"Summer Nights" by Lil Rob, Down AKA Kilo + more - Songwriting & Publishing Royalties

Two independent singles, two Billboard Hot 100 hits. “Summer Nights” reached number 36 in 2005. “Lean Like a Cholo” reached number 34 two years later. Both were West Coast records that crossed over on radio, and both are still working: 54.6 million and 14.8 million reported streams in the last twelve months.

Earnings come from 101 countries. The United States is 90% of income, South Korea the largest overseas market at 2.5%, and Israel next at 1.5%.
“Summer Nights” is 47% of the last twelve months and “Lean Like a Cholo” is 22%, so 69% of the income rides on a pair of records in their third decade. That pair is holding up better than the rest of the catalog: together they earned $24,000 and softened just 1% against the prior year, against 3.6% for the catalog overall.

Two items inside the window may. A television placement in the fourth quarter of 2025 brought in about $2,700, and the administrator paid about $2,900 of back-period royalties covering 2021 and 2022. Take both out, and the recurring base is closer to $28,900. Any future placements or back-period royalties will be payable to the buyer

New income keeps arriving on songs this old. In the last eighteen months, the album carrying “My Parade” re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 54; the song itself was placed on CBS’s “The Bold and the Beautiful” and has kept paying since, and a 2PM recording started collecting in Korea for the first time. Three new sources of income, and not one new recording made.

These songs are still growing twenty-one years on: performance income on the pair is up 87% over six years. The buyer owns the songwriting and publishing royalties on both for the life of the rights.

For a detailed analysis of earnings trends, cash flow projections, and investment criteria, review the full Investment Memorandum.

These 18 works span West Coast hip-hop, K-pop, pop and network television cue music, most of them still earning two decades after release.

Lil Rob’s “Summer Nights” was the lead single from “Twelve Eighteen, Pt. 1” in 2005 and peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on Hot Rap Songs. Down A.K.A. Kilo’s “Lean Like a Cholo” followed in 2007 as the first single from “Definition of an Ese,” reaching number 34.

Mr. Capone-E founded Hi Power Entertainment in 2000 and charted multiple albums on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop and Heatseekers lists. Three of his recordings are here: “My Angel,” “Be A Model,” and “Let Me Luv You.” Hi Power also launched Mr. Criminal, whose “Mami Mira,” featuring Nate Dogg and Mr. Capone-E, reached number 26 on the US Latin Rhythm chart. Brown Boy’s “Please Don’t Go,” Mann’s “Bend Ya,” and “Damn (Remix)” by 40 Glocc featuring Ray J, Twista and Yo Gotti round out the hip-hop side.

Two K-pop recordings carry the overseas income: “Do It Again” from TWICE’s debut EP “The Story Begins” and “Mi Chin Geo A Ni Ya,” the Korean title of 2PM’s “Go Crazy!,” both of which reached number 3 on Korea’s Gaon Album Chart.

Heidi Montag’s “My Parade” appears on her 2010 album “Superficial.” Instrumental cue music for CBS’s “Blue Bloods” and NBC’s “The Blacklist” completes the catalog, alongside Jessta James’s “Haunted Highway” and Destiny Rogers’s 2022 “Summer Nights.”

Earnings Note. Korean and Japanese royalties in this catalog are collected almost entirely on the performance side. AdminMP does not collect in those territories. Direct synchronization fees are not included.

Earnings Note. AdminMP made no distribution in 4Q2023 royalties for that period; approximately $1,700 was paid instead across the 2024 distributions, so all four quarters of 2023 are accounted for in the earnings history. Any further catch-up payments are payable to the buyer.

Earnings Note. 4Q2025 contains a television placement of “My Parade” on The Bold and the Beautiful (approximately $2,700), and the trailing twelve months include approximately $2,900 of back-period royalties from AdminMP covering 2021 and 2022 activity. Any similar payments in the future will be payable to the buyer.