US southern rapper Master P's success as a business man has exceeded his success as a rapper and it is his business interests which have placed him amongst the entertainment industry's top earners.
Master P's main success was identifying what was popular and satisfying that demand. His early involvement in the record industry was at the retail-end of the business, setting up and running the No Limits record shop in Richmond, California. This gave him ground-level feedback on what record buyers wanted. He set up No Limit records, to release his own and others' work, specialising in the emerging gangsta rap scene.
Master P's career as a rapper met with limited success, the exceptions being Mr. Ice Cream Man and MP Da Last Don, both million-plus sellers. The latter album features contributions from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Snoop Dogg. In addition to his solo career he formed the hard core rap crew TRU (The Real Untouchables) with Silkk the Shocker and C-Murder. Meanwhile the No Limit label built on its success with the signing of a number of established West Coast rappers, including Snoop Dogg, Mystikal and Mia X.
He then started The New No Limit Records and Guttar Music Entertainment all of which fell under No Limit Enterprises, with Master P as the CEO. The entertainment conglomerate encompasses diverse interests such as clothing, travel and film making, and has been so successful that he has written a book, Guaranteed Success, on how to become a multi-millionaire.