No Hype? What’s Up With That?

Rap fans may not have heard about it, but a massive hip-hop concert touting a lineup of Shaquille O’Neal, DMX, Kurupt, Run DMC and others is scheduled for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in less than two weeks.

The organizers of the Hip-Hop Unity Festival scheduled for Dec. 4 say they are grappling with poor ticket sales and credibility issues as they try to spread the word about a show that could be the largest rap event in recent memory--if it actually happens.

“It’s such a monumental event we’re having a hard time convincing people that it’s really going on,” says James Love of Edgewater Entertainment, the show’s L.A.-based promoter. “There’s been a lot of problems, but it’s getting done. . . .”

But is it? Fewer than 2,000 tickets of the available 80,000 had been sold as of Friday, according to a source affiliated with the event, and numerous concert industry insiders were privately questioning the show’s planning and viability.

Wilson Ebiye, president of Edgewater, pointed out, however, that radio advertising for the show will be stepped up in the next week and that rap concerts traditionally enjoy strong walk-up ticket sales on the day of the show. Despite that optimism, the promoters said Friday that the show may be switched next week to the far smaller Sports Arena.

The six-hour festival must also overcome the troubled reputation of live rap performances, which have long been tainted by poor production values and occasional outbreaks of violence. Organizers of the Unity Festival say their event will not only defy those stereotypes, it will also inspire other promoters to resurrect rap as a viable concert business.

The show’s roster of performers, as of Friday, also included Ice-T, KRS-One, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Slick Rick, Xzibit, Jayo Felony, Whodini, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, Mad Lion, Luniz, Ras Kass and Brimalous. Los Angeles Laker superstar O’Neal will be joined by fellow NBA players Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and Courie Blount, who will be guest emcees.

Kevin Black, senior vice president of Twism Records, who negotiated the appearances of O’Neal, Kurupt and others at the show, said he met several times in recent days with the promoters to discuss the show’s lack of advertising.

“They’ve got some work to do. They’re just starting to get their act together,” said Black, whose label is part of A&M; Records. “But they got us our money, so everything is fine as far as we’re concerned. . . . Whether 10 people show up, 10,000 or 100,000, our artists are going to perform like there’s a million people there.”

Counting on Last-Minute Sales

The show is billed as a tribute to fallen rap stars Tupac Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G. and Eazy-E and as a call for the hip-hop community to unite in a show of community and mutual support, organizers said. It’s that spirit, they say, that will draw a strong crowd.

“I believe this show is going to do very well, and most people are going to buy tickets the week before the show,” Ebiye said. “We’re going to pump up the volume on the show.”

So far, the volume has been at whisper level.

“I can’t find anyone who’s heard anything about this show,” said Nick Masters, vice president of Avalon, the Encino-based promoters who have done hundreds of concerts, from the Rolling Stones to Bruce Springsteen. “Nobody is talking about it; not radio, not the street-level guys, nobody.”

The dearth of marketing and reports of meager ticket sales could spell trouble for the looming show, Masters said. “I would never bad-mouth any promoter--the job’s too hard--but I don’t know about this show. A very large venue, out doors, in the winter. . . . Let’s just say it’s a very ambitious show. I hope they can pull it off.”

Ads for the show began running in recent days on KKBT-FM (92.3), but two weeks ago the station opted “not to be involved, promotionally speaking,” said Eileen Woodbury, director of marketing for the station. She declined to elaborate.

The promoter’s contract with the Coliseum does not specify a minimum ticket sales level in order for the show to go on, according to Jon Lee, the venue’s marketing director. Edgewater has “taken every step necessary” to organize the show, including obtaining $1 million in insurance and lining up off-duty police officers for inside security, Lee said.

“They’re not wannabes,” Lee said of the promoters.

If successful, the show, which the organizers hope to film for a cable TV documentary, may help pave the way for more rap events.

Besides image and production problems, the genre relies on studio technologies and a performance style that does not always lend itself to live performance, according to Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, a trade publication for promoters. Though rap music accounted for an estimated 10% of album sales in 1997, it’s a footnote in concert revenue across the nation.

The Smokin’ Grooves festival shows in recent years “proved rap could be produced successfully,” Bongiovanni said, but even that was a somewhat muted success: The tour this year played to half-empty amphitheaters in numerous cities despite celebrated headliners like Wyclef Jean, Busta Rhymes and Public Enemy.

“Rap sells a huge amount of records, but that hasn’t translated often to big sales for concerts, even Smokin’ Grooves,” Bongiovanni said. And that doesn’t make the industry observer optimistic about the upstart festival trying to fill the Coliseum. “It sounds like they got problems,” he said.