Will There Ever Be A Black Rapper Who Will Sell 350k+ While Independent?
- Thread starter Tuc2DaBoot
- Start date
LunaticVillage415
All Star
Exactly. I'm from KC. Back in the day you could see Mac Dre, C-Bo, random Bay rappers just walking through the malls here.
This thread isbecause people act like you can't spend money unless half the world knows who are you. Independent money is long, mainstream exposure is more for the type of people obsessed with being that dude to rap fans.
Fred.
The ironic part is that you could sell a million units as a mainstream artist signed to a big label with "A-list" rapper features and production and actually end up 30K in debt like you just graduated college
You can't make this stuff up:http://www.refinedhype.com/hyped/entry/your-favorite-rapper-is-poor-1
http://www.refinedhype.com/hyped/entry/your-favorite-rapper-is-poor-2
Most mainstream rappers outside of the heavyweights (i.e. Jigga, Wayne etc.) are not nearly as rich as they claim and will not be rich in the future. Thats why these rappers who do not run their own labels will eventually disappear into broke obscurity after a few years. They always do. State Property was at the top of the game ten years ago. Today, they are broke local rappers again looking like regulars at the local hood bar. The whole old Roc-A-Fella outside of Jay isn't balling no more. Juelz Santana had to move back home with moms:
http://diaryofahollywoodstreetking.com/juelz-santana-co-shacked-up-w-moms/
On the other hand, underground independent rappers from the Bay will continue to make mail regardless if the rest of the world pays attention or not without having a seventy year old Jewish white man eating 70% of the food off of their plates:
http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/12/city-of-dope-excerpt-from-the-dec-jan-2012-issue/2/
If tech wanted to go pop he could have...his music isn't even really palatable for mainstream like that. This is why i keep asking who "blacklemoore" is because to compare a black artist to dude they kinda have to be going for the same results. His success is due to that catchy/corny record that resonates a lot with the fanbase that is really not only buying records but influencing fashion and all that.
@ hopsin...Like i said...too bad lil-b is fukking garbage, he'd probably be able to do numbers if he wasn't so wack on a technical level. He could be more than a novelty if he could actually appeal to and be understood by people other than his little cult. I could see donald glover going that route too especially with his acting career. Give him a hit like "thrift shop" and he'll probably do numbers and probably have a better chance of sticking around.
MegaTronBomb!
Power is in my hair nikka
Let's be real breh... unless you're on some Big Meech and Bleu Davinci type shyt, there is no way you can be a truly indy artist with those type of operating costs.
Ice Cube already got a Gold Plaque from Laugh Now,Cry Later back in 06.
but cube had the luxury of having 20 years of building a fanbase, and huge amounts of money to pull from due to his movies.
OnlyInCalifornia
Southern California/Vegas
No because the distribution is still handled quite tightly by the major players. It really isn't that easy to independently get all your albums in stores. I understand that Itunes is the #1 retailer but if you want to move a ton of units you have to move some physical units as well.
Also, the talent on the marketing side is already snatched up by the big players and well known marketing firms. You can't just have your boy jump up and be a marketing guru. Majors do provide services and they are pretty good at what they do for the most part. There is a point to sign to one.
Honestly, would you put up 50 racks on a rap artist in 2013?
Just found out Macklemore is half Jewish. I bet that closed a bunch of doors! 
MegaTronBomb!
Power is in my hair nikka
The ironic part is that you could sell a million copies as a mainstream artist signed to a big label with name-brand features and production and actually end up 30K in debt like you just graduated college
http://www.refinedhype.com/hyped/entry/your-favorite-rapper-is-poor-1
http://www.refinedhype.com/hyped/entry/your-favorite-rapper-is-poor-2
Most mainstream rappers outside of the heavyweights (i.e. Jigga, Wayne etc.) are not nearly as rich as they claim and will not be rich in the future. Thats why these rappers who do not run their own labels will eventually disappear after a few years.
On the other hand, underground rappers from the Bay will continue to make mail regardless if the rest of the world pays attention or not without having a seventy year old Jewish white man eating 70% of the food off of their plates:
http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/12/city-of-dope-excerpt-from-the-dec-jan-2012-issue/2/
Breh, you probably posted the worst article ever to support your truly unrealistic claim.
that's literally a blog that's ran by some fakkit hipsters... who used some smart dumb logic to prove that selling 1,000,000 copies of a digital single= you didn't make anything.
just to put things into perspective, our forum has a traffic rank of 6,491... while their shyt blog has a rank of 76,929 in the US
like rappers don't do shows, don't get paid for appearances, pay full price for features/production,Itunes is the sole outlet for digital sales... the way the present it... dudes like Flo Rida shouldn't even have careers, cause he's not making anything off his singles
Tuc2DaBoot
Pro
Right. Of course an artist like Ice Cube can go gold after putting in close to 20 years of work. The Jays, Waynes, etc. of the world can do that gold on indie. I'm talking about artists that never signed to a major.
