NEW YORK�No doubt, hip hop is everywhere � music, fashion, language, culture and even in hairstyles.

The other reality is while hip hop, or rap music, and its offshoots have become a billion dollar industry worldwide, many of those sculpting the culture of modern youth complain of feeling like "slaves on the plantation."

Even rap moguls like Master P and Sean "Puffy" Combs�who make millions performing, owning record labels and via other hip hop related ventures�complain that they lack real control of the industry.

"I don�t like the fact that we are in a business that we don�t control," said Chuck D of Public Enemy, a hip hop icon, to a group of music industry leaders, performers, aspiring artists and community activists. The Oct. 30 gathering was organized by Rev. Al Sharpton and hip hop magazine CEO Dave Mays, publisher of The Source, and held at the civil rights leader�s National Action Network headquarters in East Harlem.

While Rev. Sharpton, Mr. Mays and others talked about social responsibility and cleaning up the image of hip hop, Chuck D, Master P and hip hop veteran KRS-One talked about the importance of taking power.

"Coming down 125th St., I saw the evidence of an economic boom but our people are still mired in filth. We need to control our economics and stop making the white boys downtown rich," Chuck D continued. "These talks are cute but the whole deal is deeper and higher than what we see here in this room," he added.

The artists say they still battle with record labels over their fair share of profits, distribution and promotion, music rights and other compensation.

"That is why we need a union," said Master P. The millionaire mogul who started building his No Limit Corporation into an empire by selling records out of the trunk of his car also admits he came into the rap game ignorant.

"The union is a resource for those just coming into the business," he said.

Master P learned to control his destiny by controlling his publishing rights and getting distributors to pay him a $1 for each CD sold.

The average rapper who signs a recording contract is paid from .07 cents to .25 cents from each CD sold, artists told The Final Call. Most of the artists are not savvy enough to maintain control over their master reels after production and basically lose control of their work, which becomes property of their record company.

Master P has bucked that trend by paying artists like Mystikal, who receives a reported .50 cents per CD, more than the industry average. The extra pennies, nickels or quarters also add up: Mystikal has gone double platinum with his recent release, which featured the hit song "Shake It Fast," meaning he sold over 2 million CDs.

"We have been talking about forming the union and taking control of production and distribution since 1987, when about 25 of us met one night at the Latin Quarter, in Manhattan," KRS-One said.

According to the veteran MC, hip hop pioneer Africa Bambaataa called the meeting. The problem was afterwards those involved went back to making money individually, allowing record companies to control content and distribution and forgetting about a union or united approach, he said.

"I don�t want to see that happen again," said KRS-One, who was among those ready to deal with the nuts and bolts of forming an union to help artists protect themselves and their music.

"I feel that having a union is mandatory," said MC Infinity. "If you think about it we are self-employed without any kind of benefits. If we cut a record and it does not sell we don�t have unemployment benefits and what about health insurance?" she asked.

Hip hop has come of age after 25 years, according to Drayton Muhammad, CEO of Brooklyn-based Quiet Man Entertainment. "Like any child there comes a time when you must become independent. That is why Master P, Chuck D and KRS-One are calling for control," he said.

"To be real with it, we do need a union," commented E-DUB, a young rapper from Detroit. But he also said of some of the people talking about taking control of hip hop are "cheating artists out of their publishing, royalties, taking part of our show money. They take things from us that they have no business touching. The problem lies within. Back in the �80s it was the white record companies taking advantage of us, now it is the Black-owned companies," he said.

Others, like Mystical, are happy with some of the new Black record labels. "I will stand behind Master P for he has shown me that we can control our destiny in this business," Mystikal told The Final Call, in an exclusive interview.

Still the overriding concern about the messages and images in rap music must be addressed, said Leonard F. Muhammad, chief of staff of the Nation of Islam. Older Blacks don�t want to attack hip hop but are concerned about the overall image of the Black community, he said.

Instead of attacking one another, older Blacks and hip hop artists need to dialog and find common ground, Mr. Muhammad said. That common ground will promote unity necessary to challenge record companies and media outlets that stereotype artists and the entire Black community, he added.

The Nation of Islam official was repeating in brief aspects of discussions and summits the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan had with hip hop artists in April and May of 1997. The leader of the Nation of Islam has urged rappers to curb east-west rivalry, clean up their lyrics and unite to control the industry.

Grammy award winning songwriter and producer James Mtume, who helped organize the meeting, called the summit an overwhelming success. The one-day meeting in New York lays the foundation for a national conference, planned for January 2001, on Dr. Martin Luther King�s birthday, he said. Local summits will then be held across the country as part of work to develop a national agenda for hip hop, said Mr. Mtume, who has worked with the artists since the 1980s and participated in a hip hop summit sponsored by Min. Farrakhan.

Photos; #1-Rev. Al Sharpton at the microphone, directly behind him is Dave Mays, Source magazine, and left is Nation of Islam Chief of Staff Leonard F. Muhammad; #2-KRS1; #3-Mystikal.