The "epic story" (Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop, Won't Stop) of hip-hop's rise from street culture to global industry-and of the people who worked to make it happen. The Big Paybacktakes us from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the recent multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were done, The Big Paybacktallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC's crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/ entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs. 300 industry veterans-well-known giants like Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, the founders of Def Jam; and key insiders like Gerald Levin, the embattled former TimeWarner chief-gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance.