Consequence speaks on Kanye, Pusha-T, Big Sean (G.O.O.D Music) Breakfast Club

[Harry B]

I don't give a fukk what Conz say..u don't sign a nikka and refuse to work wit him cause of budget..that's bytch shyt..Basically Ye was bout to run that nikka Big Sean's whole style and then not put him out..industry is fake as fukk..

Besides Cons being a notorious bullshytter he didn't say Kanye is refusing to work with Pusha-T, fukk he put him on his first single on his last album. He said that Kanye is restricted by a budget. Kanye was also on his EP, he produced 2-3 joints for his mixtape and on. Thats the thing with imprints, you're throwing up the major labels dough not your own.

 

[spliz]

No point signing to a major? You dudes know that these rappers are doing whats best for them right? They are not stupid fukks getting lured into stuff. Pusha been in the game for damn near 15 years, he knows about labels and he knows about grind.

It's about getting a lot of stuff for "free", travel expenses, industry exposure, having a team doing shyt for you and a bunch of things so that you don't have to worry about anything besides making music. You might get lucky and hit the jackpot like Mac Miller, but most times it's better to be a "failing" artist on major like Pusha-T than to be a failing artist indie like J. Kwon.


To go indie you need money, a business mind, an office taking care of a bunch of things, lawyers, transportation, quick access to studios all over the country and a bunch of other things to even be a major league indie player.

It's damn near pointless to be at a major right now..unless its distribution...this is somethin u ain't bout to tell me bout cause I been dealin wit label politics for years...Them muthafukkas is damn near exclusively handin out 360 deals and gettin paid for shyt they dont even do anymore..then half the muthafukkas that get signed..get straight up SHELVED my nikka..but they caught up in contracts so they cant move..and I was learning how to read contracts as well..u wouldn't believe the bullshyt these labels have artists sign..with the amount of outlets..and the lack of work the label wants to put into u..it's pointless..cause if u know ANYTHING..ain't shyt for "free"..u gotta pay all that back..but if u don't sell nothin..or release nothin..how u gonna pay it back?..so u in debt my nikka..and that's what it is..

 

[Harry B]

It's damn near pointless to be at a major right now..unless its distribution...this is somethin u ain't bout to tell me bout cause I been dealin wit label politics for years...Them muthafukkas is damn near exclusively handin out 360 deals and gettin paid for shyt they dont even do anymore..then half the muthafukkas that get signed..get straight up SHELVED my nikka..but they caught up in contracts so they cant move..and I was learning how to read contracts as well..u wouldn't believe the bullshyt these labels have artists sign..with the amount of outlets..and the lack of work the label wants to put into u..it's pointless..cause if u know ANYTHING..ain't shyt for "free"..u gotta pay all that back..but if u don't sell nothin..or release nothin..how u gonna pay it back?..so u in debt my nikka..and that's what it is..

The thing is the successful cats on major labels love it, the people that failed and got dropped hate it.

Same ol' story, J. Cole became a star selling out shows world wide via a major. Other rappers like him doing it indie live in their moms basement.

They might be signing 360, those deals make sure that the label will try all they got to put you on, the important question is what the split is. We can't just say that 360 deals are bad when everyone is signing these contracts blessed by high priced lawyers.

I'm not telling you anything, I'm just saying not everyone is built for the indie route. The successful people love it, the unsuccessful hate it and its the same thing with the indie route, difference is the major label route makes a lot more money for a lot less work. It's like an injured ball player saying fukk professional sports, no health insurance, pension nothing while on the other hand we have .

Thats why its advised to build a buzz first, so when you come to the negotiation you've got leverage like Khalifa, Drake, Spitta etc.

 

[Lavish]

there really isn't a benefit. I mean hell even cats that are established like pusha t who has a platinum album under his belt getting his project shelved. might as well go the drake/rick rauce route and release them shyts yourself. a cat like pusha t would definitely at least make some bread off that instead of sitting around waiting on ye for him to

yeah fam. its crazy. why you getting shelved when you can release it yourself. its not like kanye is bringing anymore fans to him.

its really pointless.


lets look at big krit for example. he has a pretty solid online fanbase. so def jam didnt really push him to hard. now look. boy sells 40,000 units first week. yet he produced his whole album. lets say he's getting 10 cents off off every album ( dont know how many cents/dollars rappers get now) he not making that much off those record sales.

soon as his contract is up, he should just go independent. if he sold records at $10 a pop on itunes, that would of been 400,000 g'z in his own pocket. he's not paying producers.

so y the fukk should he be on a lable. what are they doing for him besides puttin there hands in his pockets?

krits my favourite rapper right now, and you know how I found out about him? I seen his channel on youtube. def jam really had nothing to do with it

its sad man.

 

[Fredrick Thuglas]

 

[WhiteDawg3000]

And this is why its WACK to even sign to a major these days..these muthafukkas want u to do THEIR job and still get paid for it..fukk outta here...the whole point of me signing to this muthafukka is to get that extra backing and u tellin me I gotta do fukkin everything myself yet u wanna take MORE off my plate than normal wit these shytty 360 deals n shyt..the major label music biz is straight fukked up..and there's no way to spin it..there's enough outlets now..might as well get a manager and do it urself..how da fukk u gonna sign an artists to ya shyt and then tell em they budget ain't big enough for u to get in the studio wit em?..yet u sharkin they whole swag and blowin up and makin cash off it..fukkin greedy snakes..

