Would you rather be:
An artist signed to a major label, being extremely well known, getting major paper with little to no creative control over your albums?
Or
An independent artist, less known, making enough money to live comfortably and 100% control over the creative content of your albums?
On this week’s edition of Where Is Hip Hop?, Randy and I discuss major labels influence on an artists creativity.
Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers. Lupe Fiasco’s Lasers. B.O.B.’s The Adventures Of Bobby Ray. Gucci Mane’s The State Vs. Radric Davis. What do all of these albums have in common, besides the fact they were all released within the last year?
Each of these albums were released on Atlantic records, and they were also albums in which it was obvious the label had major control over the creative content. When you look at each of these artists’ recent mixtapes and put them up against their albums, the sound is totally different: Rolling Papers sounds nothing like Kush & Orange Juice, The State Vs. Radric Davis sounds nothing like Mr. Zone 6.
Obviously the machine’s formula worked because these records sold anywhere from 100,000-200,000 in the first week. However what about the artist’s creative control? Lupe was crying in interviews for years because the label wouldn’t release Lasers or let him make the records he wanted too.
So what about you? Would you rather be an artist signed to a major label, getting major paper with little to no creative control? Or an independent artist making enough money to live comfortably and 100% control over the creative content of your albums?
Where Is Hip Hop? Episode 77: Controlling Creativity
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WHERE IS HIP HOP? will give you information on the current state of Hip Hop in the world today as seen by Randy Roper aka Randy Exclusive, Music Editor of Ozone Magazine and yours truly. We talk about who is hot and who is not, interviews, how we feel about certain albums and the direction of Hip Hop culture in the world today.
Think of us as the Roeper and Ebert of Hip Hop.
Get ready to be EDUCATED, INFORMED and ENTERTAINED.