Hell no I wouldn't put up 50 racks. But someone is backing these artists. You don't sell 10k+ first week of your album with random internet promotion and a few shows.
Someone is backing these days, indie or not. But at retail, it is possible to use iTunes and Best Buy as your main distributors. Curren$y did it, it can be done.
OnlyInCalifornia
Southern California/Vegas
Hell no I wouldn't put up 50 racks. But someone is backing these artists. You don't sell 10k+ first week of your album with random internet promotion and a few shows.
Someone is backing these days, indie or not. But at retail, it is possible to use iTunes and Best Buy as your main distributors. Curren$y did it, it can be done.
Warner did it for Currensy tho....
And that blog saying those guys make no money on their singles are wrong...not only do they make some change on those songs, they get payed on radio spins, pandora, get asked to guest on other rappers songs, and tons of other opportunities just like Megatron was saying.
I am sure that Flo Rida not only made tons of cash off selling digital singles those extra deals like having his music in The Hangover worked out nicely.
People dont understand
Traditional black rappers are the establishment now. This is why Macklemore is so popular. He is a rejection of everything that hipsters and suburbanites find uncomfortable about actual rap.
So if a black rapper blew on some independent shyt he would most likely be in Macklemore's lane. Im not sure that would really be a W for hip hop, Im gonna be frank here.
MegaTronBomb!
Power is in my hair nikka
That's why i mentioned Bleu Davinci and Big Meech.... they were the cats you're talking about
Let's take the "Streets On Lock" video.
No way in hell a legit financier could've afforded to get Fabolous and Jeezy on the same track with a no name indy artist...and then put up the money to have Benny Boom shoot the video, with all them in it, plus rent/own all that jewelry,cars and and pay for the video hoes of that caliber
what they spent just for that song/video, is what album budgets ( possibly 2 or 3 albums) are for independent artists
MegaTronBomb!
Power is in my hair nikka
The dude who runs the " Your Favorite Rapper is Poor" column for that site, is Yaga from hamster....notorious hater of everything.
not only that, but if you're on a major, you have a far better chance at getting a free or discounted verse/beat from somebody... or even set up an even exchange for a feature in the future.
Tuc2DaBoot
Pro
Right, but I don't see Bleu having the grind to make it indie that most other artists would. I could see him doing shows, but I couldn't see him doing the promo necessary, the blog/radio interviews, the social media, the crafting of a good album, any of that.
But I get what you're saying. I know it takes big money to make big money. But someone has to find a way to break the mold. Tired of seeing artists like Big KRIT and Curren$y settling for majors then getting ran out of the building b/c they can't sell when they should have stayed indie.
MegaTronBomb!
Power is in my hair nikka
He's essentially what the Fergie Era The Black Eyed Peas were....making fun party music, that's still hip hop, but mainstream and safe enough to play on Top 40 stations.
when BEP had the #1 song in the nation for 6 months straight, we weren't calling it a W for hip hop,even when it was... cause they were THAT mainstream
it'd be a non menacing guy who made fun music for everyone to enjoy... or his polar opposite who sold like crazy off controversy and counterculture
LunaticVillage415
All Star
What year were you born? 1995?
It has nothing to do with the digital age. Multi-million selling artists signed to major record labels have been going flat broke and bankrupt in their prime because of "bad deals" with major record labels since forever. Most notably, it happened to TLC in the 90's.
http://www.mrldavis.com/industry_review/how-multiplatinum-artist-like-toni-braxton-and-tlc-can-go-broke-and-bankrupt/
And as far as "shows and appearances" there is something called a "360 deal" in this day in age where the record company takes a cut out of everything an artist makes.
It ain't the 90's anymore where people are basically forced to buy a cassette or a CD at Sam Goody or Best Buy. Hella people download music and don'y buy the sh!t, myself and millions of others inculded, so major record labels wisened up and made 360 deals the norm.But rappers have been signing bad deals with majors for decades. East Coast rappers in the 80's and 90's were harshly effected. My man from Jersey's old brother used to wait tables with Dana Dane. DJ Premier was locked in a bad contract with Warlock records. Philly Freeway was complaining about wanting to stop rapping but his record contract was forcing him to try to push out more albums.
