KEEPING DEALS OUT OF LINE OF FIRE
Rappers cognizant of corporate marketability
By Samantha Marshall, CRAIN'S NEW YORK

When hip-hop music entrepreneur Tracey Smith first heard about last month's gunfight outside radio station Hot 97, it wasn't the welfare of rappers 50 Cent or The Game that concerned her. It was the financial future of Comp, the up-and-coming young rapper whom she is managing.

"Companies don't want to put their names on something that winds up on the evening news," says Ms. Smith. "This makes it harder for the rest of us.

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