today.

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And it's a food brand.

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I created chips, I created water, I
created a pancake cereal, and I started

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looking and saying that we consume
this all the time, we're the producers,

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and that's when I realised that 20, 30
years from now, the culture going to

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realise that we had a plan of action.

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We worked hard.

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I had a great team.

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We put a team together and
we went and conquered the

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food and product business.

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And be able to come from hip hop, and
that takes such into corporate America.

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Yes, paves the way for others to do it.

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Yes, and we also open up
other opportunities for

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other people, executives.

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We able to create jobs for
people in the community.

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Our vision is the more we make,
the more we give and we've been

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doing this for a while now.

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And by having a successful business,
we're able to give back to the

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community, help the elderly,
help educate the next generation.

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And that's how we bridge that gap.

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That's incredible.

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So, as you talk about sort of economic
empowerment, being really vital to

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driving change in African-American
communities, minority communities.

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I look at the example of your son,
Romeo, who is a very successful

{{00:13:10}}
music artist and entrepreneur in his
own right, and I'm sure you have,

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many of your kids have taken on the
business acumen that you have, how

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do you feel about parenting being
the first education with regards

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to independent business ownership
and entrepreneurs and for African

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American and minority communities?

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Yeah.

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You know what?

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It's powerful to make sure
that your kids don't have to go

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through what you went through.

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And that starts with education.

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Most important thing is
start with spending time, for

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Romeo to be successful, he
had to spend time around me.

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I had to do the right thing and
then we want to break that negative

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stereotype that's been passed
down from generation to generation

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when we just dwell on the past.

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And with me and Romeo, we realised
that we can't change the past,

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but we can change the future.

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So I think that's what keeps us
motivated and keeps us going to where

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we know that we have a purpose and
we want to fulfill that purpose.

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And we want to do good business
with integrity with good people.

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Incredible.

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Well, thank you so much
for talking to me today.

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It's been, honestly, you're
such an inspiring person.

{{00:14:23}}
It was incredible to see the change
that is happening as a hip hop

{{00:14:27}}
culture lover myself, you know?

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You think that the time is now
for the youth to come up and

{{00:14:35}}
be able to change their lives.

{{00:14:36}}
Yeah.

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I mean, to be honest with you,
executives, CEOs of companies

{{00:14:41}}
are getting younger and younger
and now with the power of the

{{00:14:45}}
internet, you could be 10 years
old and be a multimillionaire.

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I was looking at the kid on YouTube
that's probably making $37 million a

{{00:14:55}}
year just with promoting products and
brands, there is no age limit now.

{{00:15:00}}
And that's true hip hop.

{{00:15:02}}
And that's you having these avenues
and these internet social media outlets

{{00:15:08}}
that we could build, like now it's
about making money in your sleep.

{{00:15:12}}
So there's a lot of bosses sitting at
home now, especially since COVID-19

{{00:15:16}}
we start realising how do I plan?

{{00:15:18}}
How do I prepare to work from home?

{{00:15:21}}
And the game has changed.

{{00:15:23}}
Well, thank you so much.

{{00:15:24}}
It has honestly been a pleasure.

Hi, I'm Jordan Thorne and
we're here at TMRE 2021.

He's the music mogul, businessman and
philanthropist at No Limit Records.

Percy, thank you so much
for joining us today.

And when you talk about business, you
talk about entrepreneurs, this is great

to be in this environment to see how
many people are chasing their dreams.

I know today you're going to be
talking a bit about corporate America

I'd love to know how you see hip hop
and culture driving today without

People said that it's probably
going to be around like five years.

And now when you look at 30, 40
years later and seeing the influence

that hip hop has on the world, it
definitely changed the culture, but

bridging that gap between corporate
America and hip hop, I mean, this

So you got to go to hip hop artists
that are influencers to sell

And I feel like, the old traditional
way has changed and corporate

America realised that in, and
now it's time to be able to build

And what about the culture
of hip hop do you think makes

Well, hip hop is edgy, it's
urban, but it's crossover.

So it bridged that gap between
white, black, Asian, Latinos.

So people don't realise that
these influencers really is

selling product and corporate
America has realised that.

And now they recognise that if I had
this artist, I had this community,

this is where my products, because
when you look at urban America, I

And so I think brands are really
understanding the power of hip hop.

And so, obviously, undoubtedly, hip hop
has become a major cultural influence.

Can you tell me what young people
look like today where they're maybe

When you talk about corporate America
and you talk about going against

the grain and being a rebel and just
being outspoken, people love that.

