He was the first jazz artist to sell more than a million copies of a single record – “Minnie the Moocher” – and he went on to record numerous albums. Cab earned an average of $50,000 a year, even in the midst of the Great Depression, when so many people were unemployed and poor. He invented a new form of jazz singing, "scatting," and ended up doing what he had always dreamed of: being an artist and seeing the smiles on people's faces every day. Perhaps most importantly, he changed the music industry by proving that black artists could perform in front of white audiences. In these and other ways, modern black hip-hop and jazz artists owe a debt of gratitude to Cab Calloway. Without their previous successes, they might not have had the same opportunities they have today.