The Big Payback (book)

The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop is a book by Dan Charnas chronicling the business history of the hip hop industry.

The book was generally well-received, described as "epic" by The Village Voice and named a "must-read... character-driven narrative" for anyone interested in the subject of hip hop, the hip hop music industry, or the music industry in general by the Los Angeles Times. Dan Charnas revealed that his research for The Big Payback included interviewing "over 300 people: record executives, entrepreneurs, artists, managers, producers, DJs, journalists," which the L.A. Times noted as "meticulous" and indicative of "fine sense of both the macro and the micro". praised for its "intertwining of commerce and art".

The book was criticized for its sense of focus and incomplete narrative. Evelyn McDonnell of the Los Angeles Times wrote that despite its "ambitious scope," The Big Payback lacks balance, failing to mention "Atlanta, Houston, Miami, etc." while focusing on hip hop mostly from an East-West Coast perspective.