Rap culture has always been obsessed with the spoils of victory. From private planes to chains on chains, the material goods a successful career in hip-hop can acquire have always been a fixture in the genre.

But what happens when those material prizes—the money, the cars, the clothes—all start to work less in favor of the image of rap celebrities, and start to work against them? When those assets aren't managed carefully and begin to backfire on those who prized them so much?

We'll tell you what happens: For one thing, the IRS usually comes calling.

And for another, inevitably, A History of Hip-Hop Going Broke emerges.

Written by M.T. Richards.

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