Ras Kass Explains Why He Never Fit Into Hip-Hop Cliques

[LevelUp]

Ehhhhhhhhh

 

[DarkmanX]

Yep

Was hard to market non-NYC region lyricists.
Mad Skillz label had the same problem, even with an ATCQ co-sign.

Kass' label and management mishandled his early career, though. Should have gotten him placement on some posse cuts with bonafide NY artists, to build his name and buzz.
He tore down Stretch and Bobbito freestyle, and the spitters out here knew that he got busy, but it was hard to try to put people on to him.
Alkaholics were in a similiar boat, though they were on a NYC based label and got much better marketing, and features.

I felt that years later, Crooked I got slept on because of the "boxes" Kass is talking about, and he had BARS.

In terms of marketing acts, labels have to know all of this and move accordingly, but fans of lyrics ALWAYS know who can rap once they hear 1-2 songs, and who can't .

To which demo tho? Respect Kass but whos gonna buy it, underground fans of like 5k people? Thats the issue.

What label is gonna wanna invest in these acts if they only attract a small demo and wont.sell much?

 

[get these nets]

To which demo tho? Respect Kass but whos gonna buy it, underground fans of like 5k people? Thats the issue.

What label is gonna wanna invest in these acts if they only attract a small demo and wont.sell much?

In that era, majors and smaller labels signed acts that were lyricists. Hiero, Organized Konfusion, Nas, Buckshot ,etc
Rawkus, and an entire industry for underground music and acts existed in that era in NYC and in other major markets around that time.

In the physical media era, those acts sold a lot more than 5K nationwide. They toured, got college radio airplay, occasional commercial radio and video play, and could top out at around gold.

Ras Kass got signed based on his talent, it was up to the label that invested in him to put him in the best position to get a return.

 

[Awesome Wells]

In that era, majors and smaller labels signed acts that were lyricists. Hiero, Organized Konfusion, Nas, Buckshot ,etc
Rawkus, and an entire industry for underground music and acts existed in that era in NYC and in other major markets around that time.

In the physical media era, those acts sold a lot more than 5K nationwide. They toured, got college radio airplay, occasional commercial radio and video play, and could top out at around gold.

Ras Kass got signed based on his talent, it was up to the label that invested in him to put him in the best position to get a return.

This right here.