Is Childish Gambino independent? Dude sold 50K first week with his debut album in 2011
Are there truly an independent rappers(known rappers) left in the game?
- Thread starter BrothaZay
- Start date
SpeakherKnockin
Professional ThirstDodger
Tech and Black Milk been doing the damn thing.
USSInsiders
Banned
goddamn 
USSInsiders
Banned
So why is Too $hort getting airplay with some of his singles?
What TOO SHORT singles are in regular rotation as we speak
? Cause i havent heard any of them in the places i frequent ...dirty south and east coast
Big Mel
@bigboss
Ka is about as independent as it gets.
LOL nah, I had a thread way back in the day with that whole TDE ish. Them nikkas was signed for like a year before they "official" announced it.
Even had their A&R before they went major come out of the shadows and post here
Link?
The Devil's Advocate
Call me Dad
That's awesome. What the hell does that have to do with the topic?? Or anything you've said??? Or I said???
Independent means you doing it alone. You don't have a company backing you. You don't have some rich guy backing you. You don't have any backing. Cause you're independent. That's the whole damn definition of independent.
If you got a crew. And your crew is doing it alone. Then y'all are an independent crew. You might be 5 dudes. But you financing yourself with 5 incomes. You don't have no help
The topic is, is this still going on... Does anybody blow like this??? The answer is NO
You don't get to claim you independent when you was signed before. You had a label, you got money and exposure, now you don't have a label so you're an Indy artist?? Nah you used them to push you ahead then kept it moving.
That's different than the guy putting his life savings into his career with not a single person helping him.
I'm not saying you wrong for taking the money. It's pretty impossible to go ANYWHERE with no financial backing.
But stop pretending that using up a label but it not being known, is some type of organic growth. No it was bought and paid for and not even paid for by the artists themselves. It was bought and paid for and hidden by the label in order to make people have an underdog to root for
That is not the definition for independent in music business. In the music business 99% of all music labels end up being owned by one of 3 parent companies... Sony, Warner and the Universal Music Group...if your not owned by one of them you are considered independent.
What you are talking about is being an unsigned artist with no connects, and no angel investor...
in which case its a pretty clear and unequivocal no, no one EVER blows up like that. You wont get a single spin on the radio, and without radio you cannot blow up nationally.
Period end of story, there has never to this day been a guy who just made music, pressed it up or released it on the internet, and turned into a legit nationally known entertainer with a charting single or album.
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The Devil's Advocate
Call me Dad
my mistake in the definition.. i think that's what the thread was about.. has anyone ever blown up off their own dime... and i agree, i don't think i've ever seen that happen. even that jessica black girl who blew up off youtube was on a label
i can see blowing up locally... there's a lot of dudes making new in their states or even a few states, who aren't signed.. but they can afford some worldstarvideos or pay for some internet spins and ads... even get their songs on a few stations
but you're right about having ZERO connects and backing... that doesn't fukking happen and will never happen. not nationwide at least... you're gonna hit a ceiling that only a label and/or money will break through
Insensitive
Superstar
Hopsin.
Dude is touring in and out of the country.
(Canada,Australia, America)
Has several people on his label,
(Dizzy Wright, Swizz, Dj Hoppa, Jarren Benton) which he
owns 50% of sharing the other half with Swizz
and his brother.
And has amassed quite the following online.
I don't necessarily agree with his message
and I know he'll never be on "The voice" as a judge but
who fukking cares, he's clearly successful.
:edit:
Also any serious venture requires investment.
You don't just wake up tomorrow and start dropping
music. You have to spend cash so I'm not sure
what point is being made with all of this investor talk.
Dude is touring in and out of the country.
(Canada,Australia, America)
Has several people on his label,
(Dizzy Wright, Swizz, Dj Hoppa, Jarren Benton) which he
owns 50% of sharing the other half with Swizz
and his brother.
And has amassed quite the following online.
I don't necessarily agree with his message
and I know he'll never be on "The voice" as a judge but
who fukking cares, he's clearly successful.
:edit:
Also any serious venture requires investment.
You don't just wake up tomorrow and start dropping
music. You have to spend cash so I'm not sure
what point is being made with all of this investor talk.
Radio is the key... at one time mix show djs like Kay Slay, Funk Master Flex, Cypha Sounds (in his sunday slot) etc. Could play pretty much what they wanted for a portion of their own late night shows, they had certain artists they had to include, and some songs they might be restricted from playing, but if they had a legit unknown artist song and just liked it they could throw it on... but no longer, they are given a list of allowable songs, they can play something from that list, if it aint on the list they cant play it no matter what...
Problem with the internet as far as blowing up artists is there no critical mass for a music scene to develop, and no buy in beyond the current viral clip.