3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and Hip-Hop's Multibillion-Dollar Rise

by Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Overview

Tracing the careers of hip-hop's three most dynamic stars, this deeply reported history brilliantly examines the entrepreneurial genius of the first musician tycoons: Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z.

Being successful musicians was simply never enough for the three kings of hip-hop. Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z lifted themselves from childhood adversity into tycoon territory, amassing levels of fame and wealth that not only outshone all other contemporary hip-hop artists, but with a combined net worth of well over $2 billion made them the three richest American musicians, period.

Yet their fortunes have little to do with selling their own albums: between Diddy's Ciroc vodka, Dre's $3 billion sale of his Beats headphones to Apple, and Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service and other assets, these artists have transcended pop music fame to become lifestyle icons and moguls.

Hip-hop is no longer just a musical genre; it's become a way of life that encompasses fashion, film, food, drink, sports, electronics and more — one that has opened new paths to profit and to critical and commercial acclaim. Thanks in large part to the Three Kings — who all started their own record labels and released classic albums before moving on to become multifaceted businessmen — hip-hop has been transformed from a genre spawned in poverty into a truly global multibillion-dollar industry.

These men are the modern embodiment of the American Dream, but their stories as great thinkers and entrepreneurs have yet to be told in full. Based on a decade of reporting, and interviews with more than 100 sources including hip-hop pioneers Russell Simmons and Fab 5 Freddy; new-breed executives like former Def Jam chief Kevin Liles and venture capitalist Troy Carter; and stars from Swizz Beatz to Shaquille O'Neal, 3 Kings tells the fascinating story of the rise and rise of the three most influential musicians in America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316316538
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	261,531
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Zack O'Malley Greenburg is the senior editor of media & entertainment at Forbes and the author of two books: Empire State of Mind, a business-focused biography of Jay-Z (Penguin/Portfolio, 2011) and Michael Jackson, Inc. (Simon & Schuster/Atria, 2014), a deep dive into the King of Pop's financial realm. Zack graduated from Yale in 2007 with a degree in American Studies and immediately joined the staff at Forbes, where his annual Hip-Hop Cash Kings packages gave the genre its first sustained, serious coverage in the mainstream business press. His work has also appeared in the Washington Post, Billboard, Vibe, McSweeney's, and Sports Illustrated. He lives in New York with his wife and cats.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction 3

Chapter 1 The Originators 13

Chapter 2 Writing on the Wall 37

Chapter 3 Bad Boys 60

Chapter 4 Studio Gangsters 83

Chapter 5 Aftermath 105

Chapter 6 Fashion Fortunes 125

Chapter 7 A Fourth King? 141

Chapter 8 The Beats Generation 162

Chapter 9 Grape Expectations 180

Chapter 10 Sound Investments 199

Chapter 11 Ice in the Winter 218

Chapter 12 State of the Art 234

Afterword: Kings, Queens, Presidents, and Precedents 249

Acknowledgments 253

Giving Back 256

Cast of Characters 257

Notes 265

Index 298

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/29/2018
Greenburg, a media and entertainment editor at Forbes who focused on the business success of Jay-Z in his previous book, Empire State of Mind, here widens his scope for a detailed look at the rise of the financial empires built by Jay-Z and his hip-hop contemporaries Diddy and Dr. Dre. Incorporating interviews with such early hip-hop pioneers as Fab 5 Freddy and Starski, as well as many of his subjects’ current business partners, Greenburg follows the growth of hip-hop from New York City’s “dysfunctional housing projects” in the 1960s and 1970s to Diddy’s Revolt network, which brought hip-hop “to fifty-million people between cable, Web, and mobile.” Greenburg provides sharp looks at the intricate ways in which Diddy, “the flashy impresario”; Jay-Z, “the brainy lyricist”; and Dre, “the quiet perfectionist..obsessed with sound quality” parlayed their unique skills into hugely successful business deals, such as Dre’s cofounding of an electronics company, Beats, that Apple bought in 2014 for $3 billion, and Jay-Z’s investment in the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. It’s an excellent look at hip-hop that combines cultural and financial history to show what Greenburg, referencing rapper KRS-One, calls “the hip-hopitization of corporate America.” (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for 3 Kings

"There is no keener, more knowledgeable and scintillating observer of the modern cultural scene than Zack Greenburg. He proves it with this definitive, absorbing history of hip-hop and its three mega-giants. It reads better than an adventure novel and provides highly useful entrepreneurial lessons for anyone who wants to achieve success."—Steve Forbes, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes


"Hip-hop is one of the most significant cultural forces of the past half-century, not just in music but in art, fashion, film, technology, politics and business. Greenburg provides a comprehensive review of hip-hop history on all fronts. It will inspire newcomers and deepen the appreciation of aficionados, while explaining just how hip-hop took its current place on the world stage."—Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global and Huffington Post

"I've been blessed to work with Diddy, Jay-Z and Dr. Dre, and let me be honest: 3 Kings gives you the major keys to how the biggest bosses on the planet keep winning."—DJ Khaled, recording artist and entrepreneur


