Back in the 90’s, independent rap budgets were out of control. They might have been scant compared to major label advances, but given today’s straitened circumstances, it was riches indeed for the backpacker brethren. You want examples? All signees to Guesswhyld were given their own Atoll in the Maldives as a sweetener. Mr Complex asked for the Koh-i-Noor diamond as a deal breaker and straight got it. Ripshop were given a million dollars cash and a reach-around each from a three-breasted whore. We’re not even going to tell you what Raw Produce got for ‘Mr Dope America’, suffice to say their necks stay more flooded than New Orleans and the only way you’ll see them is with the Hubble telescope. Let’s just say Insomnia records had an in with NASA.
Emo Recordings were small compared to these leviathans, but still hit Adagio off with more than a pocketful of lint after his 1996 mini-hit ‘Obvious Joint’. He had two options – spend it all on Cristal and foie gras and spend the rest of his life on ‘Ass & Benefits’, as his flipside puts it, or invest in a chain of budget European hotels. He plumped for the latter. Now, the penny-conscious traveller can have a room for the night that puts money back in the pockets of the hip-hop world. The Adagio hotels are no Mandarin Orientals – TripAdvisor reviews sum it up perfectly: ‘Basic But Cosy’, ‘A Very Nice Simple Hotel’, ‘Great For Travelers On A Budget’ and ‘This Is Not Your Obvious Joint, However The Bathroom Was Tiny’. You can keep your Ritz-Carlton’s, next time our pockets are shallow in Europe, this is where we’re staying. Well, either that or the B & B that J-Treds runs in Hamburg…