David Banner cuts a promo on the streaming industry [Drink Champs]

[Marc Spector]

Banner is smart dumb but i hear what hes saying…and hes right…But, he isn’t speaking on the larger problem is of most Rap artists not owning their publishing or distribution .

most rappers weren’t in a position to say yes or no to putting their music on streaming platforms. shyt you got rappers like De La Soul who fought for years to get their music free from Tommy boy so they could get on streaming as they weren’t making any money otherwise.

 

[Mr. Negative]

This dude so confused.
1 sentence he saying something ain't cool.
Then the next sentence saying mafukkas too worried about being cool.

Dude has always been an a$$hole. One of my professors invited him to speak to our class at Jackson State and dude basically said the most ignorant and negative shyt. It was like he was mad that we wasn't super hype because of who he was.

I remember seeing him buying cases of his own album at the Bebop Record Shop off of 55 back in the day. Wouldn't even acknowledge nobody.

 

[Still Benefited]

We needed foward thinking.

So i believe he is completely right,but still wrong. The old model was on its death bed too. So unless he had a better alternative than streaming,people were going to stream.

 

[Silver Surfer]

I like how you dumb woke nikkas thinking he spitting "facts" when the advancement of technology and society norms made streaming inevitable.

He is just bitter because he was not a pioneer in those boardrooms to get any equity

 

[Pure Water]

I been saying this for years. Even as a consumer. Why would u wanna rent music rather than own it? It’s stupid af. Streaming was always good as a convenience thing. Not as a full replacement to purchasing. Yall let these folks convince yall that removing options is a good thing. The same way Apple continues to convince people of that shyt. And I been streaming music longer than most people on this site I was ahead of the curve.

The answer to that is because ownership has a higher upfront cost and for certain forms of media (or anything tbh), you may not actually use that content enough to justify the price you paid for it.

For instance, "The Big Day" by Chance the Rapper. I was a fan of Chance at one point in time. I didn't buy the album because it's avaialble on streaming platforms. If I would have bought that album, I would have been pissed. It's a cost/benefit thing.

I purchased GNX. I listened to that album from November 22nd when it dropped, until March everyday. I still listen to it once a week. That was worth the cost to me. But some things just aren't worth purchasing when you have cheaper alternatives at your disposal.

 

[TNC]

Banner is smart dumb but i hear what hes saying…and hes right…But, he isn’t speaking on the larger problem is of most Rap artists not owning their publishing or distribution .

most rappers weren’t in a position to say yes or no to putting their music on streaming platforms. shyt you got rappers like De La Soul who fought for years to get their music free from Tommy boy so they could get on streaming as they weren’t making any money otherwise.

But who's fault is that?

Banner has BEEN independent and learned how to do everything in house, by himself, the rapping, the production, the mixing, the distribution and had a slow build and burn and he never became the same level of star as many of his peers, but he had more freedom and control over his music. But then he had artists like Snoop, TI, Wayne and Jeezy taking the other side of the deal.

It really comes down to what's important for you, control and freedom or power and fame?


I'm not even saying one side is wrong because that's for the individual to decide but its important to know what you choosing. That's why he keeps saying that folks are "trying to be cool" because they really want the FAME and status that comes with it rather than the freedom of being your own boss and having to be on your own clock 24/7.

 

[Hersh]

I can see both sides.. but a thing rappers always miss when discussing these "fractions" is the potential reach of the music in streaming.

 

[Monoblock]

I hear what Banner is saying but he has to understand most of the artists didn't own their own music and had no real say so in where the industry was headed. It was going to happen regardless, the problem was too many artists were in fukked up contracts so if majors jumping on streams what leg did they have to stand on? Artists could've boycotted but you know they not doing that shyt. Too many of them are in slave contracts.

 

[GunRanger]

Vinyls sold over a billion dollars last year. Theres plenty of ways to make.money on the music, it's just not the main way now. People need to do more shows

Streaming was inevitable. There was never a time when rappers were happy with their deals

 

[Long Live The Kane]

Smart dumb nikka babble….i wanna say he’s being performatively stupid here too, cause I could’ve swore Banner had more sense than this…or maybe he’s drunk

I’m unclear as to what he’s even exactly mad at here? Surely he doesn’t mean to suggest that there is anything that rappers could’ve done to unilaterally prevent streaming from becoming the next evolution of music consumption? He’s mad that he took a loss on thousands of “God Box” compact discs sitting around somewhere because muhfukkas don’t even own cd players anymore ? He thought he had the game figured out and was bout to make 100 million dollars $9 a cd at a time in the 2020’s?

Negotiation as to the split of streaming revenue going to the artists is the actual conversation i would have expected to hear, but it was none of that

 

[Trav]

He gotta learn how to collect his thoughts and lay em out more clearly. I respect the intention though.

 

[Yehuda]

Let's not post David Banner in here as if he knows something we don't.

 

[The War Report]

Hip Hop been fukked since it became a commodity.

 

[Ethnic Cleansing]

Dude has always been an a$$hole. One of my professors invited him to speak to our class at Jackson State and dude basically said the most ignorant and negative shyt. It was like he was mad that we wasn't super hype because of who he was.

I get that vibe from him. I remember a few years back he was on his Umar-esque speaking engagement tour and had a verbal squabble with some elders cause they didn't approve of him using 'nikka' during their discourse. He refused to humble himself and got belligerent defending his position with those hotep old heads who didn't wanna hear that word.

it was embarrassing

 

[Hood Critic]

Streaming is a tool, it's not the problem.

When he's saying artists wanted to be "cool", what he's really saying is that artists wanted to be super stars (national & international). Artist made more money when they were regional.

The contracts and deals took away their profitability. The reality is MOST artist need the machine because they don't have the infrastructure and teams to target and work their product. And then you have to start having the conversation about the quality of the product.