Ghostwriting in hip hop goes back as far as the first hit hip hop single, “Rappers Delight”, by the Sugar Hill Gang. Lemme give you a short history lesson. Grandmaster Caz was an emcee managed by Big Bank Hank, a member of The Sugar Hill Gang.  Caz was a member of the Cold Crush Crew. This is the crew Jay-Z refers to in Izzo; “I’m overchargin niggaz for what they did to the Cold Crush”.  Caz wrote the lyrics to Big Bank Hank’s verse in “Rappers Delight”, one of the most memorable in hip hop history.

Anyway, Caz never received credit or money for his contribution and the rest is hip hop history. Caz may have become the first hip hop ghostwriter.

In almost all cases though, the ghostwriter has a full understanding of whats involved and is in agreement with the terms of the relationship between him and the performing emcee. This usually means that writer is paid to shut his trap about ever being involved with composing or writing the song.

Nas has reportedly written tons of shit for other performing rappers. Jay-Z has publicly said that he’s been paid well not to say who he writes for.

Ghostwriters are never credited nor do they receive any writer’s royalties for their work. They are considered, work for hire. There are a some cases when an emcee will write for another and receive full credit and royalties. An example would be Rhymefest’s contribution to Kanye’s, “Jesus Walks”.  But this is not really ghostwriting because his contribution is fully disclosed. Some people mistake this for ghostwriting because most people assume that all performing emcees write their own shit and their asses don’t read the credits.

There really isn’t a standard for how much ghostwriters should be paid for each contribution. These things are always negotiated.  If you’re skilled with the pen and can keep a good fuckin secret, you can possibly make you some extra cheddar in the industry.

As always, if things get to legally confusing, seek the council of an entertainment attorney.

You may also like: