Swizz Beatz is one of the most celebrated producers of all time but he's also made a name for himself in art as well as business. He graduated from Harvard's Business Program in 2017 but he would probably admit it took him a long time to get there. Before becoming a producer for the biggest artists in the game, the rapper was putting in work in the Bronx as a DJ but he definitely wasn't as knowledgable about the ins and outs of the music industry.
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According to PageSix, Swizz Beatz reveals how he once had $700K in checks sitting inside of a shoebox but he had no idea that they were from his royalties. If it wasn't for his grandma, then there's a possibility he may have also thrown them out.
"I thought the checks being sent to my house was Publishing Clearing House checks,” Swizz recounts on the upcoming episode of Untold Hip-Hop Stories. "In the hood, they’re sending you checks from everywhere. Like, every week you won a million dollars… My grandmother used to make me just save them in a shoebox. So, I had $700,000 in the shoebox. I never got royalty checks ever in my life before. Nobody told me. So I’m sitting here eating ramen noodles and I got $700,000 sitting in a shoebox?”
The episode airs on Thursday.
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Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years.
Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021.
Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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