Did I not tell you Clif Soulo was my favorite HHU blogger? Case and point below. Clif Soulo is that dude, what do you think? Clearly I feel like he has a point here. I wouldn't trust another artist with the well being of my whole career. In these cases, your boss is also your competition, which means consequently, you'll never get ahead.
You would think signing to an artist would be like playing for a coach that can also put on the pads an go out there and play next to you. They are in the same business, doing the same thing as you, so they already know the struggles and can help you manuever past them...right? Well as the news of Bishop Lamont being released from his contract with Dr. Dre and Aftermath is surfacing, it adds another name to the list, another career which was put on hold, another example on why I will never sign a record deal with an active artist overseeing it.
With Dr. Dre, Eminem and Aftermath alone, it's been several artists that have had a significant buzz prior to signing a deal, and coming out 3 to 5 years later with no album to show for it, rejoicing about being free. You have Bishop Lamont, Joell Ortiz, Stat Quo, Obie Trice, Bobby Creekwater. All 5 of those artists had the net/streets in a somewhat frenzy, but after a hiatus on Aftermath islands, find themselves trying to re-ignite the buzz. Joell, arguably has the biggest buzz since leaving Aftermath due to his linking up with the group Slaughterhouse. This is not just a trend of Aftermath though, as you can see the same type of delays happening with other labels, i.e. DTP (Luda), Grand Hustle (T.I.), BadBoy (Diddy), 1st and 15th (Lupe), Cash Money (Baby), and i'm sorta looking into the future, but possible Young Money (Lil Wayne).
There are a few exceptions to the rule. Kanye West was signed to Roc-A-Fella, and was able to not only put out an album, but build upon that success and become a superstar. But the truth of the matter is Kanye took matters into his own hands because he wasn't receiving the support he felt he needed for his project. And as much as people dislike 50 Cent, he set up and put Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and The Game's first albums...an this is the key, WHILE THEY WERE RED HOT. Oh, did I mention they all went PlATINUM aka over a million sold? Now, after that, if you don't parlay that into a successful career, it's pretty difficult to put the blame on 50...no?
To be fair, and perfectly honest, I do not have any insider information about the artists, i've never seen their contracts, and don't know what has gone down between them and the label in regards to their albums and careers. But from the outside looking in, i've seen this trend for a while. Up and coming artist has buzz growing. Said Aritst signs to another working Artists' label. Up and coming said Aritst career continually put on backburner. Several years pass. Said Artist leaves label and never seems to regain that momentum.
Maybe I'm not seeing it correctly. Maybe I am, either way, Lemme know your thoughts on it. And with that ladies and gentlemen, I'm off my soap box.
*** No animals were harmed in the writing of this article***
Peace,
Clif Soulo