"Greenburg's narrative traces how the titular kings' trajectories transformed a music genre into a global juggernaut that's equal parts industry, culture and movement. There are copious lessons here in bringing ferocious energy to a concept—and honing that concept for the masses—that will serve would-be moguls in any arena."—Kathryn Dill, Careers Editor, CNBC


"Finance is a central focus in hip-hop, but few writers have the facts and figures to discuss it credibly. Greenburg demystifies three iconic rap artists who these days make most of their money apart from rap. It's a well-constructed analysis that you don't need to be an expert to appreciate."—Ben Westhoff, author of Original Gangstas


"Plain and simple: I'm just a diehard fan."—Kevin Olusola, Grammy-winning member of Pentatonix


"A vividly clear depiction of the commercial empires built by Diddy, Jay-Z, and Dr. Dre. The book documents their humble beginnings, their rise to fame and illustrates the important connection to the pioneers who paved the way for their success... an exceptional read."—Rocky Bucano, President of the Universal Hip-Hop Museum


"If Jay-Z, Diddy, and Dr. Dre are shrouded in mystery and inclined towards self-mythologizing, Greenburg does one of the most difficult things a reporter can do: he artfully chronicles their ascent, carefully accounts for their fortunes, and renders moguls as actual flesh and blood mortals. It reaffirms his bona fides as the preeminent journalist covering the business of hip-hop."—Jeff Weiss, author of Biggie vs 2pac


"Greenburg reveals a blueprint for how billions were made by and for the artists themselves. An excellent read and a valuable education for entrepreneurs, industry insiders, outsiders, and music aficionados."—Josh Davis, author of Two Awesome Hours


"Greenburg has become one of the rare reporters to bring dignified coverage of the hip-hip business into the mainstream."—Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback

"The number of hundred-million-dollar deals Greenburg chronicles is staggering. But he's also aware that hip-hop's megamogul phase is fading, as artists like Kanye West and A$AP Rocky forgo chasing huge profits in search for prestige. 3 Kings proves it was sweet while it lasted."—Rolling Stone


"Greenburg provides sharp looks at the intricate ways in which Diddy, "the flashy impresario"; Jay-Z, "the brainy lyricist"; and Dre, "the quiet perfectionist...obsessed with sound quality" parlayed their unique skills into hugely successful business deals...An excellent look at hip-hop combines cultural and financial history."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)


"Engaging reporting that will satisfy neophytes and devotees alike. A wide-ranging survey of the first four decades of hip-hop that vividly brings some of the culture's biggest success stories into one place."—Kirkus

"Greenburg's ability to weave the facts and figures of his subjects into hip-hop's cultural lineage makes 3 Kings an engaging read for fans of the beats or business."—Lipstick Alley

Praise for Empire State of Mind

"One of the year's best rock books."—Bloomberg News


"Fascinating, well-done biography of one of the most extraordinary entrepreneurs of our era."—Steve Forbes

"Zack O'Malley Greenburg has become one of the rare reporters to bring dignified coverage of the hip-hop business into the mainstream. Empire State of Mind is a pure product of Greenburg's care and insight, an exploration of hip-hop's most enigmatic mogul, Jay-Z."—Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop


Selected for "Rock your summer reading list" roundup—The Charleston Gazette-Mail

From the Publisher

2017-12-19
A reported history of the business and businesses of hip-hop.Talking about the many successes of Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z, Russell Simmons says to Forbes senior media and entertainment editor Greenburg (Michael Jackson, Inc.: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of a Billion-Dollar Empire, 2014, etc.), "they just said, ‘Why don't I do it myself?' It's funny that in other industries, people didn't do it, all the rock stars, they never did it." This entrepreneurial spirit is the author's primary concern as he traces hip-hop from its origins in 1970s New York to its current station at the center of the cultural mainstream. Drawing from interviews with several hip-hop pioneers, Greenburg goes in depth on the early years to establish the context in which his titular figures arose. However, forefronting the three iconic moguls proves a bit ham-fisted. While they are the wealthiest individuals to emerge from hip-hop (combined wealth of at least $2.5 billion), the author strains to identify qualities these different men share that might set them apart from other major figures in hip-hop. Greenburg puts forward 50 Cent as a possible fourth king, and he devotes plenty of space to Simmons, the first hip-hop mogul, and other contemporaries such as Nas and Swizz Beatz, who have done well financially. But coming on the heels of The Defiant Ones, HBO's tribute to the business acumen of Dre and Jimmy Iovine, and Jay-Z's album "4:44"—among other things, a wealth-management tutorial—this book offers a pleasingly broad perspective of hip-hop as economic triumph. Furthermore, Greenburg's vivid descriptions—a small sampling includes the "farty bass lines" of Dre's G-funk period; Suge Knight in his notorious 1995 Source Awards appearance "looking like a gang-affiliated Kool-Aid Man"; and Diddy dressed like "a very fashionable porcupine"—make for engaging reporting that will satisfy neophytes and devotees alike.A wide-ranging survey of the first four decades of hip-hop that vividly brings some of the culture's biggest success stories into one place.

Kirkus Review

Read More