Like this is more edgy at times
than the 1960s and 70s, even 80s.

Like people realise that if it
stand out more people want it.

Look at the colors you're wearing
now, it looked good, but it stand out.

And I think that's
what hip hop is about.

And I think corporate America is
realising that we can be ourselves

and still be corporate America,
and still be educated, still be

sophisticated, still create change,
create opportunity and create revenue.

Because think about being a strong
woman, being able to stand outside

of the crowd, but still have
that humbleness about yourself.

And I think that's what
hip hop is showing now.

It's like, don't judge
me by what I wear.

Don't judge me by how it look,
judge me by what's in here, just

me by high sale product or how
I'm able to generate revenue.

And then you see the genius
and hip hop and the culture.

And I think that's what corporate
America is really getting a taste of.

I mean, me coming from the inner
city and to be able to sell a hundred

million records, when you got guys
that have been around so long that

couldn't sell a million records,
or 2 million records and you know,

I started out the trunk of my
car and now when you have social

media, you're able to meet so many
people and being able to promote

And I think corporate America
starts seeing that we can still

do it the right way, but come to
a happy medium and bridge that gap

So obviously it's a change in
thinking around, in one sense, the

way that people used to think you
have to be involved in business.

What do you think corporations can
do to incorporate their brands,

products or messaging into hip
hop culture in a meaningful way

Because I'm sure we've seen many
indicators around how people exploit

I think that we have to get to the
shareholders of these companies and

get them to think untraditional if they
want to expand their brands and grow.

We could put a suit on, we could
have our tennis shoes on now.

But we could still go get the job done
and be comfortable and be ourselves and

If I had my own shoe company, why would
I want to wear somebody else's shoes?

So I want to show the culture,
now it's time for us to create

When you look at, I think a
lot of guys, they walk around

I mean, when you look at Wells Fargo,
you go to a bank, that's a family.

Oh, when you look at,
Versace, these are families.

And hip hop culture is starting to
realise it's time for us to build it.

Expert Insight

Music mogul, philanthropist and entrepreneur Percy Miller, otherwise known as Master P, shares his journey from hip hop artist to serial entrepreneur with a multi-million dollar business legacy.
In this exclusive interview, Miller explores how influential hip hop culture has become. He also addresses how corporate America and hip hop can help one another as rappers and large companies unite to create great music and mutual respect.

Diversity

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Percy Miller

Music mogul, businessman & philanthropist

Decades from its birth, hip hop as a culture has steadily grown into the global cultural influence we know today.
Master P talks about what makes hip hop so appealing to the youth and shares the power in the people companies should be going to, to sell their products.

Chapter 1: Understanding hip hop's influence on culture and its relevance to corporate America

We're living in even edgier times than those in the 60s and 70s--where people are more outspoken and are celebrated for standing out.
Miller discusses how corporate America  is just starting to get a taste of how hip hop influencers and urban culture have the ability to be themselves, while at the same time create change, provide new opportunities and create new revenue.

Chapter 2: Anti-corporate attitudes of today's youth

Growing up from humble backgrounds, Percy was once the anomaly when it came to being seen as anything more than just a music artist.
The music mogul and successful entrepreneur we see today pushed boundaries to carve out a legitimate stake in business. Proving to corporate America the power of hip hop and it's cultural influencers.

Chapter 3: Percy's journey coming up from inner city to successful entrepreneur

The products we all know and love, tend to come from longstanding family legacies who continue to build generational wealth.
Miller emphasizes the new era we're entering, where the time is now for hip hop culture and its people to start building their own generational wealth. He works to promote and educate young urban communities to rise up and take up stake in the corporate game.
Rather than promoting and marketing other brands, he urges young African Americans and those from within the hip hop culture to create their own legacy businesses.

Chapter 4: New players in the generational wealth game

Success doesn't happen overnight. Miller talks about how he had to be recognised as valuable to the culture and thus valuable to corporate entities. He talks further about how vital it was to change his thinking and move towards creating economic empowerment in order to build longevity in corporate America.


Chapter 5: Corporate America's disruptive & productive impact on Miller's career

Breaking stereotypes has been a challenge African American and urban communities in general continue to face when looking to participate and become major stakeholders within corporate America.
Closing this disparity gap, finding ways to provide economic empowerment and carving out opportunities for the youth, Miller states, should happen through parental education.
Miller shares how his son, artist and entrepreneur Romeo, was able to watch his father example and break those stereotypes through empowerment to change the future.