hip-hop界的友情助阵经济学

    评分高居iTunes和流媒体音乐网站Spotify前列的饶舌歌曲中有一个词反复出现，它不是什么时尚俚语，也非改头换面的咒骂之词；这个词就是“助阵”。Billboard的20大蓝调即饶舌单曲排行榜中，有10首歌至少有一位助阵歌手，有2首歌甚至邀请了不止一位助阵歌手，很多都是邀请的像德雷克、克里斯•布朗、蕾哈娜、扬•杰子和泰贾等赫赫有名的歌手。“现在全球最火的歌手是助阵歌手。每张唱片都少不了这家伙，”饶舌歌手Dr. Dre的律师彼得•帕特诺开玩笑说。

    饶舌音乐历来依赖合作、采样和重新混音。但如今，助阵歌手已从饶舌艺术的特征之一，变成了其商业成功的核心内容。“饶舌歌手越来越像企业家。他们意识到，邀请其他歌手助阵新歌是实现自我突破的一种重要手段，”华纳唱片（Warner Music）的联席首席执行官托德•莫斯克维茨表示。他曾任Def Jam Records的总经理。“不光是为电台制作的单曲，所有歌曲都是如此。歌手们共同录制一张唱片时，他们就互相赢得了对方的粉丝。”莫斯克维茨

    案例一：坎耶•韦斯特2010年11月发布的专辑《我的奇特幻想》（My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy），助阵歌手多达22位，包括尼基•米娜、史威兹•毕兹以及嘻哈乐队Wu-Tang Clan的成员RZA和拉克沃恩。Bon Iver乐队、Pusha T和瑞克•罗斯甚至参与了多首歌曲。有一首歌曲《所有的光芒》（All of the Lights），演唱歌手包括约翰•传奇、The-Dream、托尼•威廉姆斯、赖恩•莱斯利、查理•威尔森、艾利•杰克逊、艾丽西亚•凯斯、菲姬、卡迪小子、蕾哈娜和埃尔顿•约翰。专辑正式发布前几周，韦斯特每周都在网上发布一首新的单曲，称为G.O.O.D. Friday （以其唱片公司命名）系列。每首歌都有助阵歌手，如贾斯汀•比伯和鲁普•费阿斯科等。

    随着这股趋势而变化的是经济因素。歌手们不再因为仅仅出现在一张专辑中就获得报酬。莫斯克维茨称：“这就像是投桃报李，艺术家A作为助阵歌手在艺术家B的专辑中唱了一首歌后，艺术家B也会同样出现在艺术家A的专辑中。”好处是曝光率，可能赢得新粉丝，以及演唱会和商业合同等。如果获得报酬，酬劳往往是固定收费，大牌明星是每首歌10万美元。另外，预付未来版税也很常见。

    很多协议——特别是不涉及财务往来的协议——都是一时兴起。制作人兼饶舌歌手赖恩•莱斯利表示，纽约大型的录音棚所剩无几，歌手们总是能不期而遇。他说：“有一次我正在为神奇小子录音，凯利•希尔森正巧在旁边一间屋录音，因此就有了一首单曲。”G.O.O.D. Friday系列歌曲Christian Dior Denim Flow的来历也是一样。莱斯利解释称：“那是一个晚上，我进录音棚，看到好多熟悉的面孔。老天，约翰•传奇，卡迪小子，劳埃德•本克斯，赖恩都在……我们得搞出点什么名堂。我走过去把按键和节奏设好，班克斯和卡迪小子即兴发挥。都是非常开放的合作氛围。”他说，一切自然而然，“我不用担心结果如何”。

    One word appears repeatedly among the top-rated rap songs on iTunes and Spotify. It is not a piece of in-vogue argot or even a masked expletive; it's the word "featuring." Of the top 20 singles on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop chart, 10 have at least one guest vocalist. Two feature more than one guest, many of them with familiar names like Drake, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Young Jeezy and Tyga. "The biggest artist in the world right now is Featuring. That guy is on every record," jokes Peter Paterno, Dr. Dre's attorney.

    Hip-hop and rap have long relied on collaboration, sampling and remixing. But the guest appearance has gone from simply a part of the artistic fabric of rap to a core feature of its commercial success. "Rap artists have become more entrepreneurial as a necessity, and they've realized a big part of them breaking is to get others on their songs," says Warner Music (TWX) co-CEO Todd Moscowitz, previously general manager at Def Jam Records. "It's not just about singles for radio, it's about ubiquity. They gain fans from each artist they do a record with."

    Exhibit A: Kanye West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which was released in November 2010. It contained an astounding 22 guest vocalists including Nicki Minaj, Swizz Beatz, as well as Wu-Tang Clan members RZA and Raekwon. Bon Iver, Pusha T, and Rick Ross each appear on multiple tracks. One song, "All of the Lights," has vocals from John Legend, The-Dream, Tony Williams, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Rihanna and Elton John. And in the weeks leading up to the album's official release, West posted a new single every week online, calling them G.O.O.D. Friday tracks after his label. Each featured guest vocalists such as Justin Bieber and Lupe Fiasco.

    The economics have shifted along with the trend. Artists no longer necessarily get paid simply for appearing on a major release. "It's almost always just a trade now, where one artist will do a verse on someone's album for a guest verse on their own record," says Moscowitz. The prize is exposure, plus gains reaped down the line from new fans and opportunities like concerts or merchandising deals. When they are paid, compensation is often a flat fee, with bigger stars pulling as much as $100,000 per track. Advances against future royalties or copyright credits are also common.

    Many agreements -- especially ones that have no financial component -- are made on a whim. Ryan Leslie, a producer and R&B singer, says there are so few big studios left in New York that artists will often find themselves in close proximity. "There's a studio video of me making a record for Fabolous, and Keri Hilson just happened to be in an adjacent room recording, so it turned into a single," he says. The same thing happened with the G.O.O.D. Friday song "Christian Dior Denim Flow." Leslie explains, "It just happened that the night I came by to see 'Ye, everybody was in the studio. He looked around and said, 'Man, we've got John Legend, Kid Cudi, Lloyd Banks, Ryan... We gotta do something.' I went over to the keys, the beat got laid, Banks and Cudi did their verses. It was a very open and collaborative vibe." When that happens, he adds, "I don't worry about the back end."