As Lily Allen will have you know, many artists struggle to make a living from their art. To combat just that, veteran US rap squad Public Enemy are undertaking a novel approach to the recording of their next record: asking fans to fund it.

According to FACT Magazine, the iconic hip hoppers lead by Chuck D and serial reality TV star Flava Flav have teamed up with fan-funding initiative SellaBand, calling on fans to supply a total of $250,000 for Public Enemy’s next album (in $25 contributions).

It’s not a selfish process, however, as fans that contribute their money to the upcoming record will receive a share of the album’s profits, a personalised copy of the record and other exclusive rewards to be determined by P.E. themselves (we’re guessing over-sized clock-necklaces).

“SellaBand’s financial engine model goes about restructuring the music business in reverse,” Chuck D said of Public Enemy’s union with the Dutch group. “It starts with fans first, then the artists create from there. The music business is built on searching for fans and this is a brand new way for acts to create a new album with fans first, already on board.”