“Love & Hip Hop” co-creator Yandy Smith says she missed out on millions.

‘Love & Hip Hop’ Origin

Smith had an idea for a show centered on rapper-turned-actor Jim Jones. She managed Jones at Atlantic Records and saw the strong synergy he had with his inner circle and family, which she believed would translate well on camera. So she hired a camera crew to follow Jones around.

“We lived our life on a tour bus ’cause he was always on tour. I said, ‘I’m going to put you on camera because I feel like this can be something,'” she explained on the podcast “Rickey Smiley On The Spot.”

She tapped director Yolande Geralds to capture footage for a weekend.

“We captured all kinds of craziness,” Smith explained on the podcast.
Smith pitched the concept to Jim Ackerman, a senior vice president at VH1 at the time, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Smith brought Jones in and felt strongly he could sell the show, and he did, she shared.
“I got a development deal, and with that development deal we started shooting a pilot,” Smith said.
She said they filmed a sizzle reel previewing what the reality show would look like, and it was well received. The network then expressed interest in developing a full season.
Smith described several challenges that nearly derailed the project. Then she reached out to producer Mona Scott-Young, who had been her boss after she graduated from Howard University. Scott-Young was already pitching a different show centered on women in Hip Hop. They decided to combine their ideas.
The show was originally called the “Untitled Jim Jones Project,” and Scott-Young suggested the name “Love & Hip Hop.” Smith requested to be credited as an executive producer.
“Love & Hip Hop: New York” officially launched on VH1 in 2011, WSB-TV reports.
“I was like, ‘Just make sure Jim and his family is the forefront family.’ So we came together, you know. She had a bunch of women that were in Hip Hop. Some of the women ended up on the first season of ‘Love & Hip Hop,’ and some never hit the light of day, and we put this amazing cast together,” she said on “Rickey Smiley On The Spot.”

Business Lessons

In retrospect, Smith admits she was happy to be brought on as a producer. However, she overlooked the business side of being an executive producer, including securing ongoing compensation and being grandfathered into the process when a show is franchised.

The franchise added Atlanta, Hollywood, and Miami, but you won’t see Smith listed as a producer on those shows. Smith signed her contract with a music attorney who had managed Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, and LL Cool J. She assumed they understood a television deal, but they did not. While the music attorney took their percentage, they, in fact, knew nothing about the industry.

“I didn’t know anything about ownership … When I look back on the contract that I signed, no way did it do me justice to what I make, right? I mean, I’ve made millions from ‘Love & Hip Hop,’ but I should have been in the hundreds of millions,” Smith mentioned on the podcast. “We’ve employed hundreds of people. We have been on TV now collectively … for 17 years. There are executive producers of this show that are richer than me that wasn’t dreaming with me when I dreamt of this.”

The lesson she hopes aspiring entrepreneurs take away from her experience is to have a legal team that knows the business.

“Get your paperwork out right and don’t let anybody take your dream from you,” she said on “Rickey Smiley On The Spot.”

Franchise Is Coming To An End

The “Love & Hip Hop” franchise will end after 15 years, Complex reports. A six-part special, “Love & Hip Hop: The Final Chapter,” will release in the fall on VH1, “celebrating its impact, unpacking its most talked-about moments, confronting the controversies that shaped the conversation, and examining its legacy,” according to a press release.