I really really DOUBT Drake coulda done on a independent label what he was able to do on YMCMB... those dudes (Baby and Slim + Wayne) (and to a certain degree Nicki, I guess) got some major connections

 

[brasco901]

To me....cons made a lot of sense.

 

[beenz]

yeah fam. its crazy. why you getting shelved when you can release it yourself. its not like kanye is bringing anymore fans to him.

its really pointless.


lets look at big krit for example. he has a pretty solid online fanbase. so def jam didnt really push him to hard. now look. boy sells 40,000 units first week. yet he produced his whole album. lets say he's getting 10 cents off off every album ( dont know how many cents/dollars rappers get now) he not making that much off those record sales.

soon as his contract is up, he should just go independent. if he sold records at $10 a pop on itunes, that would of been 400,000 g'z in his own pocket. he's not paying producers.

so y the fukk should he be on a lable. what are they doing for him besides puttin there hands in his pockets?

krits my favourite rapper right now, and you know how I found out about him? I seen his channel on youtube. def jam really had nothing to do with it

its sad man.

nah man. when u sell on itunes, u gotta give apple like 30% of the revenue off the top given u charge for your music. even still, thats a better deal than going the traditional record label route. cuz you still keep all ur show money.

 

[OnlyInCalifornia]

Actually people get signed for all kinds of reasons and the budget for that artist isn't neccessarily set right when you sign him. Especially if you are talking about an imprint like GOOD Music. The major label backing it will dictate how much they are willing to budget for an artist. So Kanye may sign a Big Sean because he thinks hes talented but if Def Jam doesn't think he can move units they are not going to spend a ton on him.

 

[Lavish]

nah man. when u sell on itunes, u gotta give apple like 30% of the revenue off the top given u charge for your music. even still, thats a better deal than going the traditional record label route. cuz you still keep all ur show money.

tru, I forgot to factor in the itunes fees. but yeah, he still better off.. and he doesnt have to stick to itunes, he could sell it through other mediums.

 

[NigerianDonDada]

Actually people get signed for all kinds of reasons and the budget for that artist isn't neccessarily set right when you sign him. Especially if you are talking about an imprint like GOOD Music. The major label backing it will dictate how much they are willing to budget for an artist. So Kanye may sign a Big Sean because he thinks hes talented but if Def Jam doesn't think he can move units they are not going to spend a ton on him.

People forget that L.A Reid signed Sean. It wasn't until Barry Weiss took over at Def Jam that they started to focus on Sean (FF3 mixtape started buzzing). It was actually Barry Weiss's son who was a big fan of Sean and wanted his dad to start pushing/focusing on Sean which they did.

 

[Hood Critic]

Economics is absolutely right. And the key to those economics is Branding.

Not even 10 years ago major label brands (Universal, Def Jam, Sony, etc) were responsible for the money makers in urban music.

The people who run these labels are business men/women, when your primary brand goes cold, you create and/or acquire a new brand (the label imprint).

Now all of the hottest artists in terms of popularity and radio domination are all signed to or affiliated with one of a handful of imprints (G.O.O.D Music, Roc Nation, MMG, YMCMB).

The industry didn't change, it just re-branded itself.

 

[The_Sheff]

yeah fam. its crazy. why you getting shelved when you can release it yourself. its not like kanye is bringing anymore fans to him.

its really pointless.


lets look at big krit for example. he has a pretty solid online fanbase. so def jam didnt really push him to hard. now look. boy sells 40,000 units first week. yet he produced his whole album. lets say he's getting 10 cents off off every album ( dont know how many cents/dollars rappers get now) he not making that much off those record sales.

soon as his contract is up, he should just go independent. if he sold records at $10 a pop on itunes, that would of been 400,000 g'z in his own pocket. he's not paying producers.

so y the fukk should he be on a lable. what are they doing for him besides puttin there hands in his pockets?

krits my favourite rapper right now, and you know how I found out about him? I seen his channel on youtube. def jam really had nothing to do with it

its sad man.

The thing is though that some people dont want to be the artist who performs at shows for 500 people, they want to be the artist who performs for 20k in big arenas. Big Krit cant sell out an NBA arena but Kanye can, Jay-Z can, Lil Wayne can, etc.... So at what point in your career do you decide to not shoot for the top and settle on being the C-tier music star?

 

[Harry B]

Economics is absolutely right. And the key to those economics is Branding.

Not even 10 years ago major label brands (Universal, Def Jam, Sony, etc) were responsible for the money makers in urban music.

The people who run these labels are business men/women, when your primary brand goes cold, you create and/or acquire a new brand (the label imprint).

Now all of the hottest artists in terms of popularity and radio domination are all signed to or affiliated with one of a handful of imprints (G.O.O.D Music, Roc Nation, MMG, YMCMB).

The industry didn't change, it just re-branded itself.

Branding has to do with business not economics.

 

[Crakface]

Consequence, Raekwon and Kanye bare striking resemblances to beavers, they need to unite.

You would think raekwon saw enough people get shot to know how to really react here. He really wanted enough screen time